At Petaluma’s Don Pancho’s, Mexican cuisine sizzles

The overlooked Petaluma Mexican restaurant is a fiesta for the senses.|

Having grown up in California, I have always had a fondness for good simple Mexican food. When I moved away from this great state, I was saddened to learn that good quality Mexican cuisine was a rarity. It was such a joy to move back, and have a wealth of options for one of my favorite ethnic foods.

One of the many choices here in Petaluma is Don Pancho’s, located in the Plaza North shopping center on North McDowell Boulevard near Lucchesi Park.

It is a small restaurant, one that is big on flavor and selection in a warm and friendly atmosphere. A number of restaurants in this category of inexpensive Mexican food offer walk-up service at a counter, but Don Pancho’s is a full-service restaurant that also has a full bar.

Because the restaurant is small you are always within eye contact of the service staff, so it is easy to get their attention if you need something else.

We have dined here a number of times, both for lunch and dinner, and have never been disappointed by any of the menu items we have ordered. The service has always been really good over at least eight different visits, with only one small hiccup, which was quickly rectified by our server.

One of the really nice things about Don Pancho’s is that in addition to two kinds of salsas with the chips that are brought automatically to your table, they also bring a ramekin of a lovely warm bean dip for the chips. It is so tasty, and not too spicy, but just right.

As I mentioned, they do have a full bar, so one can order excellent and reasonably priced mixed drinks, including a variety of margaritas. They also have a nice selection of domestic and imported beers, and some Mexican soft drinks. The margarita we ordered was $6.75 with beers running $4.75 to $5.75 for a 16-ounce pour.

At lunch our favorite items to order have been the shrimp cocktail, and the octopus and shrimp cocktail. A Mexican shrimp cocktail is not the same as one gets in a typical American restaurant. The sauce is actually made of the broth in which the shrimp are cooked, flavored with orange juice, so it is thinner and lighter. The seasonings are onion, tomato and cilantro, and they are filled with a lot of shrimp, so much so that we will often share one cocktail.

Another lunch item that we really enjoy are the carnitas soft tacos. One can order these a la carte, or as part of a plate with rice and beans. The carnitas, pieces of crispy and tender twice-cooked pork, are delicious, and go really well with the soft corn tortillas.

Their burritos are very popular - definitely the thing to order if you are very hungry because they are huge. Clearly each one is enough food for two meals, so plan on taking some home with you if you order this filling choice.

For dinner we tried the tortilla soup ($6.99), which was a huge bowl of housemade chicken broth, filled with lots of simmered-until-tender chicken pieces, topped with tortilla chips and melted cheese. It was so filling and delicious, and would be perfect on these cold evenings we are experiencing now in December.

Another guest had the Don Pancho’s plate ($19.99), a combination platter that featured a choice of a shrimp dish from the regular menu, carne asada steak, and a chile relleno, along with rice and beans. This is a huge entrée, really enough for two normal appetites, and perfect for someone who is very hungry. It is served with your choice of warm tortillas.

A third guest tried the birria ($12.99) a spicy braised beef dish from Jalisco, that is only on offer on the weekends, and when they run out of it there is no more until the next weekend. If you like food with a texture like pot roast or beef stew, this is the dish for you, as the meat is braised until it is nearly falling apart tender. It is also served with rice, beans and tortillas.

Our least adventurous guest ordered the two enchiladas plate ($9.99) and asked for the meat to be ground beef. The enchiladas came with a green sauce and were smothered in loads of melted cheese. Side dishes were the same, and I should mention here that both the rice and the beans were well prepared, tasty and hot.

If you are a senior, be sure to check out their website for the senior special which is offered Mondays through Thursdays. When you order one entrée and two drinks you get your second entrée for free.

There is only one thing that I would like to see Don Pancho’s improve upon, and that is the fact that their online menus have no prices, so if you are trying to order to pick up, you have no idea how reasonable their prices are. While I know that website maintenance is a bit of a pain, it is not as bad as it used to be, and having a PDF file that one simply changes out when menus are updated in the restaurant makes this practically foolproof.

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