Downtown Pensacola's Cactus Cantina to relocate from Palafox Street to former Fin & Fork

Downtown Pensacola’s popular eatery Cactus Cantina is relocating its Palafox Street location to the former Fin & Fork location at 601 E. Gregory St. later this month.

Cactus Cantina settled into the 22 S. Palafox St. location in May of 2019, replacing Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, which closed earlier that year when franchisees opted not to renew their operating agreement.

The Cactus Cantina menu and recipes were carried over from the restaurant's 5121 N. 12th Ave. location near Pensacola International Airport.

Now, the new Gregory Street location is expected to open mid-January, according to information posted on the restaurant’s front door and social media page.

“We appreciate you and look forward to serving you at our new location starting in mid-January,” the message on the door 22 S. Palafox St. states.

How many Cactus Cantinas are there across the Gulf Coast?

Cactus Cantina has two Florida locations, both located in Pensacola, and five Alabama locations spanning Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Fairhope and Foley.

What’s on the Cactus Cantina menu?

Cactus Cantina is known across Pensacola for its lively atmosphere, wide variety of Tex-Mex fare, house cocktails and specialty margaritas. The company’s motto is “laid back Mexican cuisine by the beach.” The menu nods to its region with coastal ingredients, like the Gulf Coast Seafood Burrito, made with a blend of grilled Gulf fish and shrimp mixed with fresh pico de gallo, house spices and tomato salsa, topped with cheese dip and red burrito sauce.

The restaurant also offers more traditional Mexican plates, like the flautas, which are stuffed, rolled tortillas fried to order and served with pico de gallo, lettuce, sour cream and a side of cheese dip. The lunch and dinner menus are expansive, and include fajitas, seafood, burritos, tacos, quesadillas and traditional plates.

You can’t forget to wash your meal down with a specialty beverage, like The Knockout Margarita, which is the restaurant’s “own cactus concoction” of a homemade special blend with Gran Gala orange liqueur, triple sec, orange juice and “other secret ingredients” served on the rocks.

What happened to Fin & Fork?

Fin & Fork abruptly closed its doors in November, with little information shared as to how long the restaurant would be closed. While the restaurant confirmed in a private message to the News Journal that the closure was permanent, the restaurant’s voicemail message assured customers that the closure was only “for the holidays.” As customers attempted to have lunch there on Nov. 29, they were told the same message before employees eventually locked the doors because of how many customers were wandering inside.

The closure came only months after a messy lawsuit involving owners Matt and Regina Shipp.

The Shipps were the long-time owners and operators of Fin & Fork before they made the decision to sell their company to K&O Patriots LLC, which includes John Mendoza as the manager, and his son, Christian Mendoza, in October 2022 under a lease-to-own model.

However, the Shipps allege the Mendozas stopped making payments a few months into the $216,000 restaurant sale. Additionally, the Shipps claim they saw "a tremendous loss of revenue, goodwill and value” of the restaurant because of the Mendozas’ “poor management during their tenure of operation and ownership,” per the lawsuit.

The Shipps lawsuit, filed on Sept. 29, 2023, seeks damages in excess of $50,000, exclusive of attorney fees and court costs.

Matt Shipp said that he and his wife eventually had to take back control of the restaurant themselves and were planning on working on restoring the restaurant’s reputation.

“We’re fully back into it,” Shipp told the News Journal at the time. “We are building our brand back. We’re committed to the restaurant.”

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Cactus Cantina relocates Palafox Street location to former Fin & Fork