Don Gabino's Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Bend

I’ve had an extremely good experience with this restaurant. They have extremely fast service, they are on top of their to go deliveries, and are extremely proficient with getting their orders out quickly and consistently. But as a person of color, I will have to say in terms of flavor, or lack there of, I would not recommend going to this restaurant for authentic Mexican food. I’ve gone to this establishment multiple times within the month so I can accurately get a feel for their flavor profile and give an unbiased opinion on what I personally believe to be as good flavors. And while the spicy sauce is hot, it’s not very flavorful or seasoned. So those of us who are people of color and/or Hispanic or darker skinned and are expecting a lot of flavor from a spicy items, that’s something that you’re not gonna get from this establishment because it is more geared towards people who are not of color and supplementing to their diet. It is a good option if you want Mexican food but if you’re looking for something more authentic this is not a good option because it is geared towards the majority of the population in the Bend Oregon area and not off of the Authenticity of the flavor of Mexican cuisine. From what I’ve gathered, things tend to be seasoned with a basic salt and pepper and maybe some spicy peppers here in there but not with a dowsing of cumin and oregano and cilantro and onion powder and garlic powder etc. that authentic Mexican cuisine normally has, and this is coming from somebody who grew up in Bay Area California where authentic taco trucks are a regular part of our every day food life, and I unfortunately came from the bay RECENTLY (not even a week ago) and experienced a much more flavorful and authentic taco truck that supersedes this long-standing establishment.

If you were looking for a review that was completely candid and forthcoming, this is it even though I personally don’t want to believe that this is the review that I’m giving this company but I have not been given anything else since being in the area that would change my opinion on how this restaurant should be rated. Not even on top of the fact that there is an extremely small Hispanic population in this area yet they still expect majority of the people who come into the establishment to be Spanish-speaking is kind of weird given Central Oregon is a majority white population. Please take my opinion with a grain of salt as again majority of the people in this area probably don’t mind the inauthenticity of the food but someone who grew up on this cuisine WILL mind, like myself. There are much more authentic restaurants on the same street than this one. It’s good if you’re hungry but not if you...

Worst Employee's!!! (Besides the sweet manager who is always on her game she makes sure the food is made how it should be and that the grill staff actually is making it correctly for all costumers and makes sure they aren't lacking in making the food she's great but unfortunately she usually runs the bussiness from home) I get this is a mexican grill but they have english on there menu's yet they want you to say it in Spanish it's ridiculous! And if you call to make an order they only speak in Spanish and they do not tell you when to pick up they just hang up its very frustrating. Me and my husband live around the corner so it's a quick place to get food we pay for stuff like 13$ burritos that are sometimes good and other times who ever makes it puts zero effort into the food. I get they don't do refunds obviously and it's hard to go all the way back and ask for it remade when you got a newborn and your Hungry we waste all this money all the time. They recently have raised the prices and the quality of the food is made Awful! We are frequent customer's they treat my husband like garbage most of them are rude and don't speak any English, when my husband goes and orders at the place he will order first and if there are any Mexicans behide him they will make his order last its incredibly rude we are paying customer's and should be treated better considering we are regulars who pay a good amount every month it's sucks they do not improve the equality of costumer service and A quality of business...

Since the pandemic started, we have been ordering here as our go to Mexican food through DoorDash. They had just opened right before the shut down, so supporting our local restaurants was important to us!

We have tried a variety of the foods; everything from burritos, taquitos (aka rolled tacos), tortas, and plates...there’s also great options for the kids! We have never been disappointed! Flavors are on point, the salsa selections help add a kick if you’re a fiend for spicy (salsa Diabla is the hottest, but not so much so that it kills your tastebuds). Prices are perfect for the amount of food you get as well!

The only problems we’ve ever had is DoorDash missing some of our items, but that’s no fault of the restaurant itself. We always get a refund and gladly try again the next week and get everything perfect in our order. Picking up is always a safe bet if you don’t want to deal with the delivery fees and you can tip Don Gabino’s hard workers directly. With the pandemic level going to low, I’d highly recommend going in and ordering directly from their friendly staff! (You can order online and pick it up yourself as well!)

Coming from SoCal, it’s been difficult to find authentic Mexican food to satisfy those cravings.....but this is definitely our recommendation for a great fast Mexican food here in Bend. Keep up the great work Don Gabinos! You guys are definitely our go to for...