Pollo Palenque Saratoga Blvd — Restaurant in Corpus Christi

What should have been a quick and convenient meal after a long workday turned into a frustrating ordeal that spanned well over an hour.

I arrived at your restaurant at approximately 7:45 PM with my child, who was tired and hungry after soccer practice. As a parent, I specifically chose your establishment for the convenience of a quick meal, knowing my child's bedtime for school is 8:30- 9:00 PM. Unfortunately, what followed was anything but convenient:

The initial order took approximately 20 minutes to prepare if not longer (order only two chicken sandwich, a kids thigh meal, a three piece dark meal) After a 20-minute drive home through Corpus traffic, I discovered my three-piece chicken meal was completely missing from the order My child's thigh meal was incorrectly prepared with a leg instead, which was small, dry, and had minimal meat The side order of pasta salad for my child was missing entirely, forcing them to fill up on charro beans

Upon discovering these errors, I attempted to contact the restaurant by phone but received no answer initially. Despite my frustration and distance, I made the decision to drive back to the restaurant since I had paid for a meal I did not receive. During the return trip, I was finally able to reach someone by phone and politely informed them I would be arriving shortly. The staff member assured me a manager would address my concerns upon arrival. However, when I reached the restaurant:

I waited in line and politely explained the situation The employee acknowledged me but then left for 8 minutes I was asked for my order number, despite having already explained I was there for missing items not waiting on an order No manager ever came to speak with me as promised The staff continued to prioritize drive-through orders while I waited patiently There was no sense of urgency or genuine concern for making the situation right

I finally received my missing items at 8:50 PM, more than an hour after my initial arrival at your restaurant. By the time I returned home, my family had already eaten and gone to bed. When I opened my long-awaited three-piece chicken meal, I found dried-out, substandard chicken that barely qualified as proper portions.

As a public servant myself, I place tremendous value on treating others with respect and courtesy. I remained patient and polite throughout this entire ordeal, as I believe in treating service industry workers the way I would want my own children treated when they enter the workforce. Unfortunately, my respectful approach was not met with the same level of service or concern for my customer experience.

This experience has affected my perception of your brand, to the point where I am unlikely to return to your establishment. I feel obligated to mention that continuing to provide this quality of service and food to families will likely result in a diminishing customer base and could ultimately lead to another restaurant closure in Corpus like many others. My hope in sharing this feedback is that it reaches someone with the authority to recognize these operational shortcomings and implement necessary corrections before it's too late for this location.

I understand that the typical corporate response might involve contacting me for additional feedback or offering compensation through refunds or complimentary meals. To be clear, I am not seeking either of these resolutions. I have already accepted this experience as a financial loss, and given the circumstances, I do not anticipate returning to your establishment. My purpose in writing this review is not personal gain but rather to highlight significant operational issues that are affecting your customers. My sincere hope is that this feedback will be used constructively to improve service and food quality for future patrons who still choose to dine at...

Seriously. I was expecting such greatness because I've had Taco Palenque in Laredo before and it was delicious. This place is a disappointment and a hot mess. For one, the drive thru is wonky and traps people in line. These people wanted to leave and forced them to reverse. Here comes the whole line of cars behind them having to reverse too because the car just couldn't pull out and leave. Then it took forever to get my food. I finally got my food, but woohoo, the car in front of me that the workers told them to pull up was hogging the drive thru exit. I couldn't easily leave due to that same curb trapping us vehicles in line. The worker who gave me my food knew that the car was in my way. Looked. Ignored it. Walked back inside. SO next up, the car behind me also gets their food. The second time the worker walked outside I had to say something because I couldn't leave. I was on a lunch break from work and I was already in line for the full 30 minutes of my lunch break. I had to call my boss and told him I was going to be late. Anyways, so the worker finally tells the car to move forward around the corner or in a parking space because now 2 cars with food are waiting to leave. The worker goes back inside and the car never moved. The car made us wait for them to get their food. The employee told them something but sure as heck did not enforce them to move. Employee walked inside and car continued to sit there.. Look. I've worked in fast food before with drive thru and if I saw a car got their food before the person in front of them, I would ask politely the first car to move so they wouldn't block the drive thru exit. I guess common sense isn't very common anymore.

To top it off, the food was overly salty and my order was completely wrong. I don't think I will be back. It was not like how I remember in Laredo. Not worth being late to work for the wrong order and salty food.

May I recommend having designated parking spaces with signs if you're waiting for your drive thru order so nobody blocks the exit? Time is valuable for...

I have been to this location twice now and been extremely disappointed on both occasions. After my first visit being poor, I decided to go back and see if that first visit was just an “off” day for them, it wasn’t. I see no reason now to go back.

I’ll start with pricing and service. It is over priced for what you get. They do not charge you what the menu board actually shows. For example, a single Bean taco shows a price of $1.14. If you want cheese, it is an .82¢ add on. That comes to $1.96. I get to the window and the kid says $2.71. I question the charge and the kid says he doesn’t know, he just rings it up. I asked him how a taco that should be under $2 is $2.71 BEFORE tax. He just asks if I want to talk to the manager. The manager come over and does not speak a word of English. Someone other than the manager comes over and interprets saying that the menu board must be wrong and the price on the computer is correct. I said I don’t care what your computer shows, you are obligated to honor the price you advertise to your customer. After this back and forth I get a 50% discount to take care of my issue and have the line move. I went back once again and it was the same issue. No care or concern to honor pricing.

Next, let’s talk about the food. The first thing I will say is that the tortillas smell wonderful. That being said though, they are tough and rubbery. It is like trying to bite into a tire. The refried beans are so watery that they ooze out of the taco and make the biggest mess. The cheese is horrible. It is shredded and greasy and I mean cheap quality greasy, not cooked greasy.

Save yourself money and the headache and just eat at Taco Bell if you want a fast food...