Pappasito's Cantina — Restaurant in Arlington

We visit Pappasito's in Arlington a couple of times a month and have never had any type of issue at all. Yesterday, Sun 4/13/25 was a bit different BUT this restaurant still deserves 5 stars. We arrived right at 11am when they opened and were immediately seated. Frank was at our table right away with chips etc. and to take our drink order. We ordered queso and some corn tortillas with butter as an appetizer while we looked over the menu. Frank advised that the tortillas were still being cooked so it would be a few minutes. No big deal at all since the queso came out right away. A few minutes later the tortillas came out and I thought wow....they have changed the way they are making them (not in a good way). They seemed to be very doughy and crumbly. But no big deal, we just enjoyed the chips and queso. Frank came back to take our order. The restaurant was getting busy but not near as busy as it usually is on a Sunday. We waited and waited but still not food. The manager came over to say hi and apologize for the delay and let us know that a extremely large "to go" order came in right before we ordered and that the kitchen was a little backed up. We were in no hurry so all is good. I asked him about the tortillas and if they had changed the way they are made and he said no. I showed him the ones that we had and his eyes kind of got big and said, oh wow - these are not right at all. He apologized and said he would bring us some fresh ones. Well, come to find out they were having trouble with the tortilla oven not getting hot enough. This was not his fault or Franks fault. They were both so nice and apologetic about it. We finished our meal and asked for the check. Frank came by with the check and advised that the manager had comped our entire meal due to the tortilla issue and the wait time for our food. I was actually blown away. It never once crossed my mind that something like this would happen. We tipped Frank quite well and I spoke to the manager on the way out, thanking him very much and told him that he didnt have to do that. He was very nice and thanked us for coming in and invited us back soon. Pappasito's knows how to treat customers and how to keep the coming back. The oven issue was out of their control and things like this happen. We will be...

We walked in and were told 45min wait for our party of 8+baby sling. We were hungry but it's one of my favorite places so we agreed to wait and got our buzzer, even though we were the only ones there waiting for a table. 6 groups of 5-6 people got seated as soon as they walked in the door and said how many people there were. Now although I can understand that sometimes, depending on which tables are open, it makes sense to seat smaller parties especially if a table near the available one will not be coming available soon to seat a little larger party but this seems a little unlikely that 6 tables that seat upwards of 5 people would free up nowhere near each other. Those 6 groups of people all walked in and spoke to one of 3 people that were all leaning on the hostess stand chatting away, girl would grab menus and immediately hand them off to some waiter or waitress that was actively already doing something instead of seating the guests themselves. After 45min of none of the 3 ladies even bothering to do anything but possibly turn their head to ask how many people when someone would walk through the door one of them turns around and says "so we're working on putting your table together" turns back around and leans on the hostess stand again. 25minutes later we were sat. Our waitress did decently but wasn't exceptional but is the only reason that this visit got any stars at all. At any of the places that I've worked at if you got caught leaning on anything just standing around it would at the minimum be a write up and that's if they didn't fire you on the spot. When you are the face of whatever company you are representing, especially if you are the first person a customer will interact with, what you do and how you present yourself makes a huge impact on experience. It's one of my favorite places because generally I enjoy the food but the last 5 or 6 times we've been everything, but the food, has been just awful so now I'm leaving a review which is sad because I really wish it could be a...

I absolutely love this restaurant. The food is quality and most of the time the service is experience driven. On this particular visit, I took my niece and daughter to the restaurant. While I was waiting on them I heard a toilet flush and a woman exited a stall then walked straight out the restroom. Shocked I said -out loud- I hope you don't work here -I could tell she did because she had on a server apron. She promptly opened the door and said "I do, but there's a sink out here for servers to use. I'm gonna wash my hands out there." 😳 I was flabbergasted! When we walked out I waited on what seemed to be the manager to complain. The SAME employee approached me with a smirk and said, "Ma'am can I help you with something?" I asked to speak with a manager and she said "I am a manager." 😳😳😳 What in the complete hell!!!!! I promptly told her how incredibly disgusting it is to watch someone leave a restroom after flushing a toilet and walk right out! I told her that as a customer that is a complete turn off and how irresponsible and unsanitary that is. She smirked through the ENTIRE conversation and gave a dismissive "I'm sorry." Customers don't know there's another sink for employees on top of that I was in the service industry for 10 years. My son and daughter in law are bartenders and NEVER in ANY career I've worked have I ever known it to be appropriate for an employee -shoot ANYONE- to LEAVE the restroom without washing their hands! I could definitely tell this was her normal. So, I hope whoever is reviewing this addresses that manager. She had long black hair and was working on 4/18 at approximately 3:20 pm. I pray there's a policy change that removes the illusion that just because there's another sink on the floor that an employee does not have to wash their hands after using the restroom and exiting a stall. Gross 🤢 We went on and ate, but I will never forget how nasty that was or how normal it seemed for her. You all have to do...