Pachanga Cocina

Reasonably priced Americanized and authentic Mexican food with a heap of comfort and fast service. I much prefer it over Ernesto’s down the street because they’re specials are much more creative, like rainbow trout or pork shank stew. The crab and shrimp enchiladas are my favorite.
The place is small, unfussy and full of locals. Parking on Friday and Saturday nights can be pretty tight.
The staff are so full of smiles and eager to please. We turned around at the door last week because we realized they closed in 10 minutes but they encouraged us to come inside and served us an excellent meal anyway. Thanks, Pachanga, we’ll be back.

My boyfriend and I went for a late dinner here and we were seated immediately. I would say the restaurant needs a little fixing up. I say in a booth and the seats were ripped up and it kept scratching the backs of my legs the entire night. We ordered the chicken cantina and the fiesta fajitas. I was a little unimpressed with the chicken cantina. Not bad but nothing special either. The fajitas on the other hand were great. They came out steaming hot. I would probably go back but this place isn’t my number one choice.

Good Tex-​Mex joint in Ellicott City. Good place for chimmichangas.

(5÷20÷2016) After an epic fail at going to see the Preakness Balloon Festival at Turf Valley (stuck in traffic for 3 hours and turned away by cops), slunk back down Route 40 with our tails between our legs. Took a quick turn into a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it strip mall right about where Frederick meets the Pike. I can’t tell what’s here except for a Tex-​Mex restaurant. Apparently, someone said there’s a dance school here, too (and they flood the restaurant on Sunday afternoons). It was pretty bustling when we arrived close to 8pm on a Friday night. We waited about 15 mins. Hostess was pretty surly, waitperson was jovial and friendly. Place was packed with every HoCo suburban type, only Hispanics were the ones working there. There were blonde soccer moms and their kids hanging with other blonde soccer moms and their kids; a huge table of, like 20, Southeastern Indians of all ages (babies to grandmas), retired couples, golf buddy dudes, and babies, so, so, many freakin’ babies. Seat yourself at the bar on the other side if you want a shorter wait, and no food-​throwing, ear-​splitting, tantrum-​screaming, babies.
Menu was your basic gringo fare: varieties of fajitas, chimis, burritos, «taco salad». We do appreciate a good horchata, this one was a little heavy on some almond flavoring. Got the Burrito Maria, a little different than the usual (we might stick to the usual next time), and while it was def different, would necessarily say we liked it better. It was a large burrito stuffed with diced, grilled chicken, and spinach. I thought the menu said it came with artichoke hearts as well, but I haven’t come across any yet. White wine sauce a little strange in flavor and consistency (congealed). I did a build your own Tres Combination with a Pork Taco (crunchy), Spinach Enchilada, and Bean and Cheese Burrito. The pork was the bomb, tender long-​roasted, well-​seasoned, juicy, pork butt or shoulder with a savory and piquant chile verde sauce. Spinach filling in the enchilada was tastier than expected, a little tart and with some roasted garlic. Enchilada sauce was smokey and rich and really way more enticing than in most Mex places in Maryland. Black beans were saucy, rice was red. We decided to try dessert, I do wish I had gone for the Tres Leches (you don’t see that every day), but we got the Xangos with Raspberry Sauce instead. It’s a banana slice and cheesecake filling rolled in a flour tortilla and deep-​fried. Pretty tasty. Prices were reasonable. I seriously doubt I’ll be out this way routinely, but if you’re out this way and too far from any decent Tex-​Mex place at home, this is not a bad place to stop in.

Service-​excellent! Food delish! I had chicken verde, he had the tacos al carbon. !
This place never disappoints.

Best Mexican place we’ve found in Maryland after looking for a keeper for nearly four years. A local Mexican restaurant owned by and staff by super friendly Latinos. Food came out quickly and was hot and delicious. Flavorful tender chicken and beef, great Mexican rice, very fresh flavorful salsa, warm chips. Great fajitas! Came on Monday when they run their «all you can eat» combinations special. This is definitely out new spot.

Best Mexican around, and I have high standards for Mexican food. Lupita is the best bartender, she always greets me with a smile and things always run better when she’s working. Only complaint I have is the recent raising of the happy hour prices for food, but the quality never disappoints. Their specials are always amazing.
Update– 4÷1÷16: The food is good as always, but after taking away the half price appetizers for happy hour, today they eliminated the half price margaritas as well. I’ll still go occasionally, but not nearly as often.

*DISCLAIMER* They received two stars because the service was very good.
The atmosphere is very warm and family friendly. Looks like people enjoyed the drinks, even though I did not have any. My family was welcomed and enjoyed the staff.
The real reason they need less than a star is because the food was memorable for all the wrong reasons. First and foremost, they do not have white cheese dip, so everyone out here that expects that in a Mexican restaurant, don’t come here. The waitress did not understand our request and came out with a bowl of white cheese.
Now I love tacos. I do not expect perfection or 100% fresh, but I expect my food to feel like they care. My shells I swear are Ortega extra stuff and they were cold. Pretty much miserable. They were half stuffed, if you get a huge shell, fill them please. The meat was cold and tasted like they use taco bell packets instead of fresh ingredients to make the spices. The tostada shell was burned and horrible. WITH THE SAME MEAT! At least the shell was fresh. The rice looks like they make it the night before using pre-​made Mexican rice mix, even though I felt the pre-​made rice mix tasted better. I will say the black beans were good, because I new they came out of a can. (I thought I had requested refried but I did not make this point to the staff because they were nice). My wife’s meal wasn’t any better. Her Chimichanga was not any better. The meat; she felt tasted like mandwich meat without the mandwich sauce. I know for a fact that this place looks like a place you go to for the atmosphere, but my wife said she would not feed her left overs to the dogs.
The staff was too nice for me to tell them how I felt, so I stayed quite. I hope that the cooks do not hurt their tips!

We chose this restaurant largely based on its location. I called ahead (about 2 hours ahead of time) for a table for 8 and they seated us within a few minutes of our arrival. The space felt really small (we were right up against the table behind us), but that may have been because there were several large groups in at the same time. The food was fine — on par with other nearby Tex-​Mex places. My brother was excited that they had a bean and cheese chimichanga on the menu (this is his favorite and he usually has to order off-​menu to get it). Service was pleasant if a bit stilted. Overall, not bad.

Great food, great food, great food! We have always enjoyed El Azteca in Clarksville. Now we have the exact same place about 15 min closer to our house. Consider this El Azteca North. Will definitely come back for the excellent Mexican food, atmosphere, and kind staff. One gripe… we called to make reservations and confirmed for 7:15. When we arrived, we were t led that they do not honor reservations on Fridays — would have been nice to know that when we called! That’s the only reason it is 4 stars and not 5.

Dang yo! I thought it couldn’t get better than El Azteca in Clarksville about 10 minutes away, but it is! Apparently, they are owned by the same folks as El Azteca and the La Palapa restaurants in the area. However, something about the food here is just off the chain. Nothing but positive things to say here.

Located in a strip mall off route 40 this local Mexican joint is as unassuming as they come. The inside is nothing to look at it as they say. But the food is definitely a step above your standard fare. The seafood soup was rich and creamy. Loads of potato and fresh shrimp. The spinach burrito was a masterpiece. However we could have done without the rich cream sauce. My combo fajitas were the weakest part of the meal as they were just OK. Too many onions, not enough meat.
Now I will say that our waitress and he staff here were excellent and accommodating. My wife asks to try the Sangria and the waitress came out with a flight of all three to try. It’s these little acts of kindness that go a far way these days. Next time I’m in the area I’ll definitely stop by for a bite. Would I drive a car ways to come here? Well, probably not considering we have great Mexican restaurants close by already (mi pueblo!). But I think this place does hold its own against the competition. It was clean which I’m a stickler for and the prices were very reasonable.

Love this place. Small authentic Mexican food. Good service. Must try the rolled chicken taquitos. Food is amazing.

A very solid mexican restaurant. Not the best mexican of anywhere, but the large portions and fresh vegetables earn this high rating. The salsa is very good along with their fajitas, very well seasoned. The service was also very good. Not crazy about paying $ 2 for a second basket of chips.

Sort of underwhelming. Very American Mexican. Tacos on flour tortillas…
Food came out fast. Everyone was very nice.
It was packed on a Friday night.
Brought my 3year old and infant no problems.
If you’re looking for authentic this isn’t really the place. If you’re looking for good, fast American Mexican this place would work for you.

Delicious meals. Big portion, and nice service.
The salsa and guacamole were fresh and definitely made in the house. However, the black beans tasted like canned beans. I ordered Texas Chimichanga and spouse ordered one of the house special, some roasted peppers with seafood filling.

My boyfriend and I were looking for some Mexican food for dinner and after reading the reviews of a few places decided to try here
We were not disappointed. It was excellent! The bar and the restaurant are separated which was nice, we chose the bar since they had some happy hour specials if you sat there. The staff was incredibly nice and we were seated and served chips right away.
I ordered the burro Cortes which was amazing the steak was perfectly cooked and full of flavor. I also had the red sangria and it was very nice and refreshing. My boyfriend got the tacos al pastor and also loved his meal. The sauce was great and again the meat was perfectly cooked.
Can’t wait to go back!

Who needs Taco Bell when you want fast Mexican food, when you can just go here (and the food is better). About 5 minutes after we ordered, our food was ready. Great for a quick lunch during the work day. One con was that you only get one basket of chips, even if you order the appetizer of guacamole. If you want more, you get charged. To me, I think it should be unlimited chips and salsa at Mexican restaurants, but that wasn’t the case here. The chicken enchiladas were pretty good.

The service was excellent but the chicken was crazy tough like literally like a thick rubber band. It seemed like it was frozen chicken breast that was overcooked in the microwave. It was one of the few times in my life, I stopped eating in the middle of dinner. All else was ok but nothing to write home about.
I’ll probably stick with entrees with no meat here.

I am increasing my review a star. I haven’t been here in years, but after my misery with another competitor, decided to give this place another try.
I was wowed with service. My chips never ran out, my salsa bowls were all over the table at everyone’s grasp, and our drinks never went past the half way mark.
My table had enchiladas, the chicken special, pork tamales, and rice/​beans. Everyone really enjoyed their dish and we even added on guacamole because our neighboring ravel had some that looked good.
This is pretty much Tex Mex… it’s kind of heavy, saucy, and cheesy, but well done.
Just commenting on Ellicott City Mexcian. this is the best we have.