Appetizers much better than entrees. Overall, not the best Mexican or TexMex food but okay in a pinch.

I've come here twice and the food has been mediocre at best and expensive for it. Don't think I'll go back again

Came in for a weekday lunch. We had never been and had never heard anything about the restaurant so weren't sure what to expect. The place is beautiful and huge! Our server was great. He was unassuming but very attentive. The food looked incredible, magazine quality, and tasted even better. I had one of the mole dishes and it was the best I have ever had. This is upscale Mexican and it is terrific. We will definitely be back. read more

I placed an order for pickup as I was staying at the hotel across the street. When I arrived on time for my order, I found out the Mexican coke had been sitting out behind the front counter since I placed my order. The food still took another 15 minutes to be ready. When they handed me the food, the coke was warm. I asked for a cold one and they said they don't have any, like they couldn't be bothered to care. Three minutes later back in the hotel, the food was all cold as well. Nothing I ordered should have been cold. Last two times I was in this place they messed up my order then too. The time before that our waiter disappeared after taking our order and it took another 30 minutes to flag someone down to help our table. I'm so disappointed in this place. They just don't care. So, don't care about them. Eat somewhere else. You'll be happier! read more

One of the best Mexican food I've had in a long time. Service was great, not a huge tequila selection but good enough. Ambiance was more modern and not old school authentic Mexican. read more

We ate at the bar, as usual for us. Very crowded Saturday night. Primarily pub food. Service was good, ambiance loud, enjoyed the food.

I've been staying every week on business in Waltham and going to The Painted Burro for months. I have to say it's probably one of the most well run restaurants and has the best trained and friendliest staff I've ever come across,The food is an upscale or creative Mexican cuisine and the happy hour specials are fantastic. kudos to Bernice, Joe and Stacey. Thank you A, C, R, J, L, I. And B you have been wonderful. Your neighbors could learn a lot from your dedication to training, friendliness, and overall professionalism. read more

Beautiful restaurant however, the food left a lot to be desired. Everything was bland and flavorless. Do not recommend the poblano rice. A total waste of money. On a more positive note Our dessert was delicious. read more

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My husband and I decided to have date night and wanted to give the painter burro a shot. We got the empanadas which weren't that great, the chicken chimichanga which was ok except the rice wasn't cooked all the way and ONE Birria taco (for $9) which didn't come with anything. Also a side of rice and beans for an extra $5. The bean were so disgusting and the rice wasn't cooked completely. To be honest I feel like we wasted $60. read more

Just terrible! I went with my family this past Friday night. I had the Chicken Enchilada, my wife and kids each had a different taco along with rice and beans. We ordered two drinks (beer and a margarita) and the kids had two non alcoholic drinks. The good: Chicken Enchilada was pretty good, Churros were good for dessert and out waiter was excellent...very kind The bad: All 3 tacos were terrible and nobody finished their portion. The chicken taco tasted like a freezer burned chicken tender 70-80% breading and the rest dry chicken (I'm being generous) . The steak taco was fatty and flavorless and I forget the taco my wife had. The rice and beans were room temperature and tasted...okay - forgot to mention my knife had dried food on it (no a big deal for me but worth mentioning). The outrageous: they add a 5% kitchen appreciation charge to the bill. I can't remember the last time I "appreciated" a kitchen less. My instinct would be to deduct it from the tip but none of what happened was the waiter's fault so I left him 20% and will never be back. I mean I paid $153 without tip but honestly if it was $53 I would still never go back. Try Local Kitchen and Drinks next door if your in the area. It's a shame because the place looked decent and my daughter wanted a burrito so we went. Alas they don't sere burrito's...lol read more

Bad for accommodating food allergies. After confirming they could accommodate nut and sesame allergies and being provided with an allergy card, our appetizer and salad were delivered to the table only to be taken away after they discovered they were not safe for our allergy. Needless to say we ended our meal as they could not successfully accommodate a sesame allergy. read more

Nice decor, good friendly service, they do take reservations (which is nice), but unfortunately the three of us in our party pretty much agreed we could get better food for much less elsewhere. read more

This restaurant is beautiful but the food is bland and the service is mediocre. There is a kitchen fee, that also jacks the prices up and there's nothing you can do about it! We often come here after work for drinks and my colleagues do seems to enjoy their margaritas. I Was here about a month or two ago for a private function and had a totally completely different experience. The food and service were fabulous. So I would say it depends on what your looking for. Personally, I only go here when it's on the company dime. read more

Cold food. Stale chips, snobby hostess. Would have walked out if it was not for the nice server.

Was here for a 50th wedding anniversary celebration. I had never heard of it before, and because I'm a vegetarian, I'm often wary of places I've never been to. I should not have been wary about the Painted Burro. I ordered the Burrito Benedict - probably one of the best Benedict's I have eaten. Then because it's all you can eat in 90 minutes, I got French toast - incredibly good. Others in my party had wings, eggs, bacon/pork, etc. Service is wonderful - very pleasant and if we had questions, from the many diverse food preferences- vegetarian, gluten free, low salt...would come right back with the answer. I'd give it five YUMS! read more

It would be so easy for them to make their fish tacos fabulous. But they're not. The fish itself was crisp and delicious. But the topping tasted no better than gloppy white mayo mixed with shredded cabbage. I'm always up for variations on classic recipes, but this was in no way an improvement on the classic lightly marinated shredded cabbage plus some kind of mayo-based sauce-- separately applied. How hard could it be for them to do something like this? Too bad about the disappointing and very blah topping, because the fish itself was so well prepared. Also-- I'm kinda neutral-toward-slightly annoyed about their 5% automatic charge to provide better wages for the kitchen staff. If they just added it to the price listed on the menu, my two fish tacos would have shown as $15.75 instead of $15. Is that such a terrible thing to do? This is like the $75 per night "resort charge" that hotels add to their per-night charge. Who doesn't find that annoying? Just base a price on your costs and stop messing with us. You can even brag on your menu about how well you pay your kitchen staff. read more

Ate there for the first time last night and to say I was disappointed in an understatement. The service is terrible (young/inexperienced staff), the food is bland/dry/flavorless, each of the meals we ordered reminded me of frozen food that was reheated, the margaritas were discusting, not sure what kind of tequila was used but they tasted horrible. The portions are small, they barely give you any chips with the salsa and guac order. I literally had to ask for chip basket refills like 5x. Given the price point, the whole experience was not something we expected. The only reason this place gets business is its location - it's close to a few big corporations and some hotels in Waltham. Lots of patrons were there for business meetings. The only positive feedback is that the place looks nice upon entering, cool decor, and the guac is decent but not worth $12 for a scoop and a few chips. And finally the 5% kitchen charge added to the meal cost is just the cherry on top and insulting given the poor quality of the meal and service. This was my first and last time at this establishment. read more

The restaurant is mid tier, socialist vibes coming from waiter and food. Bland, tasteless, their food reminded me of the garbage I ate in Vietnam. read more

We have only tried carry out and has been solid each time. The menu is Mexican basics with some great flavors. The issue with Painted Burro will be the price and value which is what limits our ordering. A high price per se is not the issue, but whether or not the food justifies. They can probably get away with $7 small tacos - that taste delicious - if they eased up the costs or improved quantities on some of the accompanying staples that tend to be more annoying to the customer. The cost for a really small cup of salsa, small bag of chips and the $12 guac scoop that unfortunately is not 3x better than a similar $4 version at Chipotle borders on antagonizing. From a flavor standpoint it is better than most and I agree with the others that the offering is a step above most of the area Mex offerings. We will continue to order, occasionally. read more

Excellent food. Very fresh ingredients. Margaritas do not have sour mix, all fresh. Birria tacos are the bomb! Highly recommend.

Pros: Good food. There are several options I like including the street cart chicken and the chicken chimichanga. I usually get seats at the bar and the bartenders are very polite and friendly. Cons: The "kitchen appreciation" fee included on the bill. It's essentially a hidden surcharge. If someone is not familiar with the restaurant, they may not know that until they get the bill. Limited parking. read more

I love their weekend bottomless brunch. Food is quite tasty. I've never had a bad meal there.

First, the bartenders here have all been fabulous. Great service! I'll credit the kitchen staff for making all the Tacos with love. Just be prepared to pay above average prices for a Waltham restaurant. $7.00 for a bottle of Pacifico is Cambridge pricing. And if you are going to serve a paper thin soft taco shell, at least double up the tacos to make your staff proud and customers happy. read more

First let's start with the greeting staff all four were very friendly and accommodating even though there were no reservations for us. The waitress was quick to our table to explain the menu for both food and drinks. They did provide complementary chips and salsa. The salsa is on point. Just the right combination of heat and flavor. The burro burger was just a plain Sysco burger but they did a very good job of dressing it with an awesome aioli sauce bacon and the guacamole it was absolutely good in this flavor combination. It was sitting atop a brioche bun toasted to perfection for this burger. Pleasantly surprised. The chicken enchiladas were told to me to be very good. Definitely a value added plate. I would recommend coming here. Be aware the price Point is $$ minimum. read more

Painted Burro Waltham - The top pic is the chicken enchiladas the bottom burro burger. - Mexican Near Me - Waltham, Massachusetts

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If you want awesomely mediocre Mexican food, this is your place. Lot of potential with the location, but nothing on the menu is great.

The service here was abysmal, we didn't even get our drink order taken until being seated for 20 minutes, food order not until 40, and then food took another half hour to arrive. Food was middling at best, I got the Enchiladas Verde, which was fine, but certainly not worth the wait. Also, the food is outrageously expensive. To charge what they charge the service can't be where it is at. You can find better food with much better service at nearly anywhere else. read more

Amazing food, lovely ambiance and excellent service. We tried there bottomless brunch for a date one time and every dish was excellent. We are vegetarian s and they were able to accommodate both vegetarian and vegan guests read more

The tacos are good but I just recently went vegetarian so along with my great Cauliflower taco I ordered a kale salad. There was no Kale in my Kale salad. Just very potent arugula. They brought me a new one and this one didn't have the pomegranate seed which made for a a very bitter salad. I don't like complaining in restaurants but I had two twice. Then I got a 5% kitchen appreciation fee added to my bill despite the kitchen screwing up my order. I'll chalk it up to a fluke. The Margaritas were great, not too sweet, no mix. I'll come back again to see if the nonsense is a regular thing. read more

This place rocks. My wife and I enjoyed dinner here last week. To start the drinks we're strong and flavorful. We tried several dishes and they were all well prepared and delicious. We plan to return. The waiter informed us that they will be introducing a brunch sometime mid Aug which sounded great. read more

Very mediocre. The food was below average in quality. The CHILI LIME SALMON with street corn+potato hash, spinach, garlic mojo, serrano, cotija, cayenne, lime, cilantro was over cooked and -- unbelievably -- without flavor. The enchiladas were cold and stringy. Just skip it. read more

Very nice environment and the food is all very good! I go here often. The reason I didn't leave 5 stars is because I just cannot get behind the idea that a restaurant is including a "service fee" into your bill. It feels sneaky and misleading. When I leave a tip I make sure to always leave at least 20%. I will often leave a bit more, especially if I have a good experience. Having a build in service fee is confusing. Am I still supposed to leave a full tip? Is that 5% really going to the staff or is a portion of it being taken by management? I wonder how much of the wait staff actually likes the built in service fee as it may prompt customers to leave a lower tip. When many other restaurants are not including a built in service fee then it seems like management of this place is making an excuse for not paying their staff more so they are asking their customers to do it. Am I naive or does this make others uncomfortable also? It is definitely not the norm in the US. read more

great fish tacos and cool views and atmosphere, a little overpriced but worth it. Good margeritas as well

Trish is a GREAT events manager ! We did a rehearsal dinner there and she did everything to make it as fantastic as it turned out to be.. from the service to the food, everything we asked for and more.. EXCELLENT attention to detail. We had 50 guests and I highly recommend it for a fun, and delicious time. read more

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Went here for brunch the other day, fantastic. This is not your traditional "order a single entree" kind of brunch. This place does it a tad differently. They offer a 'bottomless' brunch for $29 per person. Now, before everyone jumps and says thats high, you have to take into account what you get. The menu selection is broad and it's all delicious. I was able to try 3 different types of tacos (traditional mexican size), a delicious kale salad, pancake (with banana), french toast (with plantains), chicken and waffles, and likely something else during brunch (this was between myself and the person I was with). All were delicious and we both liked being able to try a bunch of dishes. Cocktails were solid and they also have a mexian style draft beer list (Modelo, Dos Equis) and a couple other taps. Service was fast and we were able to order as we went and deciding what to try next. Inside is also very nice with tall ceilings, comfy seating, and good decorations/color. It was a treat and a fun departure from the normal type of brunch spots. Worth the price and we'll be back. read more

Service was good and that's about it. The nachos were awful, there were ~12 chips loaded with cabbage, carrots?, and pickled jalapeños. The bar is set up poorly such that the overhead lights block the TVs from view. read more

The food, the ambiance, music, and staff are great! Very tasty dishes. The only con is that they include MANDATORY kitchen tip. I do not agree with this practice as the business is passing the expenses onto the costumer when they should be paying their kitchen staff better (the food is amazing!) thus my 4 stars (one less than five due to management). read more

I couldn't believe how little my tacos were. All that in the little tortia was small chucks of fish with mayo on them. Nothing came with it. You had to order rice & beans if you wanted it. The place was full of business people having their drinks. Margarita was not good. The prices were high for what you got. They also charge an extra kitchen staff tip. Go elsewhere. read more

First time visiting PB on Father's Day 2022. Had made a reservation so seated immediately. Drinks served within ten minutes and order la taken shortly thereafter. My wife and I had the Chicken Chimichanga and our daughter two tacos. Food was hot and delicious. Service was very timely and polite. Well done especially on a busy day. read more

This place is not good Mexican or tex mex at all. 29$ for fajitas that were not good, not hot and loaded with oil and mostly onions. Usually fajitas come out sizzling and grilled/seasoned. These were more cooked in an oven under slimy onions. They were terrible. The enchiladas were ok, nothing special but definitely not worth 22$. Honestly go to border cafe, it will be better and half the price. Guac was the best thing we had there, but small portion and $12. I know there's inflation but these prices were crazy based on what you get. They also add a 5% kitchen appreciation charge, which I didn't appreciate. Whatever you guys add on top gets taken out of your server's tip so I think you guys might want to rethink that policy. Let me decide if I appreciate the kitchen's low effort. Don't force this on me. read more

From a servers point of view this place is awful! The service was terrible! Took a long time to even put our drinks in and even longer for our food. My taco was full of fat and girlfriends fried chicken taco was basically a frozen chicken nugget. The bar was filthy and my beer was warm. At least my margarita was okay. Not worth the money though and yet the bill included a 5 % kitchen appreciation charge. We had gone to the one in Somerville but this location was trash! read more

Painted Burro Waltham - Fried Chicken Taco that tasted like a frozen chicken nugget - Mexican Near Me - Waltham, Massachusetts