Pacos Tacos

I came here for lunch a couple of weeks ago and must say that I was quite dissapointed with the place.
The taco shells have too much of a starchy texture that makes them fall apart very easily, which would be okay, except they taste very starchy as well. I couldn’t really tell whether the meat inside the taco tasted good or not because the shell’s starchy corn flavoring was so overpowering.
Service was slow and food was very expensive for a small amount.
They get two stars instead of one because they have improved the atmosphere from the former Applebee’s, but I think they should look into a new tortilla recipe and make the tacos taste coincide with the price.

Big swing and a big miss. Wow… Disappointing, crazy expensive dry tacos and dustbowl rice. Server was slow and not happy to be there. We all had tacos, chicken Tinga and steak. Portions were small and well done. Definitely won’t return.

Overall, this place is good. Creations that you don’t get anywhere else on the menu. Recommend the mole chicken, shrimp, and whitefish tacos. I actually preferred the size because it made the meal feel more authentic or like tapas. Table side guacamole is also something to give a shot, because you can tailor it based on your palate of spicy, medium of mild. Service lacked and I must say, the skinny margarita was not something I would order again but I really was intrigued by the flights they had. Warm chips, good salsa, great flavors, awesome atmosphere… not much more you can ask for when it comes to mod Mex. we will be back and hope the things that lacked a little, pick back up.

I have to say the food here is some of the best that I’ve had! I recommend going during their happy hour, which is everyday from 3−6pm. You can get a lot of food for not a lot of money.
First, chips and salsa were awesome. The chips come out warm and the salsa had just enough flavor and spice. I only wish they had a smaller portion for their guacamole, my boyfriend wanted it and I’m not a fan and couldn’t justify spending $ 10 on it. The other appetizers were rather expensive as well ($ 8 – 10) but the portions seemed huge.
Next, our meal. We went during happy hour which is $ 6 for 3 tacos and a side + a drink special. I got the baja chicken, my boyfriend got the steak and it was really good! I wouldn’t say authentic Mexican at all, but it’s different and it’s amazing.
I had to remove a star based on the service. I’m not sure if we just had a «bad apple waitress» but she really didn’t seem to care about serving at all. They’re was some confusion when we first got there over who would take our table, and she must’ve not been happy with getting stuck with us. We were planning on getting dessert, but decided to go somewhere else after she unenthusiastically rattled off the list and failed to mention they had smaller desserts (which we heard from another waitress as we were walking out). However, the rest of the staff seemed awesome and attentive, our food was out quick and it was great!

So far since being seated our waitress acts as if she doesn’t want to be here. We had to get our silverware from another table, our trash from the bags of chips and salsa bowl has been sitting at the end of our table for about 15 minutes, even after food was given to us she just left it there, and our food all came out at different times. The food that has come out so far looks really good.
But far as service goes… It sucks!

Found an opportunity to visit on a Tuesday evening, and check out the mixed reviews. Love the décor – trendy, modern, open, cool light fixtures. Full bar. Great margaritas. Had the best informative, attentive waiter. Ordered grilled fish tacos on soft flour tortillas, and a mixed plate of fish, chicken and beef on hard corn shells. We were a bit surprised to see the smaller tortillas, but the price was right, and add in the chips and salsa. The fish tacos with peach were mild and yummy. The meat ones were very good. I had the optional mixed vegetables. So good! We liked it all! Remember that reviews are opinions.
Try Paco’s Tacos for yourself.

This place has gone downhill fast. Unfriendly, unprofessional, and untrained staff. Food cold and just bad. Promised myself I wouldn’t go back did and payed for it. Never again!

We had high hopes for Paco’s. The interior is trendy with interesting light fixtures. The ones above our table were bulbs suspended in a burlap sack. Interesting.
We started with the queso «fondue». (Queso fundido?) It was good and you could taste the onions and poblanos. The chips came out in a brown paper bag which was good when we went to leave and didn’t have to put them in another container.
We ordered two flights of tequila. You don’t get a lot in the flights. We have three pours of less than 1 oz each. The tequilas we tried were all very good and they have a great selection.
For our mains we ordered three taco plates. My wife had the chicken Tinga in hard shells, I had the pork belly in soft shells, and we split the brisket in soft shells. I think the brisket was our mutual favorite. The flavor was good and smoky. The pork belly was good as well but lacked something. It would have been nice if the slaw was a little tangier to complement it.
The sides we had were the black beans and rice, vegetables, and corn cakes. The corn cakes were the winner, hands down. They were moist and sweet and reminded me of corn «spoon bread».
The black beans and rice were very bland. The only thing I could taste in them was the faint hint of cumin. They desperately needed salt and pepper, garlic, and a few other things.
The vegetables, while cooked to a nice al-​dente, were completely devoid of any discernible flavor. They consisted of green beans and red bell peppers cooked under a broiler. Some garlic and salt would have gone a long way.
Overall, our experience was not horrible but it’s doubtful we’ll be back.

Cool place, will return. I’m Mexican so grading it from 1 – 10 scale, it gets a 7. The tableside Guac is great, just omit the tomatoes and onions. The chips are warm, fresh and awesome. I had the chix and carnitas tacos. Too much onions on chix and the carnitas had BBQ sauce that was too much and that is not Mexican. Will come back because the place has good vibe. The décor is rad. Cholas, low-​riders, sculls, palenque, and la lucha libre… Orale!

There is plenty of parking. Our waitress was friendly. Chips and salsa were tasty. Salsa was very rich compared to other restaurants. I think it was the concentration of the tomatoes in it?
I ordered a mix and match combination of chicken tinga, baja fish and steak tacos with rice and beans. The presentation of the meal was nice. The toppings and protein were in good portion.
I started with the steak taco and unfortunately my first bite was a chunk of hard gristle. This was one of those moments where I had to discretely spit that bite into my cloth napkin. I continued to eat the rest of the taco with caution. This threw the rest of my meal off. The chicken tinga taco and and baja fish taco was much better. (Can’t get the gristle bite out of my mind.)
Pacos have their own twist on rice and beans. The black beans were on the harder side of cooked. It wasn’t good or bad, just different. It’s neat to see something different other than the typical re fried bean.
Update:
The manager has reached out to me and expressed concern of my dining experience. I will visit Pacos in the very near future. When I do, I will update my review.

The notion of Mexican cuisine sans spices is unheard of. Garlic, cumin, onions, cilantro, salt and pepper promise to give flavor and texture, but Paco never heard of this. Instead, the carne asada was bland and just plain awful.
At first, I intrigued as to why the décor was the Day of the Dead. After eating, I know why.

After reading what people said I had to write my first review.
This place is my current obsession! And I’m no newbie to Mexican food– most especially margaritas. In fact I am on the quest for the perfect margarita in the world. Yes I ask for a margarita (and discuss the same with the server and/​or bartender — fair warning) everywhere I travel. I have had margaritas in Mexico, South America, across the
Europe and the Mediterranean. I could eat (and drink) Mexican everyday (yes I like pizza Chinese and sushi too) but this is my place. It takes more than one visit to perfect what u like (chipotle took a few visits for me to figure it out-​now yum).
This place rocks! The bartenders and kitchen will modify anything you want. The happy hour (3 to 6 EVERY day!!!) is amazing and unparalleled. There is a little bit of fun (free face painting on day of the dead). I gotta say I have nothing critical to say (don’t forget we live in the real world where people take time to complain more than take the time to say anything nice). Live. Eat. Have fun. Life is short .
I hope they are around for a long long time
Ps I just checked Unilocal and I have been to 17 of the top 18 local Mexican places…

Visit one experience, sit down style: Small tacos. Dry side of rice. Overpowering flavor of black bean in everything… Servers wait on you with stank eye. May as well have eaten my meal with the families and friends around me — absolutely not privacy!
Visit two experience, sitting at the bar: slow as eff service and confusion. Margarita Flight was so watery. And the dessert was so basic as a fried tempura churro thing. Eh. The bartender wasn’t too welcoming either. Why didn’t you wanna serve me :(?
p. s. Totally can see the old bones of Applebees, RIP.

It always takes me longer to write a 2 star review because I feel bad and want to be fair.
the tableside guacamole is a nice touch and very tasty. We ordered nachos which were huge. Other than that, the servings were small and disproportionate to the prices. The flavors were pretty underwhelming also. We were on our lunch break, but waited a very long time for food and were over 45 minutes late coming back to work.
One of my dining companions got the wrong tacos, so she sent them back and asked for her correct order. The replacement never came! We stood around waiting and the manager finally came out and said ‘well, your meal was comped, so we assumed you didn’t want anything’. WHAAAT??? Her meal, which never arrived, of COURSE should have been free. But you let a guest leave your restaurant hungry? Emptyhanded? Didn’t even send her with some chips so she wasn’t starved.
Our server was nice, but along with the other reviews here, seemed frazzled. Paco’s is poorly managed, lots of empty tables but long waits. My coworkers have all had bad experiences here.

Aside from the chips and table side guacamole tasting wonderful everything else was disappointing. From the start we waited a few minutes just to be seated while the host talked on the phone. Our drinks can out wrong and waited half way through dinner to ever receive them. We asked for straws twice but I ended up getting them at the bar myself. Our food orders can out mixed up, we had to swap food on our plates to get the correct tacos we wanted. We asked for hard shell and we received corn.
Throughout our lunch you can hear surrounding tables missing drinks and returning their wrong items. The place is poorly ran and the wait stuff seems unorganized.

greeted nicely at the door by a younger gal that was SUPER nice and sweet.
Got seated rather quickly, ordered beverages right away.
Sever (Vanessa), she needs to have training 101 all over again. I understand in a busy place on a Saturday things can get overwhelming, but in a customer service industry, don’t show that to people. She was just not working with even a half a deck. Lights out! There were a few bills at the table as we had a party of 6, all 3 needed to be fixed.
I will personally come back here not only because how nicely we were greeted upon coming in (for the first time), but the food was good. Just wish there was more of it. I recommend to anyone to try the sandwiches, great! The salsa chips are better than Chipotle even (I felt they were the best before I came here). Would have been a 5 star but the server dropped it down to a lower 4.

Giving them 5 Stars although I never got the tacos I ordered. Our waitress seemed to be overwhelmed, but it wasnt her fault.
The GM came to our large party and apologized for the way the night was going and even brought drinks and appetizers on him.
The margarita flight is AMAZING! This was the best peach margarita I have ever had.
I plan to return soon to see if the food is as good as it looked!

I love the concept and I love the décor, but compared to the food at the original Burntwood, I just don’t think this place stacks up. They have great appetizers including a HUGE plate of nachos and table side guacamole, but the actual tacos are pretty bad. I tried the rock shrimp tacos and ended up just eating the shrimp off of my plate because the tortillas were crumbling as soon as I picked them up. Also the portion sizes are small in my opinion, with the tacos only coming with 4 or 5 shrimp a piece. The tacos also come with a side of rice and beans, but that is also a small portion and I found it to be a bit too spicy for my liking.
The desserts are great though, especially the fried ice cream, so Pacos Tacos does have some redeeming qualities, just not their tacos… Personally, I would rather go around the corner to Burntwood for the price as of now, but we’ll see if they make some changes to their menu as they try to establish themselves, I think they’re still getting some kinks worked out!

Updated Review.
I have gone back quite a few times since they opened. Since then the service has consistently been slow. I thought that this was just a symptom of being brand new but it has stayed slow enough where it is hard to justify coming here on a lunch break.
But the bigger issue for me is that they removed the «fancier» items from the menu that, for me, made the higher price worth it. They no longer carry the lobster or rock shrimp tacos which were both fantastic. I thought they also told me they removed the duck taco but I still see it on the menu so I may be wrong about that one.
On my most recent visit I tried the enchiladas since they no longer carried the items I planned on ordering. They were just not good at all. The red sauce on them was horrible and if you must get enchiladas make sure to get the green sauce. The bartender actually recommended that I not get the enchiladas; I should have heeded her advice.

Discovered this place by driving by and decided to stop in for lunch. Really like the atmosphere. Concrete walls with hand painted murals and modern chandeliers surround several booths and a large u-​shaped bar. Big windows allow a lot of light and make it seem larger than it is but not cavernous.
Ordered the IPA and spiced duck tacos. Very tasty! The tacos were flavorful and light with a side of beans, rice and melted cheese. The staff was extremely helpful and friendly. Straight forward menu and not as overdone as most Mexican. I like their take on street food for a quick but sophisticated lunch.