Tres Machos | La Casa del Pastor — Restaurant in Virginia

Update: so I really hate typing this update, but I felt it important to do. Since roughly late July to early August 2025, the restaurant has shifted for the worse. I think new Mlmanagement has taken over. They have revamped the menu, cleared out a good chunk of the staff, and overall the experience has gotten worse. Now the service is still decent, and there are still some employees that I recognize who are super passionate, but the food has gone downhill tremendously. I get the Chori-pollo religiously, and it has changed in taste and quality. The chicken is not seasoned as well and is dry, the rice and beans are incredibly bland. And worst of all, their house-made hot sauce has changed to some generic red hot sauce that's not even hot at all. It used to be this homemade green spicy concoction, but now all it is it's something wet to moisten the food. Even the salsa they bring to the table at the beginning is worse. It's weirdly smooth and gelatinous, and lacks the same flavor as the old one. I don't think I'll be coming back here for a while. Whatever they did, they need to change it back. Bring back the quality of the food, bring back the salsa and hot sauces, and just bring back the love. This is not the same and it's saddens me.

Original post: This is a very nice hidden gem. When you come up to the building, it does not look like anything special. It just looks like an older auto building. But when you go inside, that place is very nicely renovated and spotlessly clean. I'm talking not a lick of dirt could be found.

My server was very quick and kind. Was very considerate when he was bringing out the food, and checked on me multiple times. I ordered chori Pollo, and it was very well seasoned and flavorful. I was very full and satisfied by the time I left. And the price was very good also.

If you have not gone here, check...

Honestly, I felt disappointed. I came to this restaurant because I saw an event on Facebook about Mexican music tonight, so I wanted to give it a try. I was so excited because it is not common to find places with live Mexican music.

I ordered a huarache de carne asada. I have this thing of sniffing everything before eating, so immediately I noticed a foul smell on my huarache. I picked one thing at a time (meat, tomatoes from the pico de gallo, a piece of the huarache masa, cream) until I realized it was the avocado on top. I discarded the avocado, and after that, the smell was gone. Overall, it wasn't that bad, but at some point, the huarache tasted as if it wasn't fully cooked. I only ate half of it. I think the best part of the huarache was the spicy sauce I put on top (which it came with my husband's tongue tacos). I also ordered a large draft XX amber beer, and that was fine. The chips with salsa they served at the beginning were just ok. But they weren't my favorite. The service was good, and our server was nice and attentive.

Now for the music part. When I saw the event on Facebook, I thought, "I have to listen to this Charro , so maybe I can hire him for future events, like a birthday party" because as a Mexican myself, I l9ve live Mexican music, but honestly I felt disappointed. He doesn't have a bad voice. Actually, he sings good. The problem is that he doesn't have rhythm. Estaba desfasado con la musica pues! And he didn't do any of the songs we listened to right. Not even the mananitas he sang for some girl who was celebrating her birthday there. I ain't any music expert, but I know the songs, and no one was in tune with the music. So, 3 stars because service, beer, and spicy...

1 Star for food. We came in on yesterday for Taco Tuesday ended up only buying four $1 tacos and everyone else had entrees, eight of us. The chicken had a vinegar taste, the pico tasted like it was going sour, my friend ordered a guesadilla with chicken, cheese, onions, peppers mushrooms, and pico. What she received were two soft taco size chicken and a sprinkle of cheese folded, a full plate of mushrooms, a second full plate of peppers and onions, a small bowl of pico and was told to build her own taco like she was at a Taco bar...she ordered a quesadilla where all the items should have been snuggly tucked in a large tortilla and that's not what she got. When she asked about it she was assured twice that she had received "A" quesadilla. 2Stars for atmosphere. The server began mopping the floors and the smell of the cleaning product began to burn my eyes. There were several other tables still eating, why would any business use such harsh chemicals in the company of paying guests. When I received the receipt there was an $8 charge for using my debit card to pay, they call it a non cash payment, they included a $24 gratuity on our 8 person bill, so my billed included a total of $32 extra. I usually don't mind gratuity but the almost $10 charge to use my debit card is insane. 2 stars for service because the server was nice but it took FOREVER to get our food It was definitely a bad idea to try a new place with our kids for Taco Tuesday We will go back to our twice a week at Los Panchos where the food is fast, flavorful and there are no ridiculous charges. I don't know what we were thinking. No need for the manager to respond, this was indeed OUR experience and it...