Poncho’s Tex-Mex & Barbeques

Closed. Sign on door says temporarily closed but it’s been there for a month. Website says 404. Looks like they are out of business.

Went for lunch and had the grilled veg, quinoa and black bean burrito. All I can say is YUM! Very surprised by the breadth of taste. It’s hard to rate the entire place on one item, but that’s all I have to go on. I say give Ponchos a try. I definitely will be back to try the meats.

Not your father’s Mexican restuarant. For better or worse. I’ve eaten at good, mediocre and bad Mexican restaurants in Mexico, Texas, Southern Cal, New Mexico, and Arizona. I have a pretty good idea what «real» Mexican food is, what good Tex Mex is, etc. I’m not a purist, though. I like food that tastes good, even if it’s not really authentic. Pancho’s definitely doesn’t fit any of the «authentic» categories, other than maybe «authentically itself.»
The good: the food (with the exception of the queso — see below) all seemed fresh, and freshly prepared. I had a Quesadilla with Carnitas meat. It was pleasant. The seasoning tasted good, but was somewhat bland. I don’t mean it wasn’t spicy (although it wasn’t), just that the cook could have had a heavier hand with the seasonings. Same thing with the Guac: clearly fresh ingredients, tasted good, but just a bit bland.
The not so good: The queso. Sorry, but this tasted like Velveeta with a few Jalapeño slices tossed in just before serving. Bland, boring, nearly tasteless, and too running to stick to the chips Even the peppers had no kick.
The salsa falls into this category, too. Unlike the queso, it tasted of fresh ingredients, and had a little kick to it, but it mostly tasted like tomato. Adding a little cilantro would help, as would a bit more onion and pepper, and some seasoning.
Not a bad place by any stretch of the imagination, but not where I’ll go next time I want Mexican. But I’ll go back to Panchos to try their barbeque. Hopefully it hits the spot better.

Driving between buildings at work this week, fluttering paper signs attached to an iron fence let me know that the local catering company had opened a small tex-​mex/​barbeque lunch spot next door. Given there’s a general lack of places to grab lunch in the area — I pulled into the parking lot to check them out.
They’re only open from 11 – 3 and given that it took a few minutes of my standing in a empty place, I’m guessing they aren’t quite used to people stopping in around 2 to grab lunch. But that was the only kink. Once I was able to order, my food was out super quick.
On the Tex-​Mex menu they offer the standard fare of tacos, burritos, chimichangas and fajitas. They also offer a selection of salads, bbq (consisting of ribs or sandwiches) and «lighter» wraps which sadly seem to rely on commercial deli meats instead of their own creations.
I opted for a carnitas burrito bowl with a side order of guac and chips — pretty much my go to at the Chipotle at the other end of the neighborhood. The price was inline with what I’d pay at Chipotle too.
Carnitas — Point to Poncho’s — they were tender and juicy without swimming in liquid
Rice — Point again to Poncho’s — I like the Spanish rice; I liked even better my dish having a single serving of rice and not enough to feed a small family
Beans — point to Chipotle — Poncho’s burrito bowls come with black beans and I don’t like black beans (would be nice to have the option for pinto beans)
Everything else (in this case red chile sauce/​salsa, some melted cheese, a little shredded lettuce and chopped tomato) — half a point to Chipotle for giving you more options and more customization — Pancho’s pretty much gives you the dish you order. There’s nothing wrong with that — it was tasty and I liked that it was about ½ the size of a Chipotle burrito bowl (so I didn’t throw ½ of it away).
Guacamole — sad, kind of somewhere between guac and salsa — too much other stuff than avocado in there for my liking
Chips — needed salt, ended up not eating more than a few
In the end, Pancho’s is OK. And nice to have another option to get a hot lunch nearby.