Taco Palenque La Palmera Mall — Restaurant in Corpus Christi

Had lunch at the new location at La Palmera. First I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt because they are a new location, so I am sure several of the issues will work themselves out as everyone becomes more comfortable in their roles, thus the 3 star rating.

Environment - unless you have eaten at one of their locations before, the “how to navigate” is unclear. As you walk in the door toward the far wall is the counter to order, but also immediately behind it is the self checkout kiosk, then the toppings bar followed by the drink stations. The restaurant is quite large but all of these things are seemingly on top of each other. During a busy lunchtime, it was confusing chaos in that area. It would have been better to move the self check out away from them main ordering counter.

The bathrooms are clean, but the toilet paper dispenser are mounted at calf level on the walls. You must fold yourself all the way over to get the toilet paper out and try not to let it drag on the ground. Someone should really remove them and lift them to a proper sitting height. There are two stalls in the women’s and one in the men’s.

Food: The food itself tasted good. I really have no issues with the taste or quality. We ordered the street tacos and the fajita plate. Portions are small for the price but the toppings bar helped. The issues I did have with the food were unrelated to the taste and more so with the presentation. The fajita meat was cold, not warm or even hot but cold. The street tacos which were shown to come with cilantro, onions and lime came with nothing. Just sad little tortillas with asada inside.

I did find the manager and he came over and apologized for the cold meat and did get us some hot steak to replace it. I also asked about the tacos and he said they should have been served with the topping, but everyone was still learning and he chalked it up to nerves. To his credit there did seem to be several “corp” people there and someone taking pictures. He did come back and bring me the toppings and said if I wanted more of additional ones the “topping bar” was included with all orders and I could get what I would like to add.

Conclusion: Will I eat here again, probably but after they have been open a little longer and gotten over the new job jitters. Also if you are coming here for the first time, either look over the menu online before hand and order at the kiosk or order from the human at the counter. Take advantage of the toppings bar before you go to your seat as they will bring your food out to you, but it’s up to you to pick your toppings. Stick with the fountain drinks, the horchata was mediocre. They do offer an array of desserts, but I did not try...

This is easily the worst food place in corpus, and it’s all managements/ the owners fault. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a slower and more mismanaged “fast” food place.

I have had time(30 minutes) to write this review, send it to my editor for revisal, and go through the entire publishing process, and have yet to receive my food. My grandkids will hopefully someday get to taste it.(oh and the people behind me already got their food). I ordered 2 tacos and a quesadilla for gods sake.

The only saving grace about this place is that it is good, tasty food, being supported by a kind and completely overworked, sanity drained, and underpaid staff, who are constantly having to make up for the piss poor management. Thankfully, the general manager was there this time, so he could refund my order(half of it now that I’m looking at the receipt) after it was found that my food was finished, just not in the proper spot to be handed to me. This is why the people behind me got their food first.

But this is not the first time this has happened, it won’t be the last, and that is a sign that there is a reason the Palenque on Saratoga had to close and rebrand to a fried chicken variant.

To Management/owner - get your shit together. Stop having your staff ask for good reviews to artificially inflate your Google score, they are not earned they are begged for. Train your staff better, or set expectations out the gate that you have to raise your damn cattle before you slaughter and process the meat, because I have no clue how you make 2 tacos and a quesadilla take 30 minutes. Do something because whatever the hell you’re doing isn’t working. Shit, post this on the fridge at home if you have to have a damn reminder to do your job better.

To the consumer: this place is delicious, and SOMETIMES worth the wait - but if you don’t have 30 minutes to wait for your food in the DRIVE THRU, go to a Mexican restaurant where at least you get free freakin chips while you...

I would really like to take the time to thank The store manager KAYLA and her friendly staff at taco Palenque for their outstanding and professional service with my dining experience at this restaurant. In my recent visits, I’ve been assisted with my food order both at the kiosks and at the front register when needed which is highly appreciated. All kitchen staff work hard and cooperate with each other as 1 team to ensure accurate and prompt delicious food orders to both dine in and drive thru customers! In addition, this restaurant has always been right on point in maintaining cleanliness to their dining room, restrooms and all common areas including their outdoor patios and all thanks to the efforts of the cleaning staff who are very vigilant and conscientious about maintaining a professional, clean environment setting. I can really appreciate this positive attribute because it makes a world of a difference for customers to continue to return and enjoy their dining experience in a clean atmosphere . I also must give a loud SHOUT OUT to the overnight graveyard shift team. Many countless times, as a Doordasher, I have witnessed the entire staff work extremely hard to maintain the demands of late night customer food orders, and at times, it’s not very easy but yet I still see every team member working their hardest Together to accomplish the many food task orders that are requested. I want everybody to understand and know that your hard work has not gone unnoticed and would like To THANK EVERY TEAM MEMBER AND EVERYONE SHIFT MANAGER at TACO PALENQUE CORPUS CHRISTI for the dedication, time and effort you put in each and every day to make this restaurant a successful establishment for customers to...