Don Pablo’s

Their food was just alright, pretty bland.
The service was bad. Hostess was fine, but our server was a nightmare. Not only did he not bring us thimgs we asked for (guacamole, forks, water), but he charged us for several things we did not order. I called them about this 2 weeks ago, and have yet to have it fixed.

Not for nothing, but in no way can this be construed as authentic Mexican cuisine. Nope, it falls far short of the mark, in my opinion. Here’s what you will get if you choose to dine here: Soggy quesadillas and burritos of an unappetizing texture, chips that aren’t particularly fresh and tend toward staleness, nothing that really resembles fresh ingredients anywhere, and dry, sticky rice.
On top of that, this is not the cleanest of establishments (nor the dirtiest, either, to be fair). My husband’s food smelled like smoke and the beef was seared, extremely dry and overcooked. My meal was beyond bland and much of it tasted like it came directly from a box or can.
In spite of the dismal food quality, the wait staff is pretty okay, somehow managing to cover all of the tables in a timely manner, even when the place is slammed. The bar features a few decent mixed drink specials, but that’s about it.

I grew up near Flint and remember great food and a great atmosphere at Don Pablo’s. So while visiting some family with my fiancée I thought I would go back for some of that same great food and atmosphere. I remember great tortillas, queso, and delicious sopapillas. Well, that’s no longer the case at Don Pablo’s. They have become a chain restaurant that cooks everything in a microwave (or what seems like it). We ordered chicken fajitas and a chicken chimichanga – both with sides of rice and the corn spoonbread. First bad sign: the food came out within 5 minutes of ordering. Second bad sign: the spoonbread was a dark amber – obviously overcooked. Third bad sign and possibly the worst of them all: gray chicken that was rubbery to chew. We sent the fajitas back and shared most unauthentic chimichanga and then decided we’d try the sopapillas. They came out okay, but very oily and cold. I don’t recommend going to Don Pablo’s, drive a little further South to Sagebrush Cantina for a better meal.

I shouldn’t even give a one star on this it was a joke food was terrible and help was equally terrible save your money…

There used to be a Don Pablo’s in Canton and I loved it. I was pretty excited to see this place off the expressway on my way home from Frankenmuth. We arrived late — about 45 minutes before closing. They should have had plenty of time to serve us before they closed but unfortunately we were just getting our food at closing time.
The menu was the same as I remembered, but the food was just meh. Nothing special. The best thing was the homemade flour tortillas that we ordered with the dip sampler. That would have been good if it hadn’t sat and got cold.
We were there for a birthday and they did come and sing and made my friend wear a sombrero. The funny thing was it was just 2 of the servers and by this time the restaurant was empty except for our table. But I guess it was still a nice gesture. They brought out some sopapilla that was pretty tasty. But very greasy (are they always like this? I have never had them).
Maybe I’m spoiled by authentic Mexican places like the ones downtown Detroit or the little Mexican grocery I love — Dos Hermanos. I won’t be returning.

After stopping at the nearby orchards, we were ready for linner. My wife loves this place (well at least she used to.) This trip merely validated why I don’t like it.
We were one of two tables in the whole place. In short, service was slow and inattentive and food was mediocre at best. I give the place points for fresh pressed tortillas but the dough is too sweet for my taste.
If you’ve read my reviews of Mexican restaurants, particularly those that really are Tex-​Mex, I’m left scratching my head. How do you screw Tex-​Mex up? Simple by design but routinely over thought and poorly executed. I ordered the shrimp tacos for $ 13. My mistake. I get about seven small cocktail shrimp in the whole order. Dirty pool old man.
Lesson learned. It will be another decade before I go back. Next time it will be a stop at Ruggero’s when we dine at the Miller Rd. exit.

I haven’t been to a Don’t Pablo’s in years and we went to this location today and it was fabulous. From our server, Matt, to the food everything was excellent. Not a fan of chains much anymore, and good service nowadays is hard to come by, but 100% recommended. If you go, ask for Matt as your server!

The hostess must have quit right before we walked in, 5 solid minutes with no sign of an employee other than waitresses running around busy, too bad, this was Pablo’s last shot before landing on the boycott list, was a nice place 10 years ago.

Service was awful, plates for the prices were good, the Margaritas were soggy and diluted and the only thing great was the taste of the food.

hadn’t had Don in years as the location closest to me had been shot down years ago but went into the Flint location today and it was just as good if not better than I remember it being! AWESOME food! wish they’d open up near my home again!

Your dining experience heavily depends on your server here. Ask for Angie and you’ll be taken care of. The food is alright, but she is really the reason we keep coming back here.

This place sucks donkey *****. I hadnt been to Don Pablo’s in forever and I like Mexican food. I felt like tacos and decided to try there Buffalo Chicken Tacos. What a joke. I get 3 tacos and there put an oversized soft shell like the ones they use for the quesidillas. Look at the pictures I posted just terrible. I also ordered the Guac and chips and they bring me taco shells broke in half!!! Are you kidding me? The food just plain old sucks. I could have my 3yr old son make me better mexican food then this place

As vegetarians and a gluten-​free child, we often can’t find suitable restaurants. After explaining our needs, the General Manager Robin sat with us to help make reading the heavy-​meat menu viable for our family. They made custom orders and substituted extra for us. They were very eager to serve us and give us exactly what we asked and offer suggestions. The spinach enchiladas were great. Refritos were a bit dry, but would not keep us away!

2.56 stars — and that last 0.56 is only because of an awesome waitress, good chips and unlimited tacos.
I used to like this place a lot — it had some character and atmosphere, and very decent food. They have remodeled in the last year or so and now it is sterile and bleh. The atmosphere has lost all trace of Mexicanness and now appears to be a confused Tex-​mex place that serves highly overpriced food of okay quality. The ONLY reason I would come here is the unlimited tacos on Tuesdays, I think (not 100% on that) and the very good chips that I suspect are made there.
Why did you remodel? It was better before! Put some stuff back on the wall to make it look better and fix the ridiculous echo-​ness in the main room.

This is my favorite Mexican restaurant. Probably because it’s «Tex-​Mex» and it’s not authentic. I don’t like authentic Mexican food, too many onions and peppers in EVERYTHING. I love their chicken and steak quesadilla, their corn spoon bread is amazing, and their white cheese to dip the chips in is my favorite. The service here sucks most of the time that’s why they’re not getting a full 5 stars, but their food is so good that I just deal with the service. I like their reward card, you get a good number of benefits through-​out the year!

An upscale Taco Bell with alcoholic beverages. The place was not clean, the service was slow, but the waitress was very nice. Stick with Taco Bell and get your beverages at your favorite watering hole.

This place is way past its prime. The waitress was very good, but the food and the accuracy of our order was a little suspect. Skip this place and stick with the locally owned ones.

This place has REALLY gone downhill over the years. We won’t be back. Dirty, poor quality food, even worse clientele. Smelled like a dumpster. A dumpster at a sewage treatment facility. Not a nice sewage treatment dumpster either.

First off, I should defend the local management of this Don Pablo’s. It’s not their fault that it is so disgusting. 15 – 20 years ago, Don Pablo’s was voted best Mexican chain in the country for several years in a row. The problem is that, after it went corporate, the quality started to decline. In recent years, it has plummeted. The fault of the demise of the great restaurant that Don Pablo’s once was lies entirely with their corporate office. I am a personal friend of one of the founders and original owners of the Don Pablo’s chain, and the restaurant is nothing like his original vision. Those of us who miss what they once were should bombard their corporate headquarters with written demands that Don Pablo’s return to serving quality food made from fresh ingredients. Get rid of everything that is pre-​made and pre-​packaged.

great food, they got problems like all restaurants, but we go every saturday, out of all the mexican restaurants ive tried, don’s is the best