El Cactus Veggie-Vegan Joins Vegan Dining Scene in Las Vegas

Just in case there was any doubt that vegan dining scene in Las Vegas isn’t one of the country’s fastest growing vegan scenes, there’s another restaurant that’s opened in Sin City that’s all vegan — El Cactus Veggie-Vegan

Located in Henderson, an area in Las Vegas that is gaining vegan spots pretty rapidly compared to other parts of the city that are underserved (we’re looking at you, North Las Vegas and the Southwest), El Cactus is the second Mexican vegan joint to spring up this year.

“We love cooking and wanted to share the real flavor of Mexico City and surrounding states with Las Vegas, and eventually the world,” says supervisor Rey Velazquez.

Tomas Portillo, the owner,  has been vegan for more than two years and previously owned a vegetarian taco shop in Mexico for five years. A resident of Las Vegas for the past decade, his original idea was simply to open up a Mexican restaurant but things changed. Instead of simply a Mexican restaurant, he opted for opening a vegan restaurant in Vegas.

The motivation for opening? According to Velazquez, it’s to spread veganism. With a delicious abuelita taste.

The Las Vegas vegan restaurant’s menu includes dishes like the nopal relleno, two seasoned cacti rolled and filled with cheese, ham and bacon and served with refried beans and guac. Another signature dish is the aguacate relleno — think an avocado cut in half and filled with your choice of fillings like nopales, poblano peppers or zucchini, along with rice, refried beans sour cream and pico de gallo. They’ve even got enchiladas poblanas that feature four rolled corn tortillas with filling, topped with mole sauce, cheese, sour cream and sliced onions with refried beans.

The vegan restaurant also serves up items like flautas, slachicas en chipotle (sliced hot dogs in chipotle sauce), chimichangas, loaded hochos (bacon-wrapped hot dogs) and more. Plus, they’ve got daily specials including 99 cent tacos on Taco Tuesday.

A fast casual joint for now, Velazquez says they might make the switch to a full-service restaurant in the future.

18 W. Pacific Ave., Henderson, 89015 | 702.202.6983

Open daily: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

**NEW! Vegans, Baby presents Vegans, Baby Food Tours in Las Vegas. Book your spot today!**

*The 2018 Las Vegas Vegan Food Guide is out now! Download or purchase the full-color print guide today and find out all the best spots for vegan food in Las Vegas, featuring more than 30 categories and 70 picks!*

*Support the businesses who support vegans! Check out our Deals section with special offers on Las Vegas restaurants, health and wellness services, national products and more!*

*Want some groovy vegan products? Check out our list of faves over on Amazon. Please note: when you purchase through this link, we receive a small commission. This proceeds go directly to the operation of Vegans, Baby.

Cactus image: PicJumbo