Pancho’s Mexican Restaurant & Cantina

With limited parking they valet so bring a few bucks extra on the weekends.
Restaurant has bad acoustics so unless you enjoy yelling across the table this isn’t a place to talk with friends.
Waiters had another table crammed so close they had to slide their butts across my table every time they passed by. That got old quick — and the dead bug in the water glass.
Food was great — chips & salsa very good but all those butts wiping across my table… not cool

We arrived with a party of 12 on a Thursday night. The restaurant was fairly busy with smaller tables, but we were seated in 5 minutes after arriving. The restaurant had a great variety of menu items, some typical Mexican fare and other items that you don’t see every day. There are vegetarian items available as well. I ordered the Chipotle Shrimp which came with rice, guacamole salad, and the shrimp were topped in a cream sauce. I believe it was tequila cream sauce, but don’t hold me to that. The shrimp were cooked over a flame grill rather than in a sauté pan and had that incredible smokey flavor from being slightly charred. It brought a good balance to the cream sauce. If you go you owe it to yourself to try some of the more unusual items that will cost around $ 15.

Ponchos is epic … Great food great drinks. Get the frozen margarita pitcher !!! And street style tacos mmmmmmmm then modelo to wash it down… Ask for Jesus the waiter he is great…
Back for a millionth time, killed a cow and put it on the the grill for street tacos. Our favorite waitress is here Olivia the best

This is my favorite Mexican restaurant in Atlanta, mainly because the margaritas are delicious and strong, the food is great, and the tortillas are always hot and fresh. The staff is friendly, too, and they have live music on the weekends. My husband and I often sample other places, but so far, we haven’t found anything better.

Excellent meal and very good service. I had the Paella and it was one of the best I’ve had in Atlanta. The whole family enjoyed the experience

Oh how we have loved Pancho’s. It’s your good olé’ Hole-​in-​the-​Wall Mexican food.
Plastic seated booths, killer patio, strong margaritas, creamy white cheese dip — aka «the low-​budget works» (+gorgeous patio! which is a total bonus).
It’s mildly dirty — friendly mexican staff — the food comes out with few colors — etc.
Like I said — hole in the wall style — fits the bill for a margarita night and some quick tasty tacos.
I’ll never be back — now that I found A COCKROACH in my refried beans.
I may not eat for the rest of the day.
I boxed up my leftovers (all of the beans and rice) and set them in the corner of the table while we chatted and wrapped up drinks. The leftovers went straight to my fridge — true they were transported in my car but I drive an airtight — very clean — new CRV — and this sucker was buried DEEP in the beans. I spooned them out today and guess who had been having a delicious *bean nap? Mr. Cucaracha. I’m mortified.
This is goodbye, Panchos. Good luck with your roaches, and thanks all of the good times.

Gr8 food, Service, and margarita ordered a number 4 special chili relleno, taco, burrito. I will definitely be returning to this restaurant the next time I’m in this area

This place is probably one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in the Atlanta area. The staff is always attentive, courteous, friendly and professional. I was out on Sunday with a party of friends. We made the severely tragic and unfortunate choice to go to this nasty, sad, little knock-​off, fake, bootleg Mexican restaurant called El Ponce.
Well my party walked into El Ponce; was NOT greeted or even acknowledged and completely ignored by management and wait staff, mind you it was a slow day with ONLY about 7 people in the entire restaurant and most of them had already been served!
After wasting 15 minutes of our very valuable time on a very beautiful day; we all decided that we would NOT be spending one red cent in this nasty ass joint so we got up, walked out and went to a muuuuuuuuuch better Mexican restaurant; my old faithful standby that never lets me down by the name of Pancho’s Mexican Restaurant & Cantina located at 2641 Buford Highway, Atlanta, Ga. 30 324
Inside of 3 minutes of entering the facility we were greeted and seated by the hostess, and acknowledged by our server. Within 5 minutes we had chips, salsa, menus and water; with our drink orders having been submitted to our server.
Within 10 minutes of arriving to Pancho’s, our appetizers arrived; 10 minutes later the main entrees arrived. So to recap; it took the servers and staff at Pancho’s 15 minutes to seat my party, take our drink and appetizer orders and bring us water and chips whereas in the 15 minutes wasted at El Ponce and we couldn’t even get water. Guess where I’m going the next time I crave Mexican food? Hint: It sure as heck will NOT be El Ponce!
My word of mouth referral goes as follows; the next time you get a craving for some great, authentic Mexican food and excellent service do yourself a favor; bypass the overpriced, ratchet, poor customer service you will undoubtedly receive at that low budget El Ponce and make the short trip to Pancho’s on Buford Highway, you will be glad that you did and you will never look at El Ponce In the same light again! The ONLY reason why this place received 1 star is because I couldn’t give it a negative 10… AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS and go to Pancho’s instead! You will be glad that you did…

Delicious! I was very happy with my meal. The tortillas were fresh and crisp. The house salsa not overly spicy but full of flavor. I also liked the fact the salsa had some substance to it. not too watery a purée like you often get at most Mexican restaurants. I ordered the cheese dip, which I must say was a bit bland. My entrée was the beef chimichanga. ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENT! The tortilla was not too thick or greasy. The slow simmered beef inside was full of slow cooking flavor, ever so tender and stuffed full. I was very pleased, and will definitely return in the very near future!
My server Ashley, was very friendly, and attentive!

My husband wanted to relive his 20’s by eating at Pancho’s. Skeptical as ever I made him check the Unilocal reviews. 3 stars. So I made him compare it to some of our other Mexican restaurants. Also 3 stars. I pull in.
The valet caught us off guard but whatever. The space was nice and fairly new. Hubby said it was totally different.
The menu had lots of options — not all Mexican. But we were there for Mexican! I thought the chips were fresher and crisper than most and the queso was really good. I had a combo plate and Hubby had fajitas. The food came quickly and looked great. Lots of extra veggies with the fajitas — not just the basic onions and peppers. Up until now, 4.5 to 5 stars. But then…
Nothing. No refills, no «how’s everything?», no box, no check. We sat and sat. Plenty of wait staff saw us but no one offered to help or to find our waitress. (It also bothered me that wait staff would walk by dirty tables and do nothing.). Finally the person, not our waitress, who brought our food out asked if we needed anything else. By now the credit card is on the table so we quickly handed it to her and asked for a box.
Sorry Pancho’s, good food can’t make up for bad service.

Bad service, took order and ran, nothing to drink with meal. NOT FRIENDLY. WON’T GO BACK!

Chris is our server oh my OMG he is so off I L-​O-​V-​E him he took care of me got me make the order guacamole only from the kitchen super French make sure all my drinks were amazingly on point and on top of it he’s cool he as a mama! Christopher the server is so awesome I had to tip him before my dinner even came because without Andy therapy and I’m going to tip them again at least 30 to 40% if you have the opportunity to come here make sure you ask for Chris and tip him well because he will treat you like the king or queen you Are…

My order did not include any toppings for my soft tacos. I asked the server & waitress 3 times and still didn’t get them. Food ended up getting cold as a result. The person I was with ended up getting extremely sick from the food she ate as well…
Go for cheap drinks but leave it at that. stick to the chips & salsa. That was the best thing about my meal. I will not be going back…

Kids menu — n/​a, but you can order a la carte (tacos, enchiladas) or side dishes (black beans, rice) in portions that are perfect for kids.
Kids review — it was awesome! The beef quesadilla was more like a giant taco. So much meat! We also tried all three enchiladas. The beef was the best but the chicken was good too.
Parents review — its a bit incongruous because it looks like a dump but it’s not. We liked the valet parking, fun atmosphere and really quick food service. The drinks were fine but the food was amazing. Try the Tres Caminos — shrimp, chicken and steak sautéed with huge cloves of garlic, fresh spinach and grape tomatoes and topped with a jalapeño cream sauce. Awesome. We will be back, Pancho!

Overall, I LOVE Panchos! I’m a regular here. Lol! The servers know me & my order without me having to say anything. I’ve been coming here for years, and I order the SAME thing… chicken fajita nachos, baby! I strayed away from the norm once, but I’m not a big fan of authentic Mexican food so I don’t even know why I did that. Depending on the chef, quality may be hit or miss, but I think that I have been pleased more times than I’ve been disappointed. I’m not a big drinker, but I’ve tried the margaritas… ehhh… all of the «flavors» taste the same, to me. Go get you some Chicken Fajita Nachos & say, «Hola!» to Venus.

I love Mexican food. And margaritas. This place hits the spot and is cheap. Parking is not so great. But the mariachi band makes up for it.
They have a fantastic patio that’s great for large groups. You are looking out over 85 which is kind of cool.
They have great margaritas that are pretty cheap. The queso is good. Standard issue on chips and salsa.
Shrimp enchiladas weren’t anything to rave in but I didn’t expect much. At least it came with sour cream and guacamole. The refried beans weren’t that good. The chicken quesadilla dinner was s big hit. It was huge and stuffed full of grilled chicken and cheese with queso on top. I’ll get that again.
Friend had the shrimp chile relleno. It got rave reviews.
Very traditional Mexican food and atmosphere. Will be back especially during patio season. Oh and don’t forget about the mariachi band who will serenade you during dinner (if you wish).

Amazing Mexican food. I went here with a party of 4. we were seated quickly on the patio, even though it looked super packed. Got serenaded by the band. They made their rounds and came back around and asked if we wanted another song. The guitar player made sure that his «Tips» sign was in plain view. I drunkenly told him that we didn’t have any more cash, he politely walked away lol
Our waiter was Christopher. He was amazing! He offered suggestions on the menu and what his family usually orders. I teased him about that and let him know that he didn’t have to get his family involved with his lies lol He brought out some STIFF pitchers of margaritas (yes plural) we were getting toasted that night. I tried the Shrimp Relleno as recommended by Christopher. Wuuuuuuuut! That stuffed pepper was filled with fresh shrimp and rice and smothered in red sauce. It was GREAT. I wanted to order another one to go cuz my party kept sticking their dirty ass forks in my plate! My bff couldn’t help but try it since she was torn between ordering what I had and the Chimichangas.
I have to come here again with the hubz so he can experience this. He said that before he met me, the closest he got to Mexican food was Taco Bell lol

Dear Pancho’s,
I owe you a huge apology. When I’m wrong, I’m wrong and not afraid to admit it. You are actually one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Atlanta. I’m just going to chalk that Montezuma’s revenge experience up as a fluke.
I hadn’t visited you in over a year since our last ill fated dinner together. When I pulled into your parking lot, you were still quite sketch. Okay we noticed a used needle. Yeah that happened. You are on Buford Highway after all. Once I got inside though, I was taken aback by your makeover. You so fancy! The bar was completely redone since I’d last visited.
We opted for your patio though. It’s probably the worst patio in Atlanta with a scenic view of the interstate. That’s okay though because your margaritas are strong and queso is cheesy. You really redeemed yourself with your shrimp relleno. Holy best thing I ever ate. It was a perfectly cooked chile relleno pepper stuffed with blackened shrimp and queso. I can’t even begin to describe just how delicious this thing is. I could eat it nightly. It stayed down the next day too. TMI.
I can’t wait to come back to hang out with you on a Friday night to enjoy a shrimp relleno and your mariachi band. Please accept my apologies. I think we just got off to a rough start.
Te Amo,
Mary Locke

If you like stale chips and mediocre food, you’ve found the right place! 2 stars instead of 1 for cheap beer and a decent atmosphere. Too many other good Ted-​Mex places around to go here

Pancho’s is a hidden gem! We loved the food, drinks, service, mariachis & casual unpretentious atmosphere! I had their combination with a mole enchilada, paella & taco… It was so amazing I practically polished the plate! Not to mention the fantastic margaritas! They even had some off-​the beaten trail favorites like HORCHATA & grapefruit soda!!! Love, love, love this place!