Pappasito's Cantina

Reviews

• JF

  Jarred Flores

  4 days ago
  3.0
  I stopped into Pappasito’s near The Battery for a solo lunch and was looking forward to a casual afternoon. Sat at the bar, had two margaritas, and ordered the lunch special with a fajita quesadilla and a crispy Ixtapa beef taco. The food came out fast and hot, the margaritas were strong and balanced, and Ari behind the bar was fantastic. He used my name throughout, kept drinks topped off, and made sure the entire experience ran smoothly. If this review was based on him alone, it would be five stars without hesitation. That said, the overall experience was unfortunately impacted by one very uncomfortable interaction. A red-haired woman in a green dress stood directly behind me at the bar for most of my meal. She hovered over my shoulder for an extended period, offering no introduction or explanation. At first, I assumed she might be waiting for a seat, but she never engaged with staff or customers. It became clear she was observing Ari—fine, if it’s part of a training or review process—but doing so while looming inches behind a seated guest with personal information open on their phone is absolutely not acceptable. Eventually, I turned around and asked if she worked there. She confirmed that she did, but still didn’t introduce herself or make any effort to ease the situation. I told her I was uncomfortable and asked her not to hover behind me. She did move, but there was no apology or effort to engage in a more professional way. Ari deserves recognition for his service. He was warm, fast, and handled the entire bar with ease. But I hope management sees this note and considers how silent “oversight” like that can backfire. If you’re going to observe staff, do it in a way that respects the guest experience too.
• KH

  Kevin Holmes

  Jan 2, 2026
  3.0
  Forgetful experience. I had been here once before a long time ago and it didnt really get any better Perhaps their fish and ribs are better, but their Mexican food is just extremely mediocre and a 6 of us felt very underwhelmed by those items. The place looks cluttery and messy with the decor and the staff is always trying to push drinks and deserts on you and yap too much. It's not their fault, I can tell the restaurant forces them to. Overall their queso and guacamole are actually really solid so if you want to stop by for just those items, there's no shame in that.
• MM

  Mari C-dna (Mari)

  Dec 28, 2025
  3.0
  The food was ok, by the high rated reviews I was expecting better. The guacamole was super spicy, we asked the server if they had not spicy so the kids could eat but she said no. The chips are very fresh and crispy. The tortilla soup, which is very famous in Mexico was not good at all, it was very plain and lacked flavor. The fajitas were good but again they came with a pico and guacamole which were extremely spicy which we did not enjoy at all. The drinks were very good. As far as service, the server was ok, she seems a bit bothered but is asking if things were spicy, which she always said “no” yet they actually were, and VERY spicy. Not in place I would return. Highly priced for food that should not be so expensive.
• RS

  Richard Sayers

  Dec 21, 2025
  3.0
  Haven’t been there for many years but that’s where I picked for my birthday dinner. My wife and I have been before. We took our daughter, her husband and daughter ( my 12 yo granddaughter). They were visiting from Indiana so thought they would enjoy it. Service was a little slow, they were very busy and we weren’t in much of a hurry. So that really didn’t concern us. When our dinners arrived, we were impressed by the presentation and quantity. However, my granddaughter’s fries were so salty she couldn’t eat them. Her dad and mom tried them and agreed that they were too salty. So she didn’t want to return them, but didn’t eat them. My wife had fish tacos and said that the menu items as toppings were either missed or very little. She ate one of the two and decided that it was just too salty to eat. My daughter tried a taste and confirmed the salty taste and didn’t take another bite. My son in law had beef tacos and daughter’s burrito, had nothing bad to say. I had manzanilla with mixed results. The beef and chicken were pretty good. The pork ribs were a bit stuck to the bone more than I liked. I didn’t care for the beans and rice. Since it was my birthday, someone squealed to the staff. So the result was the attached video. We all had a good time that could have been better if not for the salt.
• YA

  Yaren Akcaalan

  Dec 20, 2025
  2.0
  Couple things, first time here for a friends birthday. We got on the waitlist at 6:30pm, got sat around 8pm, maybe even a little later. We were initially told a 45-50 minute wait at first, which we gauged as normal for a Saturday night. I understand that it was a Saturday, but this isn’t the first Saturday before Christmas this restaurant has experienced, so the wait and the lack of transparency was insane. There was no effort made by the restaurant to even send a text apologizing for the wait. By the time we had decided to leave and go elsewhere, we got the text for our table and decided to stay. Drinks at the bar were pretty good, bar service was friendly and very quick. Our server was Caleb, he’s great, I would ask for him on a night when it’s normal and they’re operating normally. He got our food out within 10-15 of ordering, thank you! I asked for the chicken fajitas, which were $30, insane. I had requested them to go bc I was out of time and didn’t want to wait later on for box, etc. They gave me the food as pictured, initially, a chicken breast cut up with onions on it. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve never had fajitas as sad as these. I asked another server in our section if maybe they had forgotten the rest and was told that this is what they looked like, and that he’d be more than happy to bring me extra sides I needed, thank you to him for attempting to make this edible. I think this place has potential and maybe we caught it at bad and busy time, but I honestly can’t get past the wait time & the quality of the food tonight.

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