Don Pancho's Cantina — Restaurant in Franklin

Don Pancho Restaurant Review by Reuben We went to Don Pancho in the small city of Franklin. When we arrived, there were not many cars in the parking lot and it was pretty much empty inside. Once in, we found no one at the front desk. We seated ourselves and the waitress came quickly to take our drink order. She was very nice. The sweet tea and tortilla chips came fast. The chips were fresh, salty, crunchy, and delicious, basically legendary. She also brought two delicious sauces, one was a white creamy sauce and the other was a red spicy sauce. I enjoy both flavors. My plate was heaped with crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside chicken strips with ranch dressing and crunchy fries. My Mimi stole one of my fries because they were irresistible. Our booth was comfortable and the eatery was well decorated and clean inside. You can dress casually at this Mexican restaurant. My meal was outstanding! I give the restaurant five stars.

Don Pancho Restaurant Review by Cecelia We went to Don Pancho for lunch in the small city of Franklin. When we arrived in the parking lot, it was empty. It’s a Mexican restaurant. Inside, there was no host. There were only a few people there for lunch. We chose to sit in a booth. The waitress came shortly and she was nice. There were many options on the menu and I chose chicken fingers, fries, and sweet pink lemonade. The drinks and the food came quickly. The unsalted chips were fresh and crunchy. The four breaded chicken fingers were warm and delicious. The fries were perfectly cooked. The place was well decorated, smelled nice, and it was very clean. It’s an epic place to go for lunch and dinner. It’s not a fancy night club that you have to dress up for either. I love this place so much. It's my favorite place to eat. The entree was legendary so I insist you try it. I rate...

We have frequented Don Pancho’s for years and it was always our favorite spot to go out to eat, which we rarely do. So for this to be “our spot” exclusively for when we wanted to dine out, that was significant. However we will not be back. The last few visits were met with exceedingly slow service, the wait staff clearly not wanting to work there, and the food has taken excessively long to come out. The margaritas don’t even taste good anymore. It’s been a significant decline and we were willing to ride it out some, but it’s beyond ridiculous at this point. We don’t have a lot to choose in Franklin, but y’all were our number one spot. Since then, we just go to Applebee’s where the staff smile and the food comes out in a reasonable timeframe. Management needs to take a hard look at their business and staff, figure out what happened because y’all are bleeding customers. When it was basically dead in there for dinner the last few times we went, it shouldn’t have taken 30-40 minutes or more each time waiting for food, on top of the wait for a server and drinks, food ordering, etc. Spending about an hour until food is presented when there are no other customers is the reality we were met with multiple times until we finally decided to not come back. We aren’t even the type to complain, and I really make the effort to leave good reviews for businesses, but this one needs to be said. Your parking lot and seats have been empty for a reason, and it’s your staff. But the staff is only as solid as management is, so time to tighten up. We don’t want to see y’all close your doors, but we also aren’t coming back until whatever is...

My wife and I have had Don Panchos in our dining rotation since moving to Franklin in 2013. Lately it seems the menu has shrunk. It has turned into a two sided place mat with limited options. But what has finally caused us to take this restaurant out of the rotation is the apparent attempt to place the entire menu on a market price footing. Tonight we were seated quickly as usual but given menus with all of the prices removed. I read through other reviews and found a reply by management claiming that all businesses are raising their prices. This is true but all of the restaurants we frequent publish their prices on a printed menu. I cannot support any business that is not up front about dining costs. Having read some of the rather snarky replies to negative reviews so I doubt this will have any impact. Please be aware though that pricing seems to be whatever they feel like charging. Also, not sure but one other reviewer made it sound as if there is an automatic gratuity of 18%. If that is true it defeats the purpose of...