El Refran Mexican Buffet — Restaurant in Farmers Branch

Over all I liked this place. There were some pluses and minuses. Pros: Fresh corn tortillas as soon as you sit down. Heavenly. Friendly attentive waitstaff. A wide variety of classic Mexican dishes (can't list them all) including chicken mole (very solid - slightly sweet, earthy - the cinnamon really comes though), chimichangas, al pastor, flautas, chilaquiles rojo, quesadillas, empanadas, sopes, picadillo, chicharones, guacamole, 5 salsas' + chips, 4 kinds of soup from feidos, pozole (the pork was incredibly tender and moist), fish soup and chicken caldo. They also have a salad bar that touts ceviche, auga chile + + + +. Majority of the items were very good.

Cons: Some of the dishes seemed overcooked. The chicharones in salsa roja were incredibly soft and practically dissolved in your mouth without chewing. Flavor was there but over cooked IMO. The flautas were hard and the meat was dry. Hurt my tooth. The pork in adobo & pork in salsa verde was dry. The chicken fajitas were swimming in a liquid and was not appetizing. When offering so many options, I suppose they can all be 100%.

Overall pleased and...

I was in the mood for a Mexican buffet and I had heard about this one and I'm glad I stopped in to eat. The food was good the selection was good the service was good... Mari my server was very polite and attentive and I thought the price was very reasonable...on a Cost to Value ratio, I'd say I got a good meal fir the money. I'd like to add that I was pleasantly surprised on how neat and clean the restaurant was and the restrooms, too. I enjoyed the poblano chile rellenos cooked in a light egg white batter. I also like the fideo. The guacamole was just right. The ceviche was just okay but a highlight is that they do make their own corn tortillas. Definitely the surprise of the day was the chicken mole not too liquidy not too thick just right... I do feel it necessary to mention the mole here is sweeter than all others I've tasted. Perhaps it's because most of the recipes are influenced by the owner who is from Nayarit. I will...

Great service , best homemade tortillas in dallas. Last week I came for the menudo and it was delicious but sadly today it tasted watered down and bland.It had a kick due to the pepper but the flavor of the chillies used to make this dish were very subtle and light, which are what makes menudo the dish that it is. It was the second best thing they had here and because of this I probably won't return ever again. The waiters are really nice and attentive though. The flan tastes like the real deal as well. I tried the chile relleno and it was not bad either . The only thing is that I wish they had a meat filled one instead of just the cheese one. My toddler love the soup. Sadly we won't be coming back. Hopefully the owner stops being a cheapo and puts more love Into the food and avoids skimping out on the ingredients. Attached is a picture of the cheese filled chile relleno which was decent in my opinion,but not as good as my wife's...