Pancho’s Mexican Buffet

Well, me and my boyfriend were hungry so we decided we should go to Pancho’s since we haven’t been there in a long time! We were so excited to eat there that when we got there we were so heart broken. We looked online to see what time Pancho’s were gonna close and it said 9:30pm. We came to Pancho’s at 8:00pm, and saw that the restaurant was closed. We don’t know whether they closed early or this place has shut down for good. There goes my childhood restaurant.

I was so saddened by the abrupt closing of the Parker location. I will always love you Pancho’s!!!

my mom and 18monrh old child have both been throwing up for over an hour. They have food poisoning from the rice. It’s the only thing they both are. My child has thrown up 5 times so far and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop anytime soon. This is horrible. Major, MAJOR fail.

If you remember and appreciated the old Panchos chain you will be happy with this place — the only thing I noticed different was the chili sauce for the tamale’s but for those of us who hated to see Panchos go under — who cares.
Those of you who prefer high end/​dollar places this is probably not your cup of tea. I for one am happy and grateful that Panchos is still around — glad I found it. Will be going back!

Sometimes I crave their mushy, high calorie food… today, I went thru the drive thru and ordered cheese sauce over everything then had to throw it away because it tasted sour and smelled horrible. I called at work and requested to talk to the manager, but there was none there. So I explained to the girl, she said she would check it out but did not offer a replacement. I am so disappointed in Panchos!

I have been a regular of Pancho’s (at different locations) for 35 years. I love it. You know exactly what you are getting and I love it. Maybe it is nostalgic for me, but I would eat there daily. Don’t expect fancy. Don’t expect authentic Mexican food. Expect a good, filling, and cheesy meal. OPEN MORE LOCATIONS!

I wasn’t entirely looking forward to visiting this place. The 2.5÷5 star rating on Unilocal,the location in east Plano and a general feeling of unease.
You can tell it’s bad because even their restaurant’s website has ads on it.
Unbelievable.
But I sucked it up and paid a visit the other day. It was exactly as I expected, a disaster. It’s situated in small shopping complex that seems to date to the mid 80’s, but it has its own little building that can best be described as Mexican kitsch. It’s got the whole colorful faux adobe look going. You walk in to a long hallway with a few arcade machines and a bunch of terracotta tile. Instant 90’s throwback.
Walk forward some more and you see the buffet. By definition a buffet is self serve. I enjoy buffets because I hold absolute control over what goes on my plate. That is not so here at Pancho’s. Instead, you have a guy behind the counter and you have to point at what you want. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. So technically Pancho’s Mexican «Buffet» isn’t really a buffet because it’s not self serve. That pissed me off pretty badly, so it was funnier once I sat down, because a waitress comes and brings you chips and napkins probably as an excuse to get people to tip. Why they can’t set out the chips along with the buffet I will never know. The inside of the restaurant is also pretty tacky and shows its age. The ceiling has tons of water stains everywhere. There’s mural of Mexico or something on the wall, along with a variety of «Mexican» themed ornaments hanging on the walls.
The food is just as bad as the restaurant. Tasteless, greasy enchiladas coated with slime. Tortilla chips so yellow you’d think they were dipped in dye. Even the Mexican rice was disgusting. There’s a small dessert area consisting mostly of Jello. Nice.

Ok, 1^st things first, approach to finish, for 8÷19÷2014. The building exterior was very clean, fresh painted, festively decorated as you’d expect of a Pancho’s Mexican Family Buffet Restaurant. One of the acrylic small letters was damaged slightly and in need of repair, probably a vandal throwing a rock? The interior was very clean, well decorated and lit, as was the approach to the buffet line or area. The food selections were laid out fresh, aplenty, and with courteous smiling staff to ladle it up for you. The staff were very nicely dressed and attentive, excited to have you in for lunch. The dining rooms and condiment bars were very clean and presentable. As always, colorful and festive paintings, ornaments, and décor abounded, along with Mariachi music to give one the great and fun atmosphere that is sadly fading from the world in the traditional Mexican cuisine dining experience. The food was hot and plentiful, with great flavor and quality as always in my experiences at all Pancho’s. I had a flauta, tamale, 2 tex mex enchiladas, one sour crème enchilada, one chile relleno, a chicken hard taco, bean soup, and rice & refried beans. The zuccuni dish or callabacitas, was fresh and so delicious! Salsa, guacamole, & sour crème were fresh and delicious also. Love the apple soda! The waitress smiled and checked on me. Liked the melted glass chain decorations in the windows and every table had a fairly costly, quality stained glass lamp over it. The windows did need cleaning, but who is to say that in a recent day or two a storm had not blown through as it oft does this time of year in the South. I did notice that one window had a large crack across it, probably from a juvenile D throwing a rock, that needed to be replaced. I can’t see down grading this Pancho’s from 5 to 4 for a couple windows and part of a small letter on their exterior sign, especially if these ailments occurred real recently. Critics here need to be reminded that you cannot compare Pancho’s food to other Mexican restaurant’s cooking with more and more exotic spices. Are there any other Mexican Buffets in America? No. At a full family Mexican buffet is the food going to be diplomatically spiced and created for members from tots all the way to grandma & grandpa? Yes. If the flavor us too bland for young & middle aged adults, then HELLOOO, that is what a full condiment bar serves, with several levels of salsa and pico de gallo to choose from, and sliced jalepeno peppers and chopped onions to boot, just to name a few. I’ve been mystery shopping for more than twenty years now and you have to critique establishments objectively and by the numbers always. In conclusion, excellent job once again Pancho’s, your genre and it’s quality still stands strong! Those who down graded Pancho’s here, shame on you! You might want to focus on the whole picture next time when picking stars, an averaging of the total stars of each facet might be a simple way for you to begin. Shame on any of you for ranking this one below 3.

I love Panchos! I grew up on their chile rellenos and queso. All the Panchos restaurants in East Texas (where I’m from) went out of business, so I LOVE that a few of them still exist in the Dallas area. That’s why it’s so hard for me to write this negative review… because I don’t want them to go out of business… I just want them to fix the problems!
I’ve been to the Plano Panchos twice now (I gave it a second chance…), and it has just been sad. Both times we went at the peak hours of supper, so we expected fresh, hot food on the buffet, but we were really disappointed and kind of grossed out. It was like they had cooked a ton of everything expecting a huge dinner rush at one time, and then it all just sat there and got cold. But it wasn’t JUST the temperature and freshness that were bad… it was the actual flavors that were pretty lackluster and un-​Panchos-​like.
The chile rellenos just had a chewy, spongy texture and barely had any pepper and cheese in them, and the queso on top was cold. There was also a weird plastic flavor about them. The enchiladas were lukewarm and kind of … I don’t know… like gelatin. And they tasted like what I would imagine canned enchiladas to taste like. The flautas, taquitos, and chimichangas were cold and stale. I don’t know about you, but when you bite into one of these kinds of fried Tex Mex treats, you want greasy, crunchy, flavorful deliciousness. The cookies on the dessert bar tasted sour. Not that you come to Panchos for the cookies… but come on. At least put out something that doesn’t make me want to spit it out. It was so depressing.
It felt like they were on their way out of business and just having a «get rid of everything» night, so we got the week-​old stuff. Eating this food was like the bland leading the bland. It pains me to say it. I’m really sad about it. I really went there with an open mind and hopeful heart, and I am usually pretty positive about all food in general… but this was crazy bad.
The saving grace of our last trip to the Plano Panchos were the tacos and the sopapillas. Perfectly crisp and flavorful. They were TASTY. That’s the reason for the second star. The first star is just because all-​you-​can-​eat Mexican food doesn’t really exist and I’m thankful for it here. And the owner was really nice.
But overall, it was an incredibly disheartening experience. I felt betrayed by Panchos! At least I’ll always have the Mesquite Panchos… Hopefully! Please go there, people… help keep THEM in business because they are doin’ it right!

Sigh! i have grown to except the fact that if you love Pancho’s you are definitely NOT looking for a great Mexican experience.
The food is good, the service to good, and the price is really really good,
I took some time looking at the taquitos and enchiladas the last time I was there 2 weeks ago. Yes, It is cheap, and no you are not getting a lot of quality food. But you didn’t come here for that did you!
Like a big T.V. dinner buffet.

This place was horrible. I should have turned around when I first walked in. The food looked suspect I could not eat, I gagged badly and gave up. This rating should be zero. The lettuce was brown the shredded cheese was melting the food looked as if it was just plain OLD.

I love the idea of Panchos. I love raising the flag and the all you can eat buffet. The kids love it! The tacos are Great and the Sopapillas can’t be beat! I would love to give it a 5 star review, however they need to start making better enchiladas and rice and beans. Mexican food has evolved in the last 10yrs but Panchos has not changed their recipes. I love going to Panchos but I feel it we will only be going 1x a year.

I went to Alma and Parker Panchos today. A middle eastern hairy manager was serving and touching tamales and flauto and making tacos with bare hands. Since I had paid for the food I brought home. While eating at home I found hair in my sour cream enchilada. I purchased food worth of $ 40.00 for 5. This manager was so rude and he was yelling at his wife because she gave cheese sauce with Flautos to some one without charging them extra money for cheese. I will never go there again. Because of this manager and serving without gloves.

Basic boring hole in the wall that hasn’t had a remodel since it opened. Food was bland and nothing to ever discuss. The service was fine, but nothing I’ll ever go back to. Maybe a remodel and different seasoning would change the dining experience.

This place has so much nostalgia wrapped around it that I refuse to give it one star. But really, with as much sincerity I have for your health and taste buds, dont eat here.
Go order Mexican food somewhere else (Im not going to say Taco Bell, but any other place is better). For a while, I thought this place closed. The building looks faded, the parking lot is nearly empty, and yet the lights are on and they are serving food.
I ordered a little of everything, and felt dismayed. The tacos are actually ok, but for everything else, it could have been warmer? Everything was mushy, lukewarm, and salty. TV Dinners anyone? They still make awesome sopapillas, but those little pockets of joy cannot contain the amount of tears I shed over eating here. I somehow end up eating here at least once every two years!
I want to call this a guilty pleasure, but its really a guilty shame. Like a teddy bear you cant part with from childhood, I will always love Panchos, even if I almost threw up eating there last time and have diarrhea every time :(
I don’t have the heart to give this place zero stars, even though I should.

I went here when I was a kid wanted to try it as an adult. Friendly staff but yes they did seem surprised we would eat the food. Food was bad. Tacos were good. Every thing else was bad. They have a very small buffet and the guy slathers the food with cheese I’m thinking to cover up the flavor. It’s all mush and bland. Would not go back.

Pancho’s Mexican Buffet in Garland CLOSED in late 2013.
The sign has been removed.
.
NEXT?

Best mexican buffet around. I took several coworkers there a couple months ago and its still an experience that we just can’t stop talking about. We plan on going again in the next couple of weeks

I have so many memories of this place growing up in EL Paso but the food hasn’t changed since my child hood. I do enjoy the Sour cream enchiladas, and
Green chile stew.

Omg it’s all just so bad! If you’re still on the fence, allow me to enlighten you. We went on a Sunday afternoon after church but surprisingly it was almost empty at 12:30. The queso was cold, the sauce on the chicken enchiladas was congealed and looked more like white snot, the beef enchilada was just awful. The only reason why we went is because my girlfriend was excited about the sopapillas, however at the end when they were brought out it was more like puffy rolls with a squirt bottle of honey at the table. No cinnamon, no crisp, no bueno.
I’m not a food snob by any means but this was extremely disappointing. I would have prefered spending $ 10 bucks at Taco Bell.