Patrón Tacos & Beer — Restaurant in Powdersville

October 2024 - Summary: This is their first, last, and final review from me because I'm never coming back again. After their cavalcade of comedies, lack of pricing on their in-house menus, lack of salsa and table condiments, and their bill over-charging and making no sense whatsoever, I understand why their restaurant was empty. The only reason they are getting 2 stars instead of 1 is because the food was tasty.

The Details: First time ever being here and my first impression was a clean, nice, well laid out restaurant. However, this was followed by the following red flags: No cars in the parking lot, employees hanging out at the front of the restaurant, only one other table with guests, and no seasonings like salt, pepper, hot sauce, or anything on any of the tables.

We sat down at 2:25P not knowing lunch ends at 2:30P. Lunch menus were given and I asked if we could get the dinner menus, but she said they were only serving lunch. I waited 5 minutes and then asked, “Can I get the dinner menu now?" She then gave it to me. Neither the in-house lunch menu nor dinner menus have prices.

They brought complimentary chips and about an ounce of flavorless pureed bean dip. And of course, with no condiments on the table, I couldn't doctor it up. No salsa was offered complimentary nor for order under “Chips": Only queso, queso and beans, or queso and guac, so we ordered a large queso costing us $10! No plates meant we just had to dip and rush it to our mouths before it dripped.

I asked for 3 hard shell steak tacos and a side of rice and beans. Simple for a Mexican restaurant, right? The waitress asked if I wanted those street style or regular American style. I said the regular where I again reiterated hard shell tacos. (You already know what I received.) I also asked for lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and cheese. She said, “You want a salad?” I said, “No, I want to put them on the tacos.” She started walking away, but then turned around with obvious confusion and said, “You want us to do that?” I said, “Yeah, sure.” Then she hesitated and thought about it, so I said, "You know what, just put it on the side and I'll build it myself.” She said okay and went to put the order in. Then she came back a minute later and said, “You want lettuce, tomato, and sour cream, right?” I said, "Yes, and the cheese.” She said, "Oh yeah.” I told my dinner guests, "There's no way that order is coming back correctly.”

What I received were 3 ‘soft’ tacos, with a side of rice and beans. She said the toppings were coming up. I again asked for 3 hardshell tacos and the rest came a minute later with sufficient lettuce and sour cream, but a thimble of tomatoes. I said, “And the cheese?" She said, “Oh yeah." and later returned with a thimble of cheese.

The food was fresh and delicious. I have no qualms about the taste, quality, or temperature of the food. It was very good.

Empty drinks sometimes took 5 minutes to be noticed. Remember, we were the only other seat in the entire restaurant.

My meal came with 3/4s of a lime, however, literally, Not-A-Single-Drop came out of that lime. (See my pictures.)

What did I get to watch on the TV while sitting at my table? The Roku screen saver. (See my pictures.)

Then came time for the bill. I was curious what I was about to pay for this mystery pricing venue. For 3 people, it came to just under $60 dollars. Not horrible for similar type restaurants, but what struck me as as odd was a mysterious “Surcharge” of $1.61. When I asked the waitress what that meant, she pointed out at the bottom that this was a 2.6% charge added to any bill not using cash for payment. How did they know I wasn't going to pay cash? Had I paid cash, would they have deducted it? (See my pictures.)

After doing the math myself at the table with a calculator, the bill should’ve been $58.76. Our bill was $58.88. They were charging 12¢ more.  What kind of VooDoo economics / math are they playing with? I still don't understand it. Look at the bill and see if you can figure it out.

Bottom Line...

Where's the 6th star? I've been blessed to have been to write a few Michelin starred restaurants and this little strip mall Mexican joint surpassed many of them. In fact, I will say that this meal is in my top 5 of all time.

I had to kill some time before my hotel check-in and decided to grab a late lunch. I was feeling tacos and looked for three closest local Mexican restaurant. From the outside it was just another strip mall restaurant, dark tinted glass and a catchy sign. On entering you are greeted with a surprisingly large seating area, a large beautiful, well stocked bar, and a hot sauce station; all of which was very clean and nicely put together. I decided to sit at the bar and immediately admired the organization and the variety of liquors. Each variety contained several options from low, middle, and top shelf.

I was immediately given a bowl of fresh made tortilla chips and bean dip. The woman behind the bar signaled she'd be right over and promptly showed up with a glass of water and the menu. I ordered a cocktail and began looking over the menu. At first I was a touch worried, a little bewildered maybe; there were no prices on the menu, not a single one. I kept looking and became more curious. While there are several common options, burritos, fajitas, quesadillas etc., there were plenty of options that were designed by the restaurant that were unique.

I settled on the chicken Forever Poblanas. Spicy grilled chicken rolled in corn tortillas smothered in molé sauce and served with guacamole salad and your choice of beans or rice. I chose rice because I presumptively judge every Mexican restaurant immediately based on the quality of the Mexican rice. So many serve that bland, dried out, flavorless rice, that you can just tell the quality of the meal right there. Not Patrón, this rice was fluffy, moist, and full of flavor. There were no lumps, or dry spots, it didn't stick to the plate. It was fresh and you could taste the ingredients. The guac salad was seasoned nicely, a nice refresher between bites.

The chicken was great quality, pounded even and grilled perfectly. But the star of the show was the molé. The sauce was rich and thick without being gluey. There was no inconsistencies in its texture. The flavors were balanced and nuanced; layers of rich Mexican chocolate with layers of chili peppers touched with superbly subtle notes of cinnamon and other seasonings. My family has always considered my molé to be very good and I was humbled by what I was putting in my mouth.

An incredible surprise right off the highway and outside of the city. If you're driving through or if you live within 20 miles, I highly suggest...

VERY disappointed today (for the record, Patron is one of my family's favorites, but we haven’t been in 6+ months)...so, I guess something’s have changed. First, I thought it was extremely odd that the menu didn’t have prices. When I asked (when we revived our check), the waiter referred me to their online menu, unapologetically. We were there with family friends from out of town and didn’t make any big deal of it at the time we ordered. I ordered a guac salad with a side of chicken, expecting to be charged accordingly. Instead, I was charged for a meal called ACP at a higher price than I anticipated. Our waters weren’t refilled once. When I asked for the refills (after the check was brought), we received glasses back 2/3s full. I asked for a full glass, but never received one after 15 mins later. On my way out, I “thanked” the waiter (yes, very sarcastically) for my full refill. He responded snarkily and invited us back next time (to which I responded equally as snarky that wouldn’t be the case). He went on to say that it was okay because they have plenty of other customers. Our group was 10, so 20% gratuity was added (no problem, normally), but today I had no leverage to adjust my tip based on my experience. Tips still have to be earned, right? I hope you consider this review AND, more importantly, don’t have the same experience we did (should to choose to eat here). Nothing surprises me anymore…but that doesn’t mean I...