Señor Pancho's Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Southbury

This place is totally hit or miss.

We went for the first time on Saturday night around 6pm, it was mostly empty and we had an amazing (!) waitress. She was knowledgeable and she truly cared, and we had a delicious meal. If I had rated it after this experience it would have been five stars. The food was incredible, the service was unbeatable, everything was perfect.

We went back last night which was a Thursday night and it was packed. For some reason there was only one server managing the entire inside, and he was clearly burned out already at 5:30pm. I was getting eye rolls to very simple questions, and there was no manager in sight.

We asked for water twice over the course of the meal and it never came. Our food took a very long time to come (about 40 min), but disturbingly, ours came before the food of the family who had arrived before us with a two year old baby boy, who was understandably pitching a fit. They waited a least an hour after they had placed their food order for it to hit the table.

The worst thing is that the poor kid only had french fries and a quesadilla coming... how hard is it to put in a priority request to fire that first for a child? I mean...

Overall, I'll go back, but only if the parking lot is mostly empty. Someone needs to add more staff for rush times ASAP, but also, a manager with an understanding of family Dynamics is critical.

In restaurants you treat little kids like nuclear reactors. You keep them cool (hydrated), keep them happy (crayons), and give them what they need (food!), so they don't blow up, and so that their parents don't have an awful experience.

Absolutely nothing shows a lack of care more than ignoring the needs of a...

It's been 11 years since my last review. I've been coming to Senor Ponchos when this restaurant was located in Monroe CT. I still enjoy visiting. This past Labor Day weekend was more of the fun and family friendly vibe they're known for. The menu is updated slowly since my last review. Tacos and Tuesday is a large focus of their fare. I had my usual shrimp chimichanga dish and it was pleasing. Cloth napkins are back and the welcoming dish of nachos and salsa is a constant. Walking through the bar to the patio may not be ideal, but that's the way the building is configured. The last few times I've been there, we've been seated in the main restaurant. It's alive but noisy because its a family destination. The drink menu has expanded into its own menu along with the prices $$. Running restaurants in this challenging inflationary business environment must have its challenges in 2025. So it was good to see they're still thriving while maintaining a predictable pricing strategy. It's a nice they choose to use 40% recycle to-go containers that are secure and easily microwavable. The one problem is there is no recycle stamp anywhere on the lid. I had to look up what was printed on the container to figure out it's composition. I hope a lot of those don't get thrown in the garbage instead of the recycling bin....

We had a wonderful experience at Senor Panchos Mexican Restaurant. It has been a while since we were last at a Senor Panchos since we don’t live near one, but we were very pleased that we came to this one in Southbury!

The owner/manager, Andy, greeted us warmly and made us feel welcome. He then recommended some of his specialties, such as the veggie quesadillas, shrimp and spinach quesadillas, the fiesta sampler, and the veggie enchilada sampler. We decided to try them all, and we were not disappointed. All the food was fresh, flavorful, and satisfying. The portions were generous to the point that we had plenty of leftovers to bring home, and the prices were reasonable. We particularly enjoyed the chips and salsa, which were homemade and delicious, especially since the chips had a good seasoning on them that other places don’t have! The service Andy gave us was also very attentive and friendly since he ensured that we got all of our food in a timely manner.

We highly recommend Senor Panchos to anyone looking for authentic Mexican cuisine in a cozy and inviting atmosphere. Suppose you can’t make it in person. In that case, they also offer delivery on Doordash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub for your convenience, along with the traditional...