It’s not often that I give a thumbs down to a restaurant, but unfortunately, this is one of them.
This Mexican food is ordinary, lacking spice or real flavour. To be honest, it tasted like packet stuff straight from the bargain supermarket. Add to this that several people felt off the next day (I had a headache), and you get the feeling there’s a fair bit of preservative flying around.
We tried cocktails, and what an unpleasant experience it was. Inferior juices mixed with alchohol and very lacklustre. Supposedley the Margarita was considered alright by a fellow diner, but a Pina Colada that arrived looked flat and uninviting.
When the comment was made that it really didn’t look like a Pina Colada, it was still placed on the table with an explanation that it wasn’t made with any real pineapple, just tinned juice. Yuck.
To top off the evening, I watched the owner as he drank beers with friends and behind at the service counters, and leeringly asked one of his (slim) waitresses to "move her fat arse" when he was trying to get to the cash register.
One positive point – the meals (in the $15-25 range) are very generous – almost enough for two people.
Sorry, but the Pancho Villa Mexican Restaurant in Lennox Head is a place to avoid, unless you are desperate.
I’m not even going to leave their number.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
hello criticing fuckwit! i recently ate in pancho and it was lovely! and that owner your talking about happens to be a lovely man and jokes with his staff all the time like that! so get a life you obviously have nothing better to do than criticise good hard working people! have you ever worked in a restaurant? its bloody hard work and they have had that restaraunt for 20yrs and everyone has a bad night so maybe dont be so judgemental next time your eating out.
Joanne, good to hear the owner is a lovely guy. Yes, I have worked in hospitality, and I know how hard it is. I also know when food tastes bland and cocktails are crap. So my honest opinion does not make me a criticising f**kwit. Maybe if the owner got fresh juice and made real cocktails, then you wouldn’t get these sort of reviews.
I went to the Pancho Villa and the food was fantastic, it was so fresh and the staff were lovely as well. I recommend this place to all my friends and they all go. Our friends from Melbourne also go there when they come to visit as they say they don’t have Mexican restraunts that are this good down where they live. But this is all about personal opinion, you can now tell me that my taste buds are in my butt for all I care but it will not change my opinion of the place. I am very sorry Nick that you had such a shocking experience there and like Joanne said maybe they were having a really bad night, but you can’t please every single person that walks through your door either. There are plenty of restraunts out there but I definately choose Panchos for its very friendly service and very tasty food at the right price.
I’m with Nick on this one although the owner did seem nice but a bit creepy too. I’ve eaten soooo much mexican in my lifetime and this was one of the worst. My cocktail was absolutely disgusting. The chimichanga was the most foul,bland, soggy chimichanga I’ve ever had! I also tasted a stack of tortilla and colorado with an egg on top.I give that good marks on being quite authentic and spicy but once again lacking in real flavour. If you don’t know good mexican food the way I do then you’ll enjoy it as good prices and massive portions. If you appreciate great mexican food, avoid this place at all costs because you will more than likely be disappointed.
Glad to see I’m not the only one, candi.
i work at pancho willa and have been there for two years, and you may say that my review will be a little bias.
pancho villa has been in buissness for twenty years and is a has many regular customers. the locals love this place for the friendly service (humour and all) and good atmoshere.
as for the food, i love it, and trust me, many many people do aswell. the meals are enormous, and i am sorry about your chimichanger, but when someone orders this meal for the first time, they always go back, and i have trouble conviuncing them to try something else. the food is not full of preservatives, all fresh ingrediants is used. maybey your head aches were form the margeratas and pina coladas and you should try limiting your alchole intake.the cocktails are very cheap, all under 10 dollars and we rarely complaints.
i reccomend you come to the lennox head mexican and see for your self.
After reading the above we decided to take the risk………the whole experience was FANTASTIC!!! The food was great, the staff were, polite, prompt, able to build rapport with ease and all in all did an awesome job……..we had a great night and will definately be going back again. Thanx Lennox Head and cheers for the ‘interesting” reviews, we went and we LOVED it.