By: William Burns
Pancho’s Villa is a Mexican cuisine restaurant in San Antonio, Florida, not far from the Saint Leo University campus. At one mile away, the restaurant is an easy commute for students driving or walking.
The restaurant is open every day for lunch and dinner. They open every day at 11 a.m. and Sunday through Thursday they close at 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday they close an hour later, at 10 p.m.
Pancho’s has food that is typical of Mexican restaurants. They have burritos, enchiladas, tacos, chimichangas, fajitas, etc. Before hitting the restaurant for lunch, a quick google search for “Panchos” gives you the restaurant reviews on both Tripadvisor and Yelp.
These two sites have nearly four hundred combined reviews, and both had a rating of four and a half stars out of five for the diner. Already before going to eat, Pancho’s was certain to deliver some delicious food.
The restaurant is tucked away in the little town of San Antonio and offers very little parking or seating. There are less than 10 immediate parking spots for the restaurant, but more are available only a short way down the road.
Pacho’s Villa only being a mile away from Saint Leo makes it a easy commute for the SLU community to walk or drive here for lunch or dinner. Credit: Yelp
Likewise, the interior of the restaurant is small as well and has a seating capacity of about 50 people, give or take five depending on how the tables are set up. The low amount of seating can easily lead to wait times if you go during their busy hours.
There is an outside seating area, but it does not appear to be used at all. Lunch gets busy at around 11:30 in the morning and the rush typically ends by 1:30 in the early afternoon. The dinner crowd starts showing up near 4:30 in the evening and lasts until around 8:30 p.m.
On this trip to Pancho’s, I arrived at two in the afternoon right as the restaurant was beginning to clear out. My party, and another party of three arrived at the same time and had no issue getting seated quickly. We sat in the corner booth which was comfortable enough, but the table seemed to be a little higher than what I was used too.
A waitress soon came over and asked for our drinks and immediately returned with our selections. We asked for a few minutes to look at the menu, and about five minutes later our order was taken. In the meantime, we were given warm, crispy tortilla chips and two types of salsa, one spicy and one mild. The restaurant was decorated similar to other Mexican restaurants, with sombreros hanging from the walls and paintings all over. There was also very nice cultural music playing in the background.
Pancho’s always has a daily special written on the wall that can be easily seen as soon as you walk into the restaurant. Credit: Yelp
The food took roughly 15 minutes to come out after we placed our orders, and it was piping hot. Everyone in the party thought the food was delicious, and the portions filled up the plates and our appetites. The service was great as well; our cups were never empty, and the waitress checked up on us several times. She timed the checks very well and did not make us wait at all. The menu for the restaurant is small, but they cook the food very well. The lunch and dinner menus are nearly the same, but the lunch portions are smaller and slightly cheaper. For lunch, the price range was between $6-$10, and the dinner prices ranged from $8-$16 per entree. The entrees normally come with rice and beans, but fries are also available. There are also a la carte items which can be added to your order.
The lunch trip lasted 45 minutes from arriving and being seated to the time we left. For a sit-down meal, this doesn’t take up much time, and is a good way to take a short break from your day.
For those who do not have that much time, you can also call in orders and pick your food up to go. This restaurant is a great hole in the wall diner to go to, especially for college students. The prices are low, and the portions are large, which is exactly the value students are looking for.
Also, with the close proximity to University Campus, you can’t go wrong. If you want to go at the busy times, be prepared to wait, but if you go in the off-hours, it can be a quick, delicious meal. The only cons for the restaurant would be the occasional wait time and the lack of WOW factor.
