Quarry Panchitos Mexican Grill

Posted on 26. Apr, 2009 by Guest Observer in Foods

Quarry Panchitos Mexican Grill

(14 votes, average: 1.43 out of 5)

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Total Grade: 60%
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Customer Service: 6
Food Quality: 6
Atmosphere: 7
Parking: 5
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Category: Mexican Food
Price Range: $$ ($10-$20 = Average)

In My Opinion By Matt Stigliano:
Quarry Panchitos Mexican Grill – San Antonio, TX – For my wife’s birthday, we always try to hit a restaurant we’ve never visited before and spend some time with friends. This year’s selection was Quarry Panchitos Mexican Grill at the Quarry (7310 Jones Maltsberger). Knowing that happy hour went until 7PM, we decided to head there straight after work and do some appetizers and drinks.

Since it was a nice evening, we opted to sit on the patio and were seated far back enough on it that the constant traffic on Jones Maltsberger wasn’t too much of a distraction (I don’t know if I’d want to sit towards the road). The patio is okay, its not the best and not the worst. Typical lights in the trees and a few Mexican flavored banners from one tree to another. No loud music to drown out conversation, so that’s a plus. The seats were metal and not all that comfortable, but its a patio and is to be expected.

Our waiter for the evening was friendly and speedy at the start, but became slower as the night wore on. Getting a drink or even his attention became a bit of a hassle towards the end (it wasn’t that busy that I could excuse it) and getting the check (long after we had told him we were finished) was like waiting for molasses to pour.

Quarry Panchitos Mexican Grill’s menu is typical Mexican fare for San Antonio – quesadillas, enchiladas, tacos, fajitas, etc. The appetizers didn’t offer much out of the ordinary either (except the shrimp nachos, which we didn’t try). We ordered up a round of chicken quesadillas, steak fajita nachos, and a “Poco de Mexico” (chicken fajita quesadillas, chicken flautas, beef empenadas, and chili con queso).

The chicken quesadillas were everything I expected – crispy on the outside, cheesy (super-cheesy) on the inside and full of chicken. I’m not sure if I’ve ever eaten a bad quesadilla though. The chicken flautas were nothing special and in fact, I’d rather get them from Taco Cabana. The steak fajita nachos had some really good fajita flavored steak on them, but were covered in a quarter inch of beans (something I do not like very much), but overall were pretty tasty. The beef empanadas were probably my favorite, with a peppery blend of beef packed into a crispy and fluffy pastry shell. Chili con queso? I wouldn’t bother. Canned cheese with some bits thrown in that turned to glue within minutes of its arrival (the sign of a good chili con queso for me is how long it stays creamy and not gelatinous).

Of course all this comes with guacamole and a piddling amount of pico de gallo, neither of which were much better than HEB’s own brands. In fact, they looked similar. The guacamole had that florescent green color that only comes from pre-packaged chemical treated avocados that restaurants buy in large supply in order to stave off having them rot and go to waste.

As we were still hungry, we ordered some Queso Flameado, which on paper sounds delicious, but (and this was my first time having it) tasted blah and looked like baby vomit – so I wasn’t too excited by it.

Since it was happy hour, the appetizers were half priced and the drinks were cheap ($3 Margaritas and $3 Dos Equis), so I took it all with a grain of salt (no pun intended). Staff are usually overworked and under-tipped during happy hour (from my own experience working in restaurants) and it tends to lead to poorer quality in service and the food and drinks.

The biggest complaint? On a table of five, they threw in gratuity (or “service charge” as they call it). I am never a fan of this and although I understand the reasons for it, wait staff always lose on this one if I’m eating in their restaurant. See, I’m a great tipper (as long as the service is good and I have no major complaints during the evening) – the added charge is more often than not less than what I would have given them. The other four I was with are the same, so our waiter lost out. If a restaurant adds it, I never tip – their loss for thinking I’m a cheapskate.

Would I go back to Quarry Panchitos Mexican Grill? Sure, but NOT for the “best” Mexican food in town. I’d go back, people watch and drink $3 Dos Equis or Margaritas for a few hours, have a snack, and enjoy the Texas sunshine on the outdoor patio.

www.quarrypanchitos.com

Location Visited:
7310 Jones Maltsberger Rd.
San Antonio, TX 78209
Tel: (210) 290-8066

Google Map:

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Tags: Mexican Food, Price $$ Average, San Antonio, TX

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11 Responses to “Quarry Panchitos Mexican Grill”

no.
9

Gilbert Tamez

19. Oct, 2009

I have had dinner here a few times the food is excellent, the only thing missing are the mariachis.

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no.
8

Cliff Graham

02. Jun, 2009

I’ve not eaten at the Quarry or West Ave location, but I do know that it is under different ownership than the Olmos Park location on McCullough. The McCullough location is operated by the same folks that operate the Perico’s restaurants, and I’ve always been pleased with their service and thrilled with the value.

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no.
7

Samwar

30. Apr, 2009

I eat at the Olmos Park Panchito’s all of the time because it’s right by my house, but only for breakfast. I think they have the best breakfast tacos in the city. The Chilaquiles taco (buy two get one free Thursday mornings) is awesome and the Panchito’s Special (add cheese) with it’s chorizo, potatoes, eggs and beans is something not to miss. And if you’re feeling more of a lunch/brunch mood order one of the above and an Olmos Chicken Taco. Don’t let Bon Appetite and the Food Network fool you when they say Taco Taco has the best breakfast tacos in town…

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no.
6

Matt Stigliano

30. Apr, 2009

PS Thanks for commenting on my review.

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no.
5

Matt Stigliano

30. Apr, 2009

culinarycara – The service was definitely too slow for my tastes, especially considering it wasn’t terribly crowded (there were tons of empty seats inside and out). I will give the waiter credit though, whenever he came to get a drink order, he had this magic Jedi-mind trick like ability to get us all to order – whether we needed one or not.

Robert – I’ll be interested to see what your thoughts are.

Anna – The inside did look nice and I do agree on the portion size. For appetizers they were really well sized, especially since it was half price happy hour.

Colleen – I’ll have to try the Olmos Park location. I think part of the problem is that when you live in a city that’s full of Mexican restaurants, you really need to be amazing to compete. If they had opened up a Panchitos in Royersford, PA I would have loved it (we couldn’t get much Mexican food outside of Taco Bell).

Debi – Well now we have a ranking to the three. Time to put Robert to the test.

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no.
4

Debi P.

28. Apr, 2009

Been to all three…Olmos Park one is by far the best. West Ave. the worst and the one in the Quarry is just okay. Only thing about Olmos Park is that you want to avoid it around 12:30 on Sunday. Packed.

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  4.1
  
  Robert McGuire
  
  29. Apr, 2009
  
  Olmos Park the best one, really? I will have to give them a try again because the time I went it was during lunch, super busy, and I thought the food was okay. The one at West is always packed every time I drive by there and I’ve never gone to the Quarry location but I think I should give them a try and find out what’s going on there.
  
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no.
3

Colleen

28. Apr, 2009

I’ve only visited the Panchito’s in Olmos Park but I’ve been there twice. Both times the food was good and the service was great (friendly, helpful and even charming waitresses both times). We actually tried to go to the Quarry location the first time but at 5:30 on a Saturday afternoon we were told there was a 2-hour wait. That’s why we went to the Olmos Park location. I’d definitely go back to the Olmos park location but after reading your review and the comments above I may stay away from the Quarry location. Sounds like they’re still experiencing some new restaurant pains!

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no.
2

Anna Gonzalez

28. Apr, 2009

I was at the quarry location just a few weeks ago and have to agree with a couple of your comments. The chairs inside are very uncomfortable and the queso flameado was not at all what I expected. On a brighter note the service was great, the food portions are big and the Mexican atmosphere of the restaurant is inviting. I will probably be back but just for happy hour.

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no.
1

culinarycara

27. Apr, 2009

This doesn’t surprise me at all. I’ve been to the Panchito’s location off West Ave. & Nakoma a couple of times for car club events. Boy, the food is TERRIBLE! Bland and horribly presented. The service is pretty awful too. It took them 30 minutes to get me a bottled shiner bock, and another hour on top of that to get my nachos, which weren’t even good. You won’t catch me there ever again. Yuck!

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- no.
  1.1
  
  Robert McGuire
  
  27. Apr, 2009
  
  WOW! I’m really sorry that you guys had such a bad experience. I am going to have to stop by both locations to see what’s going on there. Thank you for your review and comments.
  
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