by Mystery MouthBe forewarned: If you get the tacos at Panchero’s Mexican Grill at the Shoppes at Montage, you will get your hands dirty.
While not usually a fan of eating with my fingers, it would have felt blasphemous to eat my two steak tacos with a fork and knife. That explains why I could have been spotted there over the weekend with sour cream and salsa dripping everywhere as I licked my fingers.
Panchero’s is set up like a Subway, but with Mexican food — you tell the staff what you want each step of the assembly line.
Its menu is pretty basic and offers only five main items: quesadilla ($4.85), tacos ($4.25), burritos ($5.75), salad ($5.25) and burrito bowl ($5.75), which is all the trappings of a burrito but without the tortilla. All are available in chicken, steak, carnitas (pork) or veggies, while a cheese quesadilla is available for $3.85.
Panchero’s makes its own tortillas daily with made-from-scratch dough, and you can certainly taste the difference. They are soft and airy and are pressed right in front of you after you order, then filled with your choice of ingredients.
I chose to top my steak tacos with cheese, shredded lettuce, hot salsa and sour cream. My shopping companion Ethan chose a chicken burrito with rice, cheese, pico de gallo, hot salsa and sour cream. We decided to add a bag of chips with salsa ($1.75) and a cup of rice (75 cents) as accompaniments. Other sides include chips with guacamole or queso ($2.75), beans or queso (75 cents) and guacamole (95 cents).
Once our meals were handed to us on their silver platters, Ethan and I settled in at a booth near the front and tucked in.
His burrito was expertly wrapped with the fillings so snugly enveloped inside that this normally sloppy eater had just one drop fall on his platter. His flavorful chicken was very tender, and he found the combination between the hot salsa, mild pico and sour cream incredible.
The steak on my tacos was also tender, and its marinade mixed nicely with the hot salsa, which is definitely fiery. I was glad I got the side of rice, because my burning lips needed something cool, and the cilantro-lime rice was the perfect foil to the heat.
The blue corn chips were fantastic, salty and sturdy enough to withstand the chunkiest of salsas or guacamoles. The mild salsa we chose had zip and was perfectly pureed with many flecks of cilantro. While there were enough chips for two, the Mouth recommends two bags because they are so good and a nice change from your standard tortilla chips.
Panchero’s has the perfect menu for carnivores and vegetarians, and the food is great. The service was friendly and accommodating (even when I held up the line because I couldn’t make up our minds), and the atmosphere is colorful and happy with bright paintings of chili peppers, maracas, sombreros and cacti dotting the walls. It definitely recharged our engines to head out to shop some more.
Rating: W W W W W
• Panchero’s Mexican Grill
Shoppes at Montage
2011 Shoppes Blvd., Moosic
570.348.9300
All major credit cards
accepted.
