I don't know how this place is staying in business.I ordered takeout the other night. I arrived on time for pickup, but had to wait 20+ minutes with my food getting cold on the other side of the counter because the employees were either cooking food or helping the other customers in line. When we got our food, one of the entrees, a burrito bowl that I paid $12.50 for, came with maybe a cup of soggy, virtually inedible food. It was ordered with tofu as a meat substitute since the recipient is vegetarian, but the employee who made it initially put steak on it and instead of making a new one, made a poor and largely unsuccessful attempt to scrape the steak off before adding the tofu, ultimately ruining the entire dish. Several side items were also forgotten.And I don't blame the employees one bit. There were only two of them working that night with me waiting for pickup and about 10 other customers in line. I could see the exhaustion and desperation in their eyes while trying their hardest to serve everyone as best they could, and my kudos goes out them. The issues I had were 100% symptomatic of an establishment that is grossly understaffed and incompetently managed.So this is a constructive criticism to the management and/or owners of this Pancheros location: Pay. Your. Freaking. Employees. A. Livable. Wage. And. Staff. Your. Freaking. Restaurant. Raising prices on your all subpar food, underpaying your employees, and absconding with (probably) record profits might seem like a great business model on paper right now, but I promise you're going to leak customers like a sieve if this is the way you keep things moving.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Jesse Hagerman
It’s my guilty pleasure to keep coming back but WOW every time I come I have to wait on staff to acknowledge me at all there has always been a shortage of staff which causes a delay on rice or meats. Sometimes I have to wait an extra 10 minutes because they haven’t made something there was one time they only had one worker from multiple hours that didn’t have any meat or rice, so I couldn’t order anythingIt’s unfortunate The Mason city location is going downhill.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Savannah S.
I love Pancheros, but the Mason, City one is not it. The workers were slow, they would continuously take break whenever, the food was cold by the time we sat down to eat it. This is not the place I want to eat.
Avery D.
food was cold, workers took their time taking little breaks whenever they wanted, was very dirt. I love pancheros, but the Mason City pancheros is the last place you'll catch me.
Paul Wagner
Outstanding as
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ven Zen
Better than Taco
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Caileb P.
Walked in to a pretty short line less than 5 people in front of me. within a matter of minutes the line was to the door. 3 workers on the line thinking they can have this line fed in a matter of minutes, but instead they decided to keep us waiting while they slowly toke their time to complete Togo orders for people who weren't even there to pick them up. Woman in blue sweatshirt possibly the shift manager was really slow and quite rude. Instead of tryin to shrink the 12-15 person line behind myself and get us fed, she yelled that we need to move away from the door for a truck delivery and continued making Togo orders. No motivation and lack of effort from the staff. Only reason I'm giving them 2 stars is for the food itself Pancheros burritos will always hold a special place in my heart
Neil Wheeler
Best "fast food" burrito I've ever had. They mix the filling together vs other places that leave scoops of food for you to search for. Far better than Moe's, Qdoba, or Chipotle. I'll definitely go back.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steak Burrito, Burrito Bowl
Stone Resch
The staff has consistently been rude and smirky. Today I I tried to use my free chips and queso, in the Poncheros app. I scanned the code multiple times. I then asked if it worked and the lady gave no response. I got a cheese quesadilla, so it should’ve been about $6. The lady charged me for chips and queso and the quesadilla. I proceeded to tell her she charged me too much and she then tried to tell me that I didnt scan the code…. Instead of refunding me they gave me a hand written free chips and queso card. Written on a piece of paper. I also wasn’t given a receipt, so I couldn’t add points to my app for a free burrito.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Queso
T-T Moore
The restaurant is very dirty, tables are always dirty and the staff that prepare the food is so unhygienic.
I eat Pancheros at least once each week from other locations. This location was an awful experience. Extremely slow and not near ready at opening time. I was told my quesadilla could not be made the way I ordered it (same as I always order at other locations). Last and worst, there was a very long hair in my food. If you love Pancheros, do not stop at this one.
Krystal Fisher
We stood in line for 25 minutes just waiting to order with not that many people in front of us. The gal at the register seemed to be really struggling with her job duties.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Lisa G.
This place is run down. The workers were very friendly but it looked like it had not been cleaned well in a very long time. It used to be very nice but not so much anymore.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 3
Dev Padavath
Friendly staff and the fact that they mix up all the fillings in the burrito before rolling it gives it a leg up on chipotle.Vegetarian options: Good vegetarian options. Tofu is full of flavor.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steak Burrito
Milas Haynes
The employee attitudes were terrible. The environment was terrible. The "restaurant" itself was in terrible condition. Would recommend just sticking with Chipotle or Moe's rather than some poor knockoff.
I don't know how this place is staying in business.I ordered takeout the other night. I arrived on time for pickup, but had to wait 20+ minutes with my food getting cold on the other side of the counter because the employees were either cooking food or helping the other customers in line. When we got our food, one of the entrees, a burrito bowl that I paid $12.50 for, came with maybe a cup of soggy, virtually inedible food. It was ordered with tofu as a meat substitute since the recipient is vegetarian, but the employee who made it initially put steak on it and instead of making a new one, made a poor and largely unsuccessful attempt to scrape the steak off before adding the tofu, ultimately ruining the entire dish. Several side items were also forgotten.And I don't blame the employees one bit. There were only two of them working that night with me waiting for pickup and about 10 other customers in line. I could see the exhaustion and desperation in their eyes while trying their hardest to serve everyone as best they could, and my kudos goes out them. The issues I had were 100% symptomatic of an establishment that is grossly understaffed and incompetently managed.So this is a constructive criticism to the management and/or owners of this Pancheros location: Pay. Your. Freaking. Employees. A. Livable. Wage. And. Staff. Your. Freaking. Restaurant. Raising prices on your all subpar food, underpaying your employees, and absconding with (probably) record profits might seem like a great business model on paper right now, but I promise you're going to leak customers like a sieve if this is the way you keep things moving.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
It’s my guilty pleasure to keep coming back but WOW every time I come I have to wait on staff to acknowledge me at all there has always been a shortage of staff which causes a delay on rice or meats. Sometimes I have to wait an extra 10 minutes because they haven’t made something there was one time they only had one worker from multiple hours that didn’t have any meat or rice, so I couldn’t order anythingIt’s unfortunate The Mason city location is going downhill.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
I love Pancheros, but the Mason, City one is not it. The workers were slow, they would continuously take break whenever, the food was cold by the time we sat down to eat it. This is not the place I want to eat.
food was cold, workers took their time taking little breaks whenever they wanted, was very dirt. I love pancheros, but the Mason City pancheros is the last place you'll catch me.
Outstanding as
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Better than Taco
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Walked in to a pretty short line less than 5 people in front of me. within a matter of minutes the line was to the door. 3 workers on the line thinking they can have this line fed in a matter of minutes, but instead they decided to keep us waiting while they slowly toke their time to complete Togo orders for people who weren't even there to pick them up. Woman in blue sweatshirt possibly the shift manager was really slow and quite rude. Instead of tryin to shrink the 12-15 person line behind myself and get us fed, she yelled that we need to move away from the door for a truck delivery and continued making Togo orders. No motivation and lack of effort from the staff. Only reason I'm giving them 2 stars is for the food itself Pancheros burritos will always hold a special place in my heart
Best "fast food" burrito I've ever had. They mix the filling together vs other places that leave scoops of food for you to search for. Far better than Moe's, Qdoba, or Chipotle. I'll definitely go back.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steak Burrito, Burrito Bowl
The staff has consistently been rude and smirky. Today I I tried to use my free chips and queso, in the Poncheros app. I scanned the code multiple times. I then asked if it worked and the lady gave no response. I got a cheese quesadilla, so it should’ve been about $6. The lady charged me for chips and queso and the quesadilla. I proceeded to tell her she charged me too much and she then tried to tell me that I didnt scan the code…. Instead of refunding me they gave me a hand written free chips and queso card. Written on a piece of paper. I also wasn’t given a receipt, so I couldn’t add points to my app for a free burrito.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Queso
The restaurant is very dirty, tables are always dirty and the staff that prepare the food is so unhygienic.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 2
Restaurantji Recommends
I eat Pancheros at least once each week from other locations. This location was an awful experience. Extremely slow and not near ready at opening time. I was told my quesadilla could not be made the way I ordered it (same as I always order at other locations). Last and worst, there was a very long hair in my food. If you love Pancheros, do not stop at this one.
We stood in line for 25 minutes just waiting to order with not that many people in front of us. The gal at the register seemed to be really struggling with her job duties.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
This place is run down. The workers were very friendly but it looked like it had not been cleaned well in a very long time. It used to be very nice but not so much anymore.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 3
Friendly staff and the fact that they mix up all the fillings in the burrito before rolling it gives it a leg up on chipotle.Vegetarian options: Good vegetarian options. Tofu is full of flavor.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Steak Burrito
The employee attitudes were terrible. The environment was terrible. The "restaurant" itself was in terrible condition. Would recommend just sticking with Chipotle or Moe's rather than some poor knockoff.