Alex P.
Yelp
In the place of a much beloved Storico Vino and prior to that, Corso Coffee, a new joint arrived to bring some Mexican family business flavors to one of the more brand focused plazas in the city. Ran by a couple, Omar and Guadalupe Santamaria, the restaurant features a pleasant patio and vibrant colors.
The beers are served nice and cold. Then, there are good weekday specials. Chicken fajitas came out served on a plate instead of a skillet, which is always a slightly disappointing method of serving the dish both visually and the fact that gets cold quickly. The salsa is excellent. What was odd, the waitress asked if we needed a refill of salsa for the table, to which I agreed. Oddly, they actually charged $2 for the refill. While that's a small amount, it felt just slightly deceptive. If there is an extra cost, it should be mentioned to customers beforehand as that's an uncommon practice. On top of it, it was on a day when salsa and chips are free of cost according to the menu (Wednesday), but turns out after the fact that's only the case for the first salsa. It's obviously not about the $2, but more about being upfront and transparent.
The fajitas themselves were cooked well and quite tasty, spiced up with Mexican seasoning and a slightly unusual take on the classic Tex Mex dish. Then there was the worst part, which oddly turned out to be cilantro. On top of the sides plate and on top of the salsa, the restaurant served completely rotten cilantro. See photos. How a chef would have the decency to do that and on top of it, to put it on top of the dish for all to see is truly mesmerizing.
Thus, while one would think that a new restaurant would go to great lengths to attract guests and double check quality, the experience at Panchego's was quite the opposite.