Poncho's Restaurant — Restaurant in McAllen

Where do I begin? We had a party of 20 for my daughters basketball team and parents. Parents were seated at one table (13 adults) and kids (7 kids) at the other table. We get seated fairly quickly with 4-5 setups of salsa on each table and no menus or napkins or chips. The waiter comes to get drink orders. We ask for drink menus which he said they didn’t have any. Okay no big deal we just ordered what we wanted based off what we usually like. We get our chips before our drinks come out. Still not an issue. Still a little annoyed we haven’t been given any menus yet. We were eventually brought maybe 6 menus to share and the kids brought 2 to look over. Our drinks come out and we begin ordering for us and our kids. I can’t speak for everyone but I ordered for my 2 daughters sitting at the nearby table. Refills on drinks mainly came from one of the parents that found a pitcher of coke and a pitcher of sprite nearby and was able to fill our glasses because the waitstaff was very inattentive. Food came out fairly quickly. Still no napkins but one of the parents was able to track down a napkin dispenser from an empty table so he distributed napkins to everyone at our table. One of the kids and one of the adults at our table did not get their food which was then told to the waiter. Their new plates of food came out after everyone else was done eating. Now it’s time to split the checks. After a grueling 45 mins of everyone having to re explain what we ordered to the waiter, most of us got our tickets. But where’s mine? So I walk up front because at this point it’s been an hour since we’ve been ready to go, and I’m handed a ticket for $93.41 for 1 adult entree ($17.75), one margarita and 2 kids meals? Nope they charged us for adult meals for the kids. After explaining that can’t be right the waiter argues that’s what the kids ordered and that’s the price. But no I told you what to order for the kids and I never said $20 meals for them. Then he gets his manager who still doesn’t try to fix the issue. After 20 mins of this, I’m finally given a corrected bill for $73 which still wasn’t correct. I just was so desperate to get out of there at that point I just paid it. This was the absolute worst service of any restaurant I’ve...

ATMOSPHERE & STAFF: It's dark inside and it was hard to see with the afternoon light coming in through the windows; the temperature was a little too cold (for me), you may need a light sweater. It's a big space, lots of room between tables and servers are wearing masks - nice to see that they're caring for their staff and customers. FOOD: There were 3 adults and 1 child in our group. One person had a bowl of menudo that they enjoyed very much (I can't say because I don't eat menudo), but it was the appetizer and it was the size of a cereal-bowl. We had the lemonade - it was ok but I couldn't tell if it was freshly made or from concentrate and it was too sweet for me. Two of us shared the flautas dinner - we thought their beans and rice had good flavor and the 5 flautas were crispy. The kid had 2 crispy beef tacos and "they were very cheesy" (per the kid), they definitely liked the tacos but the plate was not child size, there was as much food as the adult plate. The portions here are way off, it's too much food for an average size person. There were other little things that were missing in the service - they didn't think to bring an extra plate or utensils and we had to ask for tortillas - they're usually offered at other restaurants, so it was surprising. Also, it seems like a fancy restaurant but everything was disposable except the plates (to be fair, this may be due to covid and safety issues). EXTRAS: They had a sopes plate and my kid loves sopes! When we asked if we could order a la carte (1 sope), the waiter seemed put out and gave us the "well I'd have to ask..." and "they'd have to price it..." In the service industry, the best servers usually say "I'll be happy to check" (even if it's a lie, it makes me feel like they care) - make the customer happy, right? There were mariachis playing songs for tips. They had a stage for karaoke. There was a full bar - but we didn't order anything. I'm on the fence about this place. I liked it, I didn't love it but I might go back because there were some interesting items...

Did not want to believe the terrible reviews I recently read on FB. Mainly about the rude service and overcharging of prices. I called several restaurants and asked for prices on botanas. Everyone I called gave them to me over the phone. I called this place and immediately the lady answering the phone wanted to know for how many people. I said I wanted to compare prices to see if it was more convenient to buy several for 2 or 4 people, etc. I said I needed to feed about 15-18 persons. She says they have party packages. I said no, I just want prices of botanas. She passes the phone to a gentleman who says he can't give me prices over the phone but are welcome to go in and they can discuss packages and prices. Ugh. Really? No thank you. A customer has the right to compare and shop around, not feel forced to drive to every business to get prices. I'm not organizing a wedding here but just a family get together. We've been there 2 years ago for my son's graduation lunch and they too tried to get my husband to get their outrageously priced party packs but my husband is firm and stuck to what he requested and didn't let them suck him into ordering more than we needed, which were about 5 botanas for 4 people and he made sure we got what the order says it comes with. Don't go to this place unless you are ok with being taken advantage...