Pancho's Takos — Restaurant in Jalisco

First of all, I have never review any place online, but I felt compelled to share my thoughts and warn people about what they’re getting into at Pancho’s. So here’s my very first restaurant review!

There’s always a line here at Pancho’s, but that’s totally fine if it’s worth it. And it moves along. Once you’re seated, you realize that there are nearly a dozen wait staff milling around, slowly wandering about aimlessly, seemingly doing nothing but getting in the way of each others’ ability to wander around. It’s weird.

Someone eventually takes your order sheet, and several minutes later, your tacos arrive. And they really pile on an obscene amount of meat onto each taco. It’s not an exaggeration that they shovel two or even three tacos worth of meat onto each normal-sized tortilla. So quantity-wise, they easily justify their somewhat higher prices than most other taco joints in town.

Here’s the issue. Their tacos come out HOT. So hot, you cannot touch them without burning off your fingertips. This means you have to wait several minutes until you can actually do anything with them. You can blow on them all you want, it won’t cool down any faster because they’re on a hot plate, with a pound of hot meat sitting on top. And they put four or more of these gigantic, overlapping tacos per plate, so it’s basically like an enormous pile of molten lava.

While you wait for it to cool down, the tortilla underneath quickly becomes a soggy, sodden mess, especially because there is just so much juicy meat on top. And soggy tortillas tear.

If you like, you can pick up bits of meat with your fingers to sample as you wait. And yes, the meat is succulent and more flavorful than at most taco places. Delicious, even. But by the time you can actually touch the thing, the poor tortilla is a sopping, torn-up mess, and your delicious, wet pastor meat ends up spilling everywhere. After waiting so long—waiting in line, waiting for any of dozen the wandering waiters to notice you, waiting for your food to arrive, waiting for it to be even remotely touchable—you now have a disappointing soggy mess-pile on your plate.

You waited for tacos, but instead you get stew. Thankfully, they provide forks and spoons—if you manage to flag down a wandering waiter.

For me at least, it’s not enough for the food to taste incredible. (And Pancho’s, while not incredible, is better than many, yet still just fine.) If it’s a frustrating and taxing chore to eat, it’s just not worth it. So do yourself a favor, skip the line at Pancho’s, and eat tacos at literally any other taco place in town. It might not be as much quantity, and the flavor might be slightly less punchy. But you wanted tacos, not a soggy, messy stew and a frustrating and...

Puerto Vallarta, you have so many wonderful eateries!?

Pass by this place during "normal hours," and you'll ALWAYS find a line of people waiting to grab a bite. Luckily, our nocturnal behaviors brought us in at 1am after a light night of clubbing and bar hopping.

ATMOSPHERE: It's a tiny place with limited indoor & outdoor seating. The attention grabber is the vertical spit at the front, slowly cooking and heating the slab of pork, with a pineapple crown at the top.

MENU: There was a lot of selections listed, it was 1am, and I was advised by a friend to just try the Al Pastor tacos which were first in the list. Ok, great. Sorry folks, but someone did post a menu pic on here.

BEVERAGE: Hibiscus Juice We saw some locals with glasses of deep red liquid in them. When we inquired, we were told it was hibiscus juice. Our friendly server brought us a sample to taste. Yum it was. It had a slightly sweet note, not overly which is what I loved, and a very subtle juice flavor, like a light Hawaiian Punch. Get some!

FOOD: Al Pastor Tacos If you want the meat from the spit, this is it! Wow, is all I can say. The pork was sliced thin, was tender and juicy with great flavor. In order for cheese to be added, you had to order 4 tacos. Fine by me! I axed the pineapples. The soft tortilla shells are small, about 4" in diameter, so order away according to your tummy size! Highly recommended!

3 ramakens of sauces were available for drizzling: A green guacamole-like sauce which was mildly good, a reddish sauce which was medium heat, and a brown sauce with seeds of fire. I like to go green.

SERVICE: There were lots of tables open at 1am! Our male server was friendly and food service hot and quick! I've never had a taco so hot I couldn't hold it for a few seconds.

TIP: They open late in the afternoon and close at 2am.

OVERALL: The best tacos in PV! Even the locals were stopping by for a quick bite in the wee hours of the morning;...

**Updated review - Sadly Panchos is not as great as it used to be! We were excited to come back but the meat was flavorless, the green sauce we like was also flavorless, and I didn't like how they piled so much meat on your taco to the point where all you taste is flavorless meat. I think a taco should be well balanced so that you can enjoy all parts of it. I was unfortunately disappointed by my meal this time and believe this place has turned into a popular place for tourists who do not appreciate what authentic and good tacos taste like! If you compare my new taco photo versus the one from a few years ago, you will see a huge difference in just how much meat they are dumping onto your plate.

**Previous review - Always a line up but always worth the wait. My boyfriend hates waiting in line for anything, especially food. However this is the only place I have seen him stand in line for!

They ask that you wear your mask as you enter the restaurant area which is nice. As you get closer to the front of the line, they will hand you a paper menu and pencil so you can choose your food as you wait. You can also order a beverage while waiting in line.

The al pastor is some of the best you will have in PV. It just tastes so different and so fresh. I highly suggest ordering the grilled onions as well. They're sooooooo good.

With your tacos you will get several garnishes. I personally prefer the green colored one as its the least spicy. I will add some of the pineapple/onion topping but keep in mind this is very spicy, so you don't need to...