Pancho and Lefty's Cantina — Restaurant in Berry Hill

The Newmans are founders of two small local chains, the sensational Edley's Bar-B-Que in 2011 and the Tex-Mex-style Pancho & Lefty's in 2017, both gaining a loyal following in Nashville. This particular store opened in the Melrose neighborhood in 2022, technically lying within Berry Hill just 126 feet beyond the boundaries of Melrose. But let's focus on the business. The year they moved to ... "Melrose," the Nashville Scene bestowed Pancho & Lefty's with two awards including "Best Tacos in Nashville" and "Best Margarita in Nashville." What? Better than Mas Tacos, bartaco, and Pie Town? That's a pretty ambitious claim by a very reputable publication. But the public seems to agree. With a 4.3 on Yelp, a 4.5 on TripAdvisor, and a 4.7 on Google, the restaurant appears to be just as beloved as Edley's! So I had to try it.

On paper, the menu looks impressive with clever names, great flavor combinations, fresh ingredients, and even a create-your-own taco bar that serves up to five people. Named after the famous Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson album, I appreciate the establishment's invention of a subcuisine called Nash-Mex. Let's just say that any local restaurant paying tribute to Nashville's fabulous culinary scene, especially any fusion with hot chicken and fish, is going to score major points with me. Despite all this acclaim and anticipation, the tacos I sampled were shockingly underwhelming!

You'll just have to trust someone who has been eating tacos since birth, many of those in Mexico and Southern California. I am just as perplexed by the praise showered upon Pancho & Lefty's as I am enamored with the excellence of Edley's. I felt compelled to try two Hot Chicken Tacos from the NashMex menu, and I added two Birria Tacos upon the server's recommendation. But both dishes were rife with issues. The only highlights of the former were the fresh cilantro and what they call "pickle de gallo," a delicious accoutrement that mimics the pickles instrumental to a hot chicken dish. But the chicken didn't have the slightest bit of spiciness, the batter was disappointingly soggy and not crispy, and the flavor and texture of the fried flour tortillas didn't complement the tacos at all.

The Birria Tacos were even worse. The tasty corn tortillas and ample cotija cheese and cilantro weren't enough to overcome the heavy flavors of consommé, burned Chihuahua cheese, and mesquite-grilled short rib. It's just an overwhelming beefy flavor that is too much to handle and lacks balance. My worst pet peeve of all is a server who lets the water glass sit empty for a long span of time, which I desperately needed to wash down the Birria overload! I simply cannot in good conscience recommend this restaurant to my multitude of readers, but I will continue to...

Food poisoned: Definitely does not live up to the hype. When we arrived, we were seated and waited a while while two servers argued about which one would have our table and a group that got seated after us was served. After that, we had no kind of issues with service. I started with chips and guacamole, asking if any of the dips didn't have cilantro in them. I was hoping that at least the cheese dip would be cilantro free but to my surprise, it was only the guacamole. The guacamole was straight up avocado with lime juice and salt, and it was really good. I got the chicken and waffles tacos, which are $5 per taco, but you get this paper thin flimsy wafer thing they call a waffle with a small amount of chicken and some kind of spicy-ish sauce drizzled over the top. The chicken poked through the wafer as I was eating it. Definitely not worth the price. Also the taco salad doesn't come with meat, you have to add it, but not only that, it's a really weird taco salad with corn, not very well shredded lettuce, and pinto beans. This was not anywhere near as good as people claimed it was.

Immediately upon leaving the place all of us got diarrhea and an upset stomach. There was some kind of open bottle sitting on the ground next to their tortilla machine and rags sitting on the machine. It looks like we may have been poisoned with cleaning chemicals for the machine. I wish I had gotten a photo of it, but it was the shape of a 5 Qt bottle of engine oil and white.

After this kind of experience I will not be returning or giving this place a second chance, nor will my family. This is not a simple mistake or misunderstanding. This...

This place seems to be genuinely a new York minute hole in the wall tex mex style joint. I think the sauces are just ok but the prices are more than fair. They put the sour cream on the bottom of your taco salad on the plate(as pictured) but not in the food which I respect. Their fried pickles are double breaded pickle spears! So...almost like a vegan chicken tender(excellent touch). The service is cordial but not overly friendly. The kitchen was fast and efficient however this isn't Ruth Chris and it doesn't pretend to be. 4 dollar margaritas are insane during happy hour so drink up. I came to see if they can dethrone bartaco for the title of "best margaritta in the city"! Unfortunately it's not even close on this one. I have poncho and lefty in 7th place right behind taco mamacita. The outlaw margarita is very sweet at this location and the glassware was a bit too colorful in many a sense. If you throw a shot of their ghost pepper tequila in with your happy hour marg you will be impressed(get it on the side). However for the price of one bartaco marg you could have 3 here(no added shot)...just saying. Nah, I'm super saying that this is a great pre game spot. Plus on the 5th of every month they have "all day happy hour". So maybe I'll see you out here on the next 5th? I bet they would rent the entire space out to you if you asked. Next 5th? You know where Nashville! I recomend this spot for good cheep drinks, pre gaming and a tex mex fix that won't break the bank this everyman's joint will not disappoint! Cheers Nashville!!! Cinco de...