Pancho's Mexican Buffet — Restaurant in Mesquite

If you don't mind eating off of dirty trays, drinking out of dirty cups and being served by staff members that act as if they're doing you a favor then Pancho's Mesquite is the place for you. The only reason I stayed to eat at this filthy location is the group of people I came with drove a long distance to get there so so everyone agreed to stay.

They had staff hiding from the customers in 2nd dining room on the left. They were eating and returning to the customer's tables without washing their hands.

Our waitress was behind the counter cooking sopapillas with one hand and talking on her cell phone with the other hand in plain site. Then she had the nerve to bring 3 sopapillas to a table of 8 people lol. We asked for more so she brought us 2. Lucky us 🙂 We all used to-go cups because the cups we were given had cloudy white stuff on them. While there I only ate tacos and flatus because I was afraid to put their filthy utensils on my mouth.

Out of all of these negative things the main thing that pissed me off was... upon arrival we decided to sit on the left side in the additional dining area because we had a large party. Apparently they didn't want anyone sitting there. Instead of telling us that the staff decided to move a table and a chair in front of the breeze way to block us in the dining room area which is a fire hazard. This is a buffet, if we're blocked in we can't get anything to drink, we can't get any condiments, we can't even go to the bathroom.. As I mentioned the staff was hiding there so they had the opportunity to suggest we chose another spot. But instead of doing that they chose to come stare at us 1 by 1 and talk trash. Even The Manager. Honestly this location needs to learn from the Arlington/FTW location what good service is because ya'll really suck. And you need to bring back the flags because your staff are not doing their jobs. Actually the health department should shut you down. Maybe we went on a bad day but our experience was so bad that I will never return again.

I am giving 1 star because the staff behind the buffet counter were very friendly and nice. And the parking lot was clean actually the parking lot is the only thing...

4 stars food, 4 stars service. It's Pancho's. It's the best, worst Mexican food. The food is not traditional Mexican food. It's tasty, if not spicy, (albeit somewhat bland compared to heavily seasoned food) hot food at a decent value.

My first exposure to chille rellenos as a child, some 40 ish years ago, was Pancho's. Traditional Mexican chille rellenos just don't do it for me. I love the puffy breading and the fact that I can taste the green chille without having to scrape seeds out as I'm eating and without having to swim through a sea of greese in the thin breading, as often the case with "real" chille rellenos.

One thing that has usually disappointed me in most Pancho's is the guacamole. On a recent visit to this location at about 11am, the guacamole was actually a really good mix that tasted of avacado and wasn't overloaded with lettuce shavings to thin it out and wasn't overly watery (which can either be deliberate to thin it as cost savings or a side effect of not properly drying or draining lettuce, onions or, especially, tomatoes added to the mix). Hopefully they keep that quality because it is rather expensive compared to the rest of the menu.

Sopapillas were typically great, although at the time I went in, there seemed to be a wait for them which delayed my to-go order (order placed in the restaurant) with several people making their way through the buffet line that came in after I ordered. So, that took off 1 star for service.

The restaurant appeared clean around the serving area.

If you already know what Pancho's is, this is one of the better locations I've ever visited and I'd definitely recommend it when you have a craving for good bad Mexican food.

I ordered to go, but the buffet, while being more expensive iirc, is probably a better value if you are hungry and in the mood to eat in the restaurant.

A note on to-go orders, they don't have buffet to go (some places that do buffet will sell to-go by weight or however much you can pile in a to-go box). At pancho's, they sell various plates and you can add in whatever you want in addition. I typically order the chille relleno plate (includes rice, beans, and 2 Sopapillas) and add an...

I love Panchos... always have. But I was concerned about going to a restaurant that had a buffet service. This iconic restaurant did a phenomenal job making sure their customers stay safe. The condiments bar, drinks and dessert bars were all close down but that was OK because they took care of us right from the back side of the serving bar. Every worker in the restaurant wore face masks from the counter server, to the take out service and the bus boy who did a marvelous job cleaning and disinfecting the tables and seats after clearing the dishes. Thank you Panchos for caring about your customers and having your servers wear face mask. Gone were the little red, white and green flags on the table where you could request seconds. But that was just fine because all you had to do was just go up, notify the lady at the register and she would get someone to refill an item for you. Hot sopapillas were made to order on request and brought to the table with little containers of butter and honey. I was very impressed with the way it all worked out. And of course… the chili rellenos, guacamole, tacos and green chilli stew, which are my long time favorites, were muy delicioso outstanding. I am so glad that this little hometown restaurant is still around. I miss the original one that is now long gone (was in Pleasant Grove on Buckner Blvd). My boys, now in their late 30s, loved going there with their grandparents on Sunday after church....and the colorful party pinatas were a site to behold! Ah the good old days.... but this little jewel tucked away in a small shopping strip in the CasaView area of Mesquite, is worth the drive if you like original Texas "TexMex" dishes. Buffet price is still awesome at $7.99 weekdays and $8.99 on the weekends. We will be back...