Whether you're opening a new restaurant in good times or bad, it's always smart to find a niche. At Kozy Cactus, chef-owner Dan Ostermiller and his manager-partner, Doug Smith, appear to be going for two at once: neighborhood bar and grill, Renewed American Food, a label of their own making that means, according to the menu, they're "working closely with local farmers to get organic produce."
I don't doubt that fulfilling both niches is possible, but to tell you the truth, Kozy Cactus so completely embodies the former that it's hard to believe they're focusing much on the latter. I say this not to be snobbish but to express reality as I know it. In Phoenix, the restaurants working closely with local farmers just happen to be the Valley's best - upscale places presided over by chefs with serious credentials. Certainly, a funky, neighborhood hangout featuring piped-in country music and sports on multiple TVs can do the organic shtick; I've just never seen it.
Trust me, you're going to intuit the bar part and the cozy part a heck of a lot quicker than the local, organic part. With its mustard colored walls, brick-red concrete floors, upholstered booths, roomy lounge and color photos of cactus, the place has a comfy, come-as-you-are ambience that seems to appeal to its PV Mall neighborhood. And despite the occasional trendy touch - gorgonzola in the mac & cheese and tarragon in the vinaigrette - the menu is mostly a collection of American standards, which includes starters, salads, sandwiches, burgers and, at dinnertime, a short list of entrees.
I'm not a bit surprised that starters - many of them more akin to bar snacks - are the long suit here. Crisp-bottomed flatbread comes with various toppings, including bacon, gorgonzola and caramelized onion, sprinkled over a tomato sauce base ($7.99). It's basically a small, thin-crust pizza, served sizzling hot, and I like it.
Creamy avocado and white-bean spread, served with baguette slices or corn chips, may not taste much like avocado, but scooped on a corn chip, it's smooth, mild and faintly garlicky ($5.99).
Barbecue braised pork nachos consist of exactly five corn chips, each mounted with generous hunks of juicy barbecued pork, drizzled with sour cream, sprinkled with sliced green onion and served with lime wedges. Tasty enough, but it could be so much better if there were more chips, more toppings and less pork ($5.50).
Pulled pork shows up again on a sandwich, wedged between a soft bun with jicama slaw and pickled onions ($10.50). It's good, but over and over I find myself thinking, "At these prices, I could be eating better sandwiches some place better."
Take the disappointing Sunrise, for example - a sandwich composed of prosciutto, heirloom tomatoes, red onion and lettuce, served with a sunny-side-up egg. Dark and hard at the edges, the prosciutto tastes as if it's going bad, while the heirloom tomato slices don't look or taste much different from regular grocery store varieties ($9.75).
I'd rather spend $1.25 more for Morning Glory's Cafe luscious A.M. BLT, knowing I'm getting the best ingredients available and a gorgeous setting to boot.
As it turns out, the best sandwich is the grilled chicken, a cage-free Red Bird breast, topped with lettuce, tomatoes and Dijonnaise (original style) or caramelized jalapeños and onions, the bun smeared with chipotle mayo (Southwestern style, $8.99). I ordered both styles together, the result being a dripping, delicious mess.
Burgers are purportedly "dang near a full half pound," but when our bacon burger arrives, my friend looks at me and says, "Is this from the kids' menu or something?" It looks a bit small, but at least it has the good charred flavor of the grill ($8.99). A side of sweet, mayo-goopy broccoli salad could be straight from the grocery deli case.
As for entrees, I've tried only one: flank steak, marinated 24 hours and finished with herb butter, which surely hasn't sat on the grill more than a minute. The purple meat is nearly raw, and I'm not sold on accompanying sweet-potato gratin, either, which has probably been stored in the fridge too long.
Desserts such as strawberry crumble (served warm and a la mode, $5.99) or rich vanilla-bean cheesecake ($5.75) are a cut above everything else in the place. Judging from the crowd in the bar, though, I'd have to say booze and snacks (certainly not organic vegetables) are probably the best reasons to visit Kozy Cactus.
What other people are saying...
kaiwaiy from Phoenix - July 03, 2009 at 12:47 AM
Over priced dishes, nothing to rave about - disappointing since it's a prime location for shoppers :(
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