Senor Pancho Fresh Mexican Grill

This place is a banger! So much better than anyone would expect from the exterior and reviews. The interior is nicer than anticipated. The menu is average. Nice staff working here and good beer prices. Had to order the Camarones a La Diabla.
Platter came out quickly and looked great. Love the way they do their beans. Perfect temperature with cheese on top and a few chips in them to scoop up that warm earthy deliciousness. Rice was fresh and fluffy. Nice little portion of salsa fresca on lettuce that gave a nice contrast. The skrimp la diabla is HOT! Probably the hottest la diabla I’ve had and the sauce was amazing. So much heat and spice in there, my lips and nose were smoking and tingling. The nicely done flour tortillas are a must to sop up that delicious heat and spice. Next time I’m in the area, I’ll be back to try more.

Great food. I’m never disappointed with the fajitas, mini tacos, rolled tacos or Diablo burrito. A little pricey though. Free salsa bar on dine-​in only; very good salsa, too. If doing take out and want a good amount of salsa you have to buy it but it’s only $ 2. Be aware this location has no drive thru and the food is made to order so it takes a while.

Food was okayish, but overpriced. They also charge you $.45 to use your debit card and $.82 for a soda refill. Ridiculous. I won’t be going back.

The cashier taking the orders is horrible at taking correct order. not only did she mess up my order but charged the diffrance after she messed up order .then brings out order n messed thst one up too at this point i just ask for my money back… never going back

Only taco shop me & my family actually like. Their burritos are the bomb! Breakfast plates are delish too, and come with a good portion. I’ve tried Machaca burritos everywhere and this place hands down makes the best one. It’s juicy meat & not dry like other places near by. The service is okay, clean restaurant every time I go.

The best cali burrito fresh meat all the times good customer service I’ll came back

The first time that I tried this place was a couple of years ago with my wife (who told me about it). I became a fan right away! Even though my wife and I no longer live in National City, we still make the drive to Señor Panchos when we crave Mexican food. Their salsa is awesome and if you want, they will sell it to you in a small container (for a nominal fee). Not just that, their food tastes fresh and isn’t greasy. I have never seen the place dirty like some others but have seen staff chatting with people in the kitchen. I don’t personally mind this as I think we all have chatted with our co-​workers before. As long as the food quality and customer service don’t suffer, I don’t mind.
If you are looking for a great taco shop in the National City area, this place is it!

This place USE TO have great service now it has the WORSE customer service the girls are rude always checking their cell phones, talking with the cooks they are always messing up the orders they have no customer service what’s so ever never coming back again

No customer service. Very rude and the place is dirty. No one ever cleans the tables. Good was not good either.

Food is good but the girls that work there love to talk a lot they messed up on my order because they were to busy talking instead paying attention to me ! Customer should be their main priority

Great food! Sometimes service could be better but it’s never Terrible. I like everything I have tried !
I recommend their rolled tacos & quesadillas

Service no is friendly, food is very bad and old, I order a Torta de carne Asada, the meat is hard, also ordered some tacos and meat had bad smell and the sauce is was rotten, After a few hours I ran to vomit.

Great patients with customers and at affordable prices great ambience for a home feeling to it u feel like family and Alicia and Javier create a great atmosphere with there cheerful attitude that keeps business flowing

I can’t remember EVER having really bad Mexican food — San Diego is loaded with authentic restaurants and taco shops, and until now I haven’t had a reason to avoid any of them. My friend and I went to Señor Pancho Mexican Grill for lunch around 1:00 on a weekday afternoon. There were several cars in the parking lot located behind the restaurant, giving the impression that the place was busy. It wasn’t busy at all … in fact, we walked in to a customer-​free taco shop (they call it a Mexican grill, but that’s a joke). Customers place their orders at the counter, and seat themselves until the cashier announces their order is ready. From the outside, I had the impression that this was a sit-​down restaurants, which is what my friend and I were looking for — so this was a bit of a disappointment.
Our food was ready in about 15 minutes, giving us time to go to the salsa bar to fill up little plastic cups with salsa & hot carrots (the carrots weren’t hot, and they were hard as a rock). We both ordered the beef flautas topped with guacamole & sour cream, a side order each of refried beans and rice, and two small beverages. For a taco shop it was a bit pricey because no sides were included with the flautas. Almost all other places like this include rice and beans with the entrée.
Our food was served on paper plates without an iota of ambiance — not even a sprig of parsley or cilantro. The flautas looked ok, I guess, but the sour cream was runny and the guacamole was a very bright, light green — almost neon, fake looking. I took one bite of a flauta and almost gagged. I cannot tell you what the precise ‘ingredients’ were in the guacamole, but it was horrible and permeated every inch of the flautas, making it impossible to just scrape off — and believe me, I tried! Never in my life have I tasted guacamole so vile… seriously. My friend said she thought it tasted vinegary, which may be right, but there was something else that gave it that nasty taste and odd color — I just couldn’t put my finger on it. In any case, the flautas got tossed to the side and we decided to just snack up on the rice and beans before heading out. The rice was ok… not inedible, but not very flavorful either. And then we got to the beans… and spit out the first bite. Once again, there was something not right about these — the texture was wrong and the taste was awful, unlike any refried beans we’d had before.
We figured it was time to throw in the towel and get the heck out of Señor Panchos. As we walked to the car we both had the same thought: «…I hope we don’t get sick!» I always make it a point to look for the ‘A’ that is issued by the County Health Department, and although this place had one prominently hanging in a window I couldn’t get past the sickening taste of our meal. After 8 hours we both heaved a sigh of relief… and from now on we will proceed with caution before dining at a new taco shop/​restaurant.
All in all, I hope this ‘Mexican Grill’ is replaced quickly with a Robertos or Armandos, or whatever. Even a Taco Bell would be 100% better than Señor Pancho Mexican Grill, which should tell you all you need to know.

THE FOOD??? Great!!! The service??? Great!!! The portions??? Even better! Especially if you dine in. We had carne asana fries and they were the best I’ve had since I’ve been in California which has been for 4 years. This will be the only place I’m getting my fries from for now on.