Pappasito's Cantina ~ Texas chain : Dallas

Mar 30, 2022 update: Pappasito's remains a Texas institution. There is one location in Atlanta just to mess up the narrative. The restaurant listed below in Dallas is still open as well. Pappasito's maintains 25 restaurants and Houston has at least half of those.

Latest visit: Jun 2012 (Dallas - NW Hwy)

First visit: Nov 2011 (Dallas - NW Hwy)

Pappasito's, as many of you probably know, is part of the much larger Houston-based Pappas group of restaurants, and most known for its flagship Cajun-styled Pappadeaux's. Beyond those two, they also own Pappas Burger, Pappas Bar-B-Q, Pappas Bros Steakhouse, Pappas Seafood House, Dot Coffee Shop, and Yia Yia Mary's Pappas Greek Kitchen. Many times you will see these restaurants clumped together, as is the case with the Pappasito's we visited on Lombardy and Northwest Hwy in Dallas. A few of these concepts are only found in Houston.

This particular Pappasito's is inside an ample "restaurant row" area, situated between Loop 12 and I-35E, and serves the Stemmons Freeway business sector. Plenty of hotels and office buildings are nearby guaranteeing a non-stop lunch and dinner crowd. And to the west of Loop 12 is the seedier side of the entertainment industry with plenty of strip clubs, massage parlors, pool halls and liquor stores. Makes for a colorful drive if coming from NE Tarrant along Northwest Hwy (exiting from TX-114).

So why are we here anyway? Well, the RJG mentioned that I Fratelli's is where we tend to meet our business partners and vendors. Those get-togethers tend to be more intimate settings with rarely more than 4 at a table. But what about when we have our employees in town (they're consultants) visiting clients? Sometimes we'll have over 10 folks. Well, for that, we've begun to settle on Pappasito's. It's still half-way for us logistically and it's roomier, more festive, and they serve a mean margarita. Works for me!

There aren't too many surprises at Pappasito's. But it's definitely a cut above "big chain" food. They're mainly a Tex-Mex shop, and for that they're reliable, if not necessarily newsworthy. I've tried a couple of other "upscale Mexican" dishes here, and once again they were good. But it didn't make me forget about Oscar's (Haltom City - review coming one of these days) either.

The one area where Pappasito's really does shine, however, is where you might least expect it. And that's in the hot sauce for the chips. The chips themselves are typical, pretty similar to what you'd get at Chili's. And the sauce they serve you is also standard - a chipotle based recipe that is delicious, but somewhat typical. You know the RJG right? You guys have a hotter one? I honestly thought the answer would be no. I mean, you don't come to Pappasito's looking for a hole-in-the-wall experience. You're there for good times, drinks, sports and laughter - and some bar food to go with it. But he said "yes". But I figured they'd cut up a couple of jalapeno's and throw it on top or something (we've all witnessed this before). Wrong again. Out came this blended sauce with habanero's mixed in! It was outstanding. Brilliant in fact. I don't know if that's standard at Pappasito's or I just got lucky - but that sauce is a MUST! Of course I was the only one of our party (this time we had 6) who could eat it - so maybe not for everyone. But I was happy anyway...

Good Mexican place to go for a group.

11/10/11 (new entry); 6/27/12

Panchita's Mexican ~ Keller, Texas ***CLOSED***

Last visit: Jun 2012

First visit: Nov 2011

Panchita's is a new restaurant that opened its doors this August. It's housed in the former Windy City Deli location, and is a couple of doors down from Niki's (featured on this blog somewhere). They are a husband and wife run establishment, and you can tell that they use only fresh ingredients. No large platters of enchiladas here - each meal is individually handcrafted. The food is a mixture of Tex-Mex and Mexican from the interior. There's even a hint of New Mexico, and not surprisingly there's a family heritage from there.

The chips are crispy corn and the salsa served is what we typically see in Colorado: A mixture of tomatoes, chilies, onions and cilantro. It was good with a nice kick. As such I wasn't sure they would have a "hotter" one, but indeed they do. It's a tomatillo based green sauce blended with jalapenos and/or maybe serrano's. Definitely contains more heat and thus smooths out the bitterness typically associated with tomatillo. And, as it turns out from a second visit, they also have a blazing spicy butterscotch colored habanero sauce that is outstanding. As for an entree, I went with the super bargain $5.75 lunch special (Tue-Fri only) and had a cheese enchilada, a chicken enchilada and a ground beef taco. The cheese enchilada featured a delicious chili con carne sauce. For the chicken I asked what their hottest sauce was. They said to try the guajillo sauce. The chile itself isn't very hot, but their reddish orange blended sauce had some punch, though I wish there was a bit more of it. The beef taco featured a homemade crunchy shell and the ground beef was well seasoned. The charro beans were delicious with the right amount of bean and bacon flavor. The rice was a tad mushy and the only mistake of the meal, but it tasted good all the same. Perhaps better for the RJG, was the Mrs.' reaction. She had a cup of the tortilla soup which she said was delicious. Perhaps even better was the carne asada gordita, which came in a crispy "pocket". Best she's ever had other than at home, she claims. So a huge hit from our Lady of Sonora.

The restaurant layout has two distinct settings - a darkened lounge with TV screens and a full bar, and then secondly a regular dining area with some natural lighting from outside.

Panchita's is very good and I think it could use more exposure. This is a cut above your usual Tex-Mex restaurant and this is a young couple putting everything they have into it. Tired of the same ole' place? Give Panchita's a try.

12/17/11 (new entry); 6/1/12