Panchos Mexican Food — Restaurant in Kansas City

I'll be honest, when I first heard the description "a 24 hour Mexican drive thru", I thought this place was little more than a glorified Taco Bell. Or perhaps another disappointment like Don Chilitos, which is just a trashy Chipotle knock off, in my opinion. However, I was very pleased with my service and the aroma that filled my car as I drove home was heavenly. I will admit that I had to repeat myself 2-3 times while asking what came on one of the burritos, but I could tell that English was only this man's 2nd language based on his heavy Latino accent, and I don't think it's fair to judge a place based on something like that, especially at a MEXICAN place. So that didn't affect my opinion of the place at all, and it's not fair for anyone to judge a place based on something like that. I just thought I'd mention it so that others don't get frustrated over it, because it's not something to rate a place poorly over. I will say I was not very impressed with the drive thru menu itself. It could definitely use a make over, as it was somewhat complicated and didn't include what soft drink selections there were, and had prices taped over prices to where you couldn't completely tell which one was the true price. The food is really good though and have some very large protions, so trashy menu aside, I highly recommend it. I give it 5 stars because cosmetics aren't nearly as important as the quality/quantity of food and service. I would love to see them replace their drive thru menu eventually though. It's definitely worth the money, and I think even if you have a bad experience once, you should definitely try it again, and hopefully have a better experience, because it really is delicious.

Edit: I just want to add that I am a VERY picky eater, especially when it comes to Mexican food. I have never really liked tortillas much at all, in fact, when ever I get to a point where there's just tortilla and a small amount of cheese left in a burrito or a quesadilla, I REFUSE to eat it because it's gross to me... That's how I went about eating my steak quesadilla that I got tonight, but I decided to live on the wild side and try the plain tortilla edge (which there's not much of anyway) and the tortilla IS SO F*ING GOOD that I could not contain my delight and felt the need to update my review!!! Oh my gosh, I would come here just to buy their tortillas, I swear! So good! And I aldo forgot to mention that for about the same price as a Chipotle quesadilla, you're getting not a quesadilla, but a mountain of gooey, meaty, cheesy deliciousness. It is maybe twice the size of a Chipotle quesadilla, and while my burrito is thinner than a normal Chipotle burrito, it's longer so I think they are roughly the same size volume-wise. My boyfriend and I pay $22 at Chipotle for 2 extra steak burritos, and tonight we only paid $32 for 2 burritos, 2 quesadillas, and 1 chips and dip (queso). Even if we got the exact same order at Chipotle, it'd still be less food that Poncho's and basically the same quality and price in my opinion. The steak might be a little bit lower quality than Chipotle, but as someone who basically lives off of steak, it's still really good. Now, let all of that sink in, and get your butt iver to Poncho's. It's definitely...

Pancho's is a straight-forward mexican restaurant. Some people are expecting Pancho's to follow the generic footing as other Latin American/Mexican restaurants in Kansas City. However, Pancho's is (more or less) an authentic style of Mexican food that is "fast food". Ultimately, if you took a mexican fast food chain and meshed it with authentic Mexican dishes - you'll have Pancho's Mexican Food.

My biggest gripe is that they've begun closing the indoors during "non-peak/night hours". When I had first started enjoying Pancho's, it was brilliant for sitting down and eating (slowly) while studying or working. There are some reviewers that comment on the greasy factor. This, of course, varies depending on what you've ordered. I have had some dishes that are "just right" (burritos); but others where you feel like you've digested a good gallon of oil (chimichanga). To me, the latter is somewhat expected. I would agree that if there was less oil used or if the oil was changed more frequently, this would make their "greasy" dishes more enjoyable.

When it comes to the staff, I will admit that the vast majority of them are simply putting in their hours. In an establishment that's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, I would expect such a reaction to customers. At the same time, they could stand to improve their customer service skills a little bit. Their personalities aren't so much as foreboding or menacing that some have tried to insinuate. It's just that, at times, there's a communication gap or the overall environment just doesn't feel as though you're a "welcomed guest".

For a place that you can go to any time you want, I say Pancho's is decent. Food, however, does lack an overall level of consistency of taste/flavour. One day you'll order something and it's the best you've ever eaten, the next you'll find that it was...

I've been going here for a long time, it's the only place that has Texanos. I never really had a problem until yesterday, 6/20/17 around 5pm. My fiance and I pulled up to the drive thru, ordered our usual Texanos with added steak and this time with no potatoes since they're starting to use long fry like pieces which I absolutely hate (used to and should be southern style). Anyways the kid on the drive thru window tells me in not allowed to add steak... NOT ALLOWED? I told him I've added it every time, with NO PROBLEMS, they simply add a $2 charge.

He sits there and tells me "well they should have told you no before, we can't do that". I ask him why not, he tries telling me it's because they have only 1 cook and a cashier... There were 2 cars I the parking lot (I assume the 2 employees) and a single van in front of me, and no one behind me. Are you f**ing kidding me?! Whatever, I asked my fiance if she still wanted it, she said yes, so I told the guy we'd just take one then. What does he do? IGNORES me, so I wait a minute, he comes on the intercom "so uhh, did you still want the texanos?" in a rude as hell tone. I was pissed and drove off, first time I've ever drove away empty handed after being in a drive thru. The guy that was working around 5pm on Tuesday the 21st of June needs to go, WORST SERVICE EVER! They seemed new maybe, I didn't recognize the voice. Panchos is usually pretty good though but that person is terrible and should be fired. There is no training someone like that, he will always have bad manners.

Gonna have to start searching for somewhere else that has texanos. If anyone knows of a place...