Papi Grande's Mexican Restaurant and Cantina — Restaurant in Town of Lancaster

I live in the village of Lancaster and was excited to have another place close by to eat. My husband and I love the transformation of the village into a vibrant place. Last Friday we walked to Papi Grandes and were seated right away by a very friendly hostess. We were seated at a high top table near the bar. Unfortunately whoever designed the restaurant did not take into consideration that when you walk into the front doors, the men and women’s bathrooms are right there. Strange. And we were seated by the front door and directly in front of the bathrooms. The decor was nil. It was very bare, with nothing hanging on the walls. My husband and I waited for 25 minutes with not one person coming to our table or acknowledging us. A party of four came in after us and were seated next to us and the waitress came to them twice, while ignoring us. Meanwhile, many staff members were hanging around by the hostess stand. We were trying to make eye contact and raising our hand with them, the bar tender, anyone, including someone who looked like a manager, no one looked our way. We walked out and went to another local restaurant. I understand it’s a newer restaurant, but whoever is running front of house needs to do a better job. I have told our disappointing experience with other neighbors. This is unfortunate because we want the village of Lancaster to thrive and the businesses to thrive. I hope that this restaurant gets its act together. People who own this restaurant need to be present and active in their business in order for...

I see so many positive reviews, however I suspect that folks that had a negative experience just didn’t take the time to bother with a review as they wanted to wipe the entire experience from their memory. We saw the menu online. We wanted to order a Papi’s huge pretzel for an appetizer, four veggie tacos and their signature Brussel Sprouts. Once we began to order, they no longer offer the pretzel or brussel sprouts dish. We were hungry, so decided to stay and ordered the veggie tacos and the Mexican corn dip and chips, because they do not give you any complimentary chips or salsa. The corn dip was okay, the chips were inconsistently salted with many so salted I could not eat them. The veggie tacos are very very different. Unlike any taco we ever had in taste and ingredients. Definitely not traditional Mexican. And loaded with rice. Very messy, which you expect, but yet you are provided 1 non-absorbent napkin per person until you flag someone down. Getting someone’s attention and having a conversation is difficult due to the noise level. The margarita was substandard. They are really going out on that very shaky limb when they call themselves a Mexican restaurant. Additionally, we thought it was expensive for what we received. We will not...

Living right in town I was very excited to try this place. The group we went with did get seated fairly fast but we then proceeded to wait 20-25 minutes with no acknowledgement from any staff until we flagged a waitress for assistance. The waitress let us know we were never even put in the system which is whatever simple error so she took our table. The waitress named Olivia was extremely cordial and friendly, most certainly the only positive we experienced. She was very apologetic and gave us a free queso and chips to make up for the wait which was very nice. We placed our food orders and proceeded to wait another 30-35 minutes to receive said food. The food was possibly the most bland food I've ever had. All of the food was lukewarm at best and the rice was 100% straight from a box. The primary entree I had was the smashed burger quesadilla. These quesadillas were legitimately a spoonful of overcooked greasy ground beef with a couple fries and cheese. I've legitimately had more flavorful frozen quesadillas before. One member of our group discovered a piece of what we can guess was a clear plastic fork in his rice. For the price of food it simply was disappointing. Will...