Don Pablo’s Restaurant

Why the bad reviews? This place is great. I had time before my flight to pass and chose to eat here. I ordered the grilled shrimp skewers, which has a garlic lime sauce that is great. It came with rice and beans, both good. My friend had a chicken bowl that looked delicious and he was pleased. The salsa appeared to not be made in house and lacked interesting flavor. Our service was great and one could certainly complete lunch in under an hour. It was also reasonably priced. I recommend this place if you’re near DCA passing time and looking for a great bite to eat.

Good spot for happy hour. Great deals on margaritas and chips with queso. Friendly service and the margaritas my wife and I tried (lime, mango, and strawberry) were all good. The frozen tasted better than on the rocks. Didn’t try any other food but for happy hour I would definitely come back. drink prices seemed a little steep at regular price.

By far the worst Mexican Food ever. It was some bastardised American version of what you think Mexican could be. So many problems
1. Table we were sat at was dirty! Had to ask our server to clean the table. They were apologetic.
2. Served raw chicken on the soft taco!
3. Hair in other dinner — and not my own.
4. Margareta tasted like they used mop water as the base.
At least my baby enjoyed the corn dog. Overall don’t eat here it’s a disappointment if you want to have Mexican food. Yuck!

Terrible service… Forgettable food. Disappearing waiter in a nearly empty restaurant. Don’t waste your money or you time.

Terrible food! The veggies tasted expired. Meat was soggy. No thanks.
Never returning.

My friend and I used to eat here a lot during the week, but the last time we went in there, they sat us at a corner table and we waited for 45 minutes and a waiter never came over to us. No waters, no drink order, no nothing. We went up repeatedly to tell the hostesses that no one had come to our table and that five other tables that were seated after us had already ordered and received their food.
Each time the hostess would say, «We are going to find your waiter» and then go into the kitchen and come back out and walk back to the hostess stand. We repeated that process until almost an hour went by, no waiter, and we talked to every hostess who at that point didn’t care (I guess). Since we were very thirsty and super hungry, we decided to leave. On our way out we told the hostesses that we were leaving and there was a manager who just happened to be standing at the hostess stand. We described our situation to her and she said, «I’m sorry. I was in the office.» She didn’t offer to remedy the situation and was very apologetic, but even she wasn’t able to make a waiter show up at the table.
Sorry, Don Pablo’s but we won’t ever be back. :(

Server was pretty honest. «Cocktail sauce is not good, always goes back to kitchen.». Thanks for being honest. Food was terrific, we enjoyed both shrimp with spicy sauce and shrimp+ cocktail fajita. Margarita was delicious! I wouldn’t mind coming back for margarita or fajita.

Place absolutely blows, I mean seriously how the fuck do you fuck up beans.
Our server had to be a little slow

I sat at the bar and the only reason I stayed was because of the nice person sitting next to me. The bartender was unfriendly, inattentive and rude. I ordered a soup to start and then the Fajitas for my dinner. I didn’t even get a chance to finish the soup because my Fajita was brought out right on top of my soup. I put my soup aside and it sat there with out the bartender even offering to wrap it up. Later I asked him to box up my soup and he took a long time to get this done.
The Fajita skillet was not sizzling; seemed like it was an extra order that was sitting in the window and when my oder came in they sent it right out.
Lastly I had to wait to leave. The bartender was more concerned about eating his dinner than concerned about cashing me out. I would of said something to a manager but I did not want to make a scene. I see why they have a bad rating.

Dear Manager of Don Pablo’s. Are you aware that your staff is locking the door a full twenty minutes before the 10:00 closure? If a sign says «Open until 10:00», I think the restaurant is «open» until 10:00. Last monday I went by and the doors were locked but patrons inside and at least 12 workers buzzing about. I knocked several times but no one even gave me a glance. Your loss. El Tio’s gain

Horrible food, horrible service, horrible wait time. It was not even busy and we waited 45 min. They were going to comp the items and then decided not to do it.
Don’t waste your time

Randomly stopped here before getting some errands done at Target. There were only a handful of choices in the shopping center and we opted for Tex Mex. The restaurant had a large open layout. There is a lot to look at and it wasn’t crowded at all.
The food had a few aspects that were inspiring and a few that were not. Hands down the best part was the spoonful of cornmeal. It was so sweet and creamy I actually saved it last as a dessert. The chicken tacos are tasty — chicken is cooked well and they used this jalapeño dip that made the taco. I felt like they didn’t transform the taco shells though. I’d kind of expect a restaurant to grill or fry them. Overall the food was good, I was stuffed to the gills and the price ain’t bad.

If you find yourself at Best Buy or Lost in Targetlandia with a craving for uninspiring but somehow satisfying TexMex, look no further than a jaunt across the oceanic parking lot and into the arms of the tortilla señorita.
My personal fav is the chicken chimichanga. For drinks the margaritas are the stuff of legend. I am quite certain these large liters of libation have been the inspiration for both the consummation and dismantling of many a coupling.
One complaint I would have is the blandness of the sauces — most definitely targeted at the Eastern Seaboard Gringo Sensitivities.
Buen provecho–

This huge restaurant offered great service and many great dishes in large portion. I did not try their margarita, but they looked appealing, although my friends commented that they were too «weak». I rated two stars for the chicken Caesar salad I had because the chicken strips were hard and dry; however, I rated the establishment three stars for the complimentary, fresh chips that were delicious, especially the dips.

I’ve come to Don Pablo’s so many times and it’s super yummy. The chicken quesadilla was very fresh and delicious. I’m not sure what made me so sick that night but the food was pretty good. Also, ask for «Lee Lee» the server. She’s awesome. She shows up right when you need her and she gives you the perfect amount of space you need to enjoy your meal with your friends. I’ve known her my whole life and she is very nurturing; she has what you would call «southern hospitality.» Overall, a great spot.

We had a choice between here and Chipotle and I insisted we try this place because I prefer to try somewhere new for a change. This was the first experience for all of us at this restaurant.
Honestly, we should have went to Chipotle because it would have been a lot less expensive and the food would have been served a lot sooner.
We arrived at the restaurant at 4:00 p.m., and immediately noted that there was hardly anyone dining. We were greeted by a very friendly waitress who took our orders of drinks, and moments later our chips and salsa was brought out. The chips were okay. Not very fresh. It seem as though it was made a couple days ago. I’ve usually had very warm and fresh chips before. The salsa was delicious.
Our dinner wasn’t brought out until the manager came by our table to ask if everything was alright. We informed her that we’ve been waiting for quite a while and she immediately went to the kitchen to check up on our order.
I’m not sure how long it was sitting back there waiting to be served, but in less than 5 minutes after she went to the kitchen it was brought out.
Overall, the food was alright and the service was great. but given the fact that we went in early on a Sunday evening and there was hardly anyone in the restaurant for there to be such a long delay. Either way, I would certainly consider returning to this restaurant for happy hour. I wouldn’t recommend it if you are looking for a quick bite to eat and have somewhere to be.
Lastly, the price for a meal for a party of 5 will be around $ 90.00. Very pricey IMO, but worth a try. I’m sure Chipotle would have cost far less, but keep in mind that when you step inside this restaurant you’re also paying for ambiance and somewhat freshly made food.

The only reason I am giving it a two star rating is because the waitress was nice. It wasn’t her fault that the food was bland, boring and lacking of any taste.
I had visited the one in Minnesota years ago. It was good.
This location not so much. Really wanted my money back.

Always a good place for a quick bite.
My husband travels A lot and it is nice to have a consistently good place to eat.
The food and service is good.

I was only here because the nearby Chipotle was way too crowded. The chips here are okay but weren’t too fresh tasting and the salsa was like something out of a mediocre grocery store brand.
The combination platter was also nothing special. The beef hard taco tasted like those tacos you make at home with the seasoning packet. The beef enchilada was okay but nothing special. The cheese & onion enchilada was overcooked and somewhat tasteless, leaving it seeming like something out of a bad frozen dinner.
The waiter was very nice here but really there’s no reason to stop here unless your preferred dining option is too crowded and you don’t just want to eat at home.

Don Pablo’s and I have history, I love this place! When the Fair Lakes location closed…
I was first in DENIAL,
then I was freaking ANGRY!
I started to BARGAIN and beg for them to re-​open which failed so
I became DEPRESSED but fear not because
I have since ACCEPTED this fact…
(Kübler-​Ross’ 5 stages of grief)
I’m so happy to have found this location and they DID NOT disappoint me which is good because I would hate to write a bad review. Here’s what I ate:
Chips and Salsa (FREE and unlimited! You can also ask for the spicy salsa if you like but in my opinion it doesn’t have that much flavor because it tries to kill you so I stick to the regular stuff.)
Pulled Pork Sandwich which the menu describes as:
«A flavorful sandwich filled with The Don’s slow-​roasted pork and basted with smoky BBQ sauce. Served with seasoned French fries.» BLAH BLAH BLAH The menu should use MY description: «You won’t need a box cause you’ll eat the *BLEEP* out of it and lick your fingers clean afterwards like some filthy savage!» OK maybe their description is SLIGHTLY more friendly but my meal was AWESOME! I would add the fact that they use TEXAS TOAST.
Service was great! We were in there for lunch and we never had to negotiate refills or beg for our bill.
They also split checks without a fuss.
OVERALL…we go back… Don Pablo’s and I… I love this place and can’t wait to return.

Wollten unbedingt Mexi essen und waren sehr zufrieden. Mutlaka México yemeği denemek istedik ve memnun kaldık. Nice Food und Good Service. Bedienung sehr freundlich und hat uns sogar spezielle extra scharfe Soßen gebracht. Magaritas waren auch sehr gut und groß, typisch amerikanisch. Kommen wieder hier her. Yeni geliriz buraya ;-)))