Don Pablo’s

Walked right in and got a table for 6 during prime dinner time on a weekend, if that tells you anything. There was also a large sign out front proclaiming «no wait». Interesting. The server brought us chips and salsa that was spicy then took forever to bring us water. She took our drink and appetizer order and didn’t bring us a single glass of water until she also brought the drinks and queso. She then told us she was sorry, that she had to make a dessert and that «they make us make them ourselves here». What??? I would hope so. The queso blanco was extremely disappointing. The cheesy was congealed and only slightly warm like it had been sitting for a while or reheated. I got a margarita and I couldn’t taste a trace of alcohol in it. For $ 7.99 I was hoping for more. The entrees took forever to come out and again, the cheese in and on on my enchiladas looked congealed like it had been sitting out or just reheated. The chicken inside one of the enchiladas tasted similar to the chicken in a frozen dinner. The black beans were gross and the Mexican rice was only slightly warm. The only consolation about this place is that the old factory building it’s in is really cool. Otherwise, I will not return.

Absolutely love this Mexican restaurant. The food is great and I love how the restaurant is in an old factory.

If you like that «we will be out of business soon vibe» this is your place. Wait staff is more than apathetic. Food was mediocre at best.

I have come to this location 3 separate times & I keep trying to give it a second chance, because I do really like the food… But THE SERVICE. The service needs SO much work. My dinner tonight really was like nothing I’ve ever seen. We were in a group of 7, which is not super small, but not difficult. We were seated & never brought waters at the start… Which is pretty much the 1^st thing that is supposed to happen. We asked a few times — the server brought our margaritas (after awhile) & our queso, at which point we asked again for waters. Our waitress (her name was Mackenzie) called one from our party «demanding» when he asked for straws & we weren’t sure if it was a joke. Our actual entrees came out & we had still not received a round of waters, so I asked yet again. Mackenzie then called me «bossy» because I asked for waters, for the fourth time — at this point we had ordered drinks, appetizers, & were eating our entrees. She also said «I’ve been too busy getting you other things, so I haven’t had time to get you waters.» Everyone at the tables jaw dropped. I ordered a quesadilla, which was fine — but ⁴⁄₇ orders were WRONG & she just blamed the kitchen on it. I am disappointed because I love their food… Their fajitas & quesadillas are amazing! But you better believe that after being called «bossy» for simply requesting a water, I won’t be back.

I tried to give this place 4,5,6 and 7 chances. Food is terrible with small portions and service is ridiculously slow. 12 min for a drink… While sitting at the bar. Ouch. Can’t say I’d give it one last shot.

Don Pablo’s you and I are going to stop seeing each other. I love your food, your chips, your salsa, your fajitas, and your margaritas. I can get past the poor acoustics, the sometimes lack of cleanliness, and the shrinking portions. What I can’t get passed is awful service. The surly hostess. The poorly trained servers. The lack of managerial oversight. Sitting for 10 minutes without a server acknowledging my family was the final straw. As we left the surly hostess telling us someone was just about to help us. The knowledge at Potbelly that as we were eating our food we just might have gotten drinks at Don Pablo’s. The confirmation from the potbelly staff that we aren’t the first and certainly won’t be the last people who didn’t get served at Don Pablo’s to make the trek over to Potbelly pretty much sealed the deal. Don Pablo’s you and I are through.

Our family ate here fot last Labor Day. For lunch, it wasn’t crowded. The server was friendly. I ordered enchiladas. The tortilla was a bit too hard compare to other restaurants. But the tortilla for my husband’s fahitas was soft and chewy.
The dessert, Sundae was delicious. The price was reasonable. Would definitely come again.

Don Pablo’s food is just okay. Is Americanize Mexican food, but not done completely right. If you just have a quick craving, you can go there and get something that will taste good, just not amazing.
I’m not thrilled about this particular location, service is extremely slow no matter what time of the day you go in.
Some of the drinks I personally think are over priced and is mostly syrup, so the taste is not appealing.

Unfortunately, this will be the LAST time I come to Don Pablo’s. It is a shame because I used to love this place. I have been here three times in the past year and every single time my experience has been the same: poor food quality, FILTHY dirty and slow service. I am officially done! Please do not waste one penny of your hard earned money on this place. Go anywhere but here. The days of Don Pablo are PAST and GONE!

I was a regular there for years but my job moved out east. Came back for dinner ordered combo fajitas and they were small enough to feed about a six-​year-​old. Terrible portion size, not even many onions or bell peppers in it. I went out to dinner on my way home from eating dinner at Don Pablo’s it was terrible. I asked the waiter if that was the children’s portion and he just laughed. I won’t be back

AWFUL — we will never go back there. I recommend El Toro over this place any day. Not only was the service awful, there were gnats (plural– maybe 10+ at our booth) so disgusting. We had to stop with our appetizer and leave. It took over 10 minutes to get our waters. We asked to sample the sangria, and with the restaurant empty, our waitress told us we could go to the bar and get a sample our self — the bartend then told us no. So gross, worse service EVER. don’t waste your time/​money. I didn’t even want to give this place a star, but I had to leave a comment.

First, this is about the service. As far as Texmex goes, Don Pablo’s is pretty good. So many people claim to have a «favorite more authentic local place». Get over yourself. It’s almost always exactly the same but with gross store bought tortillas and really greasy, questionable meat. At least DPs has standards.
The service at this location is awful. Unless you’re at the bar, it will take you an hour and a half to eat here. Last time I was here, it took me 10 minutes to get seated (not very busy) and I sat at a table for 15 minutes without being acknowledged. I left.

This is my favorite Mexican restaurant despite being a chain. All the ones that were in northeast Ohio have closed so imagine my excitement as I find this place in walking distance to my apartment. The warehouse feel is awesome and I think this restaurant deserves a much higher rating than what it currently is.

I think this a neat place inside but the food is sub par at times; however, this a good place to get a couple or Margaritas and snack on chips and dip

Ew. This place is blech. Don Pablo’s used to be all the rage. Now, not so much. The chips are fine not hard to mess up chips. The salsa tastes like straight tomatoes from a can. You get these tiny bowls of salsa that the chip doesn’t even fit in. I ordered the skinny enchiladas. I didn’t enjoy the taste at all. The refried beans were gloopy. The rice was dry. I also ordered the queso to share with the table. No one ate it– it was like glue. Oh and we were totally ignored by our server. Sorry to complain but it is the truth. They will go out of business and be a distant memory one day.

What can I say, it’s your average Don Pablo’s/ any chain– hit or miss. Pretty much expect poor service and the same standard fare you’d receive at any other Don Pablo’s location.
We were just there again Friday, and while we had no issue being seated quickly, our server was too busy to give us any attention.
It was also disconcerting that he elected not to write down any of our orders, so when they arrived incorrectly, we were not surprised. He was difficult to flag down and the appetizer we ordered actually arrived before our drinks did!
The plus: It’s close and I LOVE the building. The old factory can be seen from all over Rookwood and The ceilings are so high you’d almost think you were outside. Parking is a bit of a pain, as is anyplace in Rookwood.
If you’re looking for a happy hour or have a large group (that’s not in a hurry,) this place would work for you.

Just your typical everyday Mexican fare. Don Pablo’s isn’t real high on my list of Mexican places to go. I think there are a lot of better mom-​and-​pop options for Mexican in the Cincy area to be honest.
Giving credit where it’s due:
There are some great weekly specials including «all-​you-​can-​eats».
This particular location is in an old R.K. LaBlonde Machine Tool factory, which is a pretty great industrial building.
They also like playing some fantastic salsa style Christmas music during the holidays. Good times.

The atmosphere here is amazing as always — being inside of the old LeBlond factory really elevates this restaurant to a level it doesn’t really earn on its own.
I have been going to this Don Pablo’s since they opened. It was the restaurant I defaulted to whenever I didn’t know what I wanted for dinner because every dish came out hot and fresh. The salsa was obviously made fresh daily and those tortillas fresh off the press?! Amazing. But, that was 12 – 15 years ago. Today is a different story.
Lukewarm chips, salsa that tastes like it’s made with italian canned stewed tomatoes, food that is bland at best and just thrown together without care by the kitchen staff (half a breast of chicken for a dinner fajitas order? really?), service that is consistent only in that you can be certain no matter where you are sat, you WILL be ignored by your wait staff and no one on the floor seems to care about that.
I have been still pressing my family to return to Don Pablo’s over the past few years, but after my last experience here this weekend — we were ignored by our waiter most of the night, part of our order was just never delivered, the women’s restrooms were FILTHY (would it hurt these people to wash a wall once a month? Seriously?) and 2 of the three doors inside the women’s bathroom don’t even latch shut. How is this passing health inspections? — we won’t be returning.
There are so many flavorful, colorful, vibrant and exciting Mexican restaurants in the Oakley/​Hyde Park area at this point that Don Pablo’s is really proving to be a dinosaur and reminiscent of a time when having a Mexican or Tex-​Mex restaurant in the area was new, fresh, and exciting. It doesn’t live up to its own history and it doesn’t live up to the beautiful building it’s inhabiting. I look forward to the day when one if its chain competitors takes over from a management and ownership that obviously has stopped caring, so I can look forward to a good meal with great service again in this location.

It’s cookie cutter corporate Tex-​Mex. Good fajitas and margaritas but not great. Same menu as every other such restaurant. It’s a safe place to take mom but with all of the great Mexican restaurants that have sprung up I don’t see myself coming here very often.

I don’t understand why my boyfriend really likes this place. He says it’s a «nostalgic restaurant where I order the same thing every time.»
I’m scared. He’s looking over my shoulder while I’m writing this review. Will I survive. I know not. This three is like a compromise for a 2.
I tried the boneless wings last time. It was salty. I like salty.
This past time I went, I had the chipotle pork tacos. It’s a lot of food. The refried bean are okay, and the rice is nice and al dente, but dry. I ended up picking at the pork, which was yummy by itself. I could do without everything else though.