Papa's & Beer Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Asheville

It wasn't until after my mom passed, did I really start to enjoy Mexican food. But that was a number of years ago and so much as happened since then, including me getting older and appreciating good food. "Papa's & Beer" is no exception.

"Let's go eat Mexican!" My Filipina wife of nearly four years suggested. "I'll buy!" She said.

I was down with that, so on an early Friday evening, there we were in a matter of minutes, at the Brevard Rd. location across from the Asheville Outlet Mall. P&B was busy, but not enough to have to sit and wait. There were five of us. A rich blend of Filipina and one American man, that's me.

The menu item I ordered was new, or so I believe anyway. Chargrilled Chicken & Shrimp, with Veggies and with a Cheese Sauce. I do love the cheese sauce. My only issue while ordering was that I had to use the light on my phone to see the menu. A little to the right, maybe. A little to the left perhaps I could see. But at the spot in that chair. Well, after all, it was almost Valentine's Day. For a hopeless romantic, I guess the lighting was adequate.

The food arrived in good time. I was hungry. After seeing my food, I had reason not to be hungry by the conclusion of the meal.

"Where is the chicken?" My wife asked.

"Under all of that!" I said, pointing to the heaping mound of food. She dug deep, but fished out a strip of grilled chicken. "Hey!" She laughed.

As the Philippine women chattered and laughed in their language, I savored my meal. It was buttery, gooey, and quite tasty. The grill heat and all the ingredients were hot, so I was very satisfied by the timeliness, and the taste was rather extravagant. And sure enough, it took me a "country minute" to eat every bite, even finding new treasures as I drilled into my plate of food.

My only setback, for me personally, was how the bell pepper and onion was El Dante. I like my vegetables to be cooked thoroughly. But time and space is rather a premium when visiting a restaurant like P&B.

But at the end of the evening, I was a very satisfied customer. Even if I did eat in the "dark". If you choose that same order, just be sure you're hungry. It's not a challenge, but don't be a wimp. Show your party how you can down your food in one...

We just went and received the worst service I have ever had in my life. We were quoted 10 to 15 minutes for a party of 10 at 4:40. We were not seated until 6:15 even though other groups that came in after us that were the same size kept coming in and being seated immediately. When together to the table the waitress would only speak to one of the men in our group and flirt with him in Spanish. Several of our group didn't speak Spanish and 1 of them asked her to please speak English for the rest of the table. The waitress rolled her eyes and continued to flirt in Spanish. I then asked her in Spanish to please speak English for the 6 people at the table who didn't speak Spanish and she rolled her eyes again and left. When our drinks finally came she didn't bring the drink for one of our people and got an attitude when we pointed it out and asked for it. When we ordered she wouldn't take that same person's order so that member of our group just didn't order. When my mother asked the waitress a question in Engliah she just ignored her and walked off. When our food finally arrived one of the kids quesadillas had chicken on it and when we told her that it had chicken and we ordered cheese, she made us open the quesadilla, show her and then she picked it up and threw it back on the plate, throwing rice in the face of the person at our table and stomped off. When we tried to talk to the manager he was very rude told us they were busy. We explained how ride she was being and how we were trying to celebrate but her treatment had made my son cry instead of being happy. He told us that we must think we are better than them and refused to take anything from the bill or to talk to his server. When we asked if he would at least comp part of the bill for the rudness he only comped the meal of one person because we asked for the check to be split and he said he would cover the one meal for the man the waitress had been flirting with and refused to do anything else. This was the worst experience I...

Today, I ate here with my 19 month old and my 8 year old as I have done a handful of times. Side note - I am 8 months pregnant.

Halfway through the meal, my toddler picked up my ice water and dropped it, soaking me and what was left of my food. People were there immediately to help soak up the water on the table, chair, and floor. My waiter then came by, sat the check down, and then dipped. No one at any point offered or asked if I needed anything. Being pregnant, I was only originally annoyed that I couldn't finish my food.

I had to ask the table beside me to ask their waiter for a box so I could take the rest of my chips and salsa home.The girl that brought me a box offered to send a manager to me. THEN when the manager came, - I explained the situation and told him my waiter pretty much abandoned me. He told me it was my fault the water was spilt and he would bring me a tortilla to take home for some of the meat that was left.

It was a humiliating experience and I felt like complete garbage for speaking up about the quality of service I received.

Also if you have kids, don't eat at this restaurant. My waiter was obviously annoyed to be waiting on me and my two children. He avoided us like the plague and tried to charge my kids with adult beverages. What I normally order was sent out disassembled in small ramicans, which I also didn't ask for. I have ordered this dish several times and this was the only time I received it as such. Horrible experience from start to finish.

Definitely eat here if you would like to be...