they nosy always angry n rude!! food was great tho i just hate how they barely give scoops n always extra charging for nun read more

I was surprised to discover that this place is a Chipotle mini-me. You can get burritos, tacos, bowls, or salad. Instead of softritas, they have tofusada, which is quite tasty on its own. I tried a bowl with rice, black and pinto beans, corn salsa, spicy red salsa, guacamole, and jalapeños. They charge extra for the guac but it's only $1.45. I also got an extra scoop of the tofusada for $1.45 because the chic was being stingy with the portions. I tried every ingredient on its own just to test the quality and flavor. Both the black and pinto beans had excellent flavor, as did the rice and tofusada. Things I didn't like: I didn't care for their guac; they are definitely missing the Chipotle memo on that. Pancheros' guac recipe uses tomatoes and no red onion or cilantro, which make a big difference. Also, the diced jalapeños didn't taste fresh (no spiciness to them at all). And vegans beware, that just like Chipotle, you have to watch out for fallen cheese in the sauce. Lastly, I thought the staff was less than friendly. Overall, I really enjoyed the bowl. It was a tasty, filling, gluten-free and low calorie meal. Good value for the price. I'd def return because this is Mason City, IA - ain't too many other places for vegans to get a good meal. FYI manager stated prices are going up soon. read more

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terrible service aggressive employees CHARGED FOR SOMETHING I DIDN'T PURCHASE. Wouldn't recommend this location.

Pancheros is so good but their service...horrible. My friend and I went to the Mason City Pancheros and we were served by Jaydyn. He was extremely rude and definitely should not be in customer service. Right when we walked in he was rude and short while we were ordering as well as not even putting a full scoop of anything in our bowls. Once we got to checkout he was mumbling the whole time and was giving a lot of attitude. I scanned my phone to get points then he yelled"Why do you gotta do that f***ing s**t!" All I did was simply scan my phone. When asking for a water cup we we're told "You can drink it out of your damn hands," My friend and I were stunned that someone would say that at their place of work. While we were walking out we got stared down and cussed out. I do not recommend the Mason City Pancheros. read more

To give this store a one star review is an understatement. If I could give a zero start rating I would! From the get go it was the worst service possible we walk in and had been ignored for 5 minutes while they fill mobie orders rather than help the only customers in store. To make matters worse they ran out of steak at 5 o'clock. The worker said she would add steak after they cooked more for us, and after she added the bare minimum amount of steak I had asked her to add more. she then argued with me that that was the correct amount and I proceed to tell her she was wrong. With that being said she threw that burrito and made a new one acting like she was doing me a favor rather than simply making it correctly. At checkout the cashier seemed completely unconcerned with putting his ungloved hands inside of our drink cups with no sense of what he was actually doing. Moral of the story is that it is beyond me that you could work in the food service industry and yet have zero awareness for the correct sanitation process and how to treat paying customer. 0/10 Pancheros and will never be coming back. read more

Walked in to a pretty short line less than 5 people in front of me. within a matter of minutes the line was to the door. 3 workers on the line thinking they can have this line fed in a matter of minutes, but instead they decided to keep us waiting while they slowly toke their time to complete Togo orders for people who weren't even there to pick them up. Woman in blue sweatshirt possibly the shift manager was really slow and quite rude. Instead of tryin to shrink the 12-15 person line behind myself and get us fed, she yelled that we need to move away from the door for a truck delivery and continued making Togo orders. No motivation and lack of effort from the staff. Only reason I'm giving them 2 stars is for the food itself Pancheros burritos will always hold a special place in my heart read more

I eat Pancheros at least once each week from other locations. This location was an awful experience. Extremely slow and not near ready at opening time. I was told my quesadilla could not be made the way I ordered it (same as I always order at other locations). Last and worst, there was a very long hair in my food. If you love Pancheros, do not stop at this one. read more

I love Pancheros, but the Mason, City one is not it. The workers were slow, they would continuously take break whenever, the food was cold by the time we sat down to eat it. This is not the place I want to eat. read more

food was cold, workers took their time taking little breaks whenever they wanted, was very dirt. I love pancheros, but the Mason City pancheros is the last place you'll catch me. read more

Worst experience ever. Smallest portions I've ever been served at a Pancheros. Trained and actively working in public health (I do food establishment inspections). This Pancheros was poorly cleaned. The employee would touch her glasses/face while making my burrito. The countertop/serving area was poorly tended to and was disgusting. All the food products looked old and it was just overall a MESS. Also, they refused to serve more than 5 baseball players from NIACC. Turning away a 6th baseball player. They turned away customers! Pancheros is my favorite fast food place. I'm just really disappointed. read more

I stay overnight in Clear Lake every week for work. And I drive a tractor-trailer so I'm stuck with either delivery or DoorDash. When it comes to Mexican food, I was told by 2 different people to go to Pancheros. One mentioned their Burrito is like a Chipotle burrito. And they were correct. It was delicious and huge! Their 2 tacos on the other hand was a disappointment. I've ordered here twice in the last 3 weeks. The first time, the tacos seemed rather small. The 2nd time, all I got was 2 tortilla shells wrapped in foil. When I called the restaurant, I was told that I was suppose to select what I wanted with the taco. Huh?? It's a taco!! At least give me the generic version of a taco! Why would anybody think a customer would want only the tortilla for $7.95?? And why would you not make it a requirement for the user to make a selection prior to submitting the order? I was coming off a 16 hr day and was physically and mentally exhausted. I didn't even remember being asked to choose the fillings. At the very least, why wouldn't management call me to ask if I intentionally left it blank? When I called back, the manager said I only had two options, drive there and have two made for me (again, I drive a semi so due to DOT regulations I couldn't drive for 9 more hrs) or call DoorDash and get a refund. So I got the refund but was still left unsatisfied. read more

I'm a huge Pancheros fan and go to the one in Cedar falls often. I was worried that this one would not live up to my expectations of my hometown one. But they exceeded all my expectations. I was greeted immediately when I walked into the door by a nice lady. She asked to take my order and kept calling me ma'am. i'm not that old but I do see it as a sign of respect. The employee who rang me up was also very polite and courteous with lots of pleases and thank you's. The service was wonderful. This was a new location so all of the Decor and booths and seating row brand-new. It has a streamlined Tex-Mex feel to the Decor. How it works is you order at the start of the line. You pick whether you want a burrito tacos quesadilla or a bowl. They fresh press all the tortillas in house to order. I like the burritos but my favorite right now is the bowl. It's all the deliciousness of an inside of a burrito without the tortilla. You pick whether you want rice black beans or pinto beans. And then you choose your meat. They have steak chicken veggies or Carnitas which is pork. I really like the Carnitas. Then you choose your toppings. Queso is extra but it's so delicious it's a white cheese sauce. And then you pick the salsa or pico sour cream guacamole cheese etc. The food is all very fresh and flavorful. I found the toppings at this location to be extremely fresh today. I usually get the chips and queso as well. But today I just stuck with the burrito bowl. If you haven't been here yet give it a try it is absolutely wonderful. The food is fantastic and the staff here was very polite. Get a punchcard because after 10 burritos or meals your 11th one is free. read more

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This location routinely disappoints. The employees are rarely concerned with customer satisfaction, directing most of their attention to one another and the plans they have for later in the day. If you are there at the right time you may find that all of the food is prepared, but more often than not they will be out of rice/veggies/chicken/ etc... Overall this location is poorly managed and would be surprising if it is around much longer. read more

Gave this place 4 tries. Not impressed once. Meat looks like its been sitting out for days and they are stingy with it. EVERYTHING is an extra charge. Staff isn't very friendly. The blue corn chips and their salsas are good, but not good enough to make it worth going there. read more

I'm so glad that there is a Panchero's in Mason City!!! I love me a good burrito and Panchero's is the place to get the best burrito. I'm talking better then Chipotle! Seriously. They press the tortilla right in front of you so it doesn't get much fresher than that. Also the meats in my opinion are juicer then Chipotle. You have to get it with the queso cheese inside the burrito. Take my word for it, you'll love it! read more

Stopped by this location not too long ago. My wife and I walked in and felt a bit unwelcome. We had just got off a long a shift at work and ended up having a late dinner. This is the closest thing to Chipotle in mason city, unforuntaltey. At the same time, there is a huge drop-off in quality in Pancheros. We ordered burrito bowls. The person working behind the counter just slapped our bowls together sloppily and hurriedly. When we paid, she was in a rush. On our way out, she sat with her boyfriend at a booth and logged into social media. We then got home and ate our overpriced burrito bowls that were made without any grace, and certainly without any sort of love or compassion. If you're not happy with tour line of work, please quit. This pancheros branch is disappointing. Think twice about dining here. read more

I have never been wowed by Pancheros until my visit to this location. The staff was extremely friendly and accommodating. I only caught one of the two gentlemen's names, Quincy, and feel bad I did not catch the other's to mention here. I wish the location near me was like this one! Pancheros is a nice addition to Mason City. read more

Horrible service today. Asked for a tofu burrito and the lady helping me said that it was going to be at least 15 minutes. It is currently 11:45...which is the lunch hour. I am not sure why the tofu wasn't ready, but I know that you can fry this stuff up in less than 5 minutes. I have waited before, as I know that tofu is not as popular as the meat options. She definitely did not want to make any tofu and asked me if I wanted something on the burrito other than tofu. I usually get good service at this location so I still rated it a 3 read more

Pancheros is way better than similar Chipotle, Qdoba, and Moe's Southwest Grill. I love coming here. Simple. Fast. Fresh. Made to order. The Iowa City location was the first one and now they're everywhere. Make it a combo (half steak and half chicken). read more

Ordered online on Cinco De Mayo and showed up to the store 20min later. Had to wait another 20 min for my order. Not only that but there is no advantage to ordering online as people who didn't order ahead were getting served faster than the people who ordered online. Long story short...this place is always understaffed so only order from here if you have an hour to spare. read more

Carnitas was dry and not fresh. The salsa verde was old and not fresh as well. The gentleman working tonight was not attentive at all and was more concerned about joking around with his buddies than working. The younger lady working was friendly but seemed to go along with the others around and didn't seem to care about the food quality or experience as well. read more

Knock off Chipotle but not as good. If you like your burritos with 4 cups of rice and a few tiny pieces of cubed chicken then this is your place! They charge for veggies too! To each their own but better than chipotle?!?! That's a bold statement. read more

After trying this place multiple times I'm just over it. The staff all look pissed off for some reason and are not very friendly. All the meat looked and tasted days old but having said that I'm kind of glad their stingy with the extremely small portions of meat that you get. Bottom line... Just another chipotle rip off that isn't good at all and charges more$. Kind of sad when the fountain drinks are the best part of the meal to wash down a flavorless, rubbery and dry pieces of meat that get stuck in the back of your throat. If you were considering trying this place.. Don't! PS. why are the staff parking up front and are making the customers park farther away and walk across the parking lot!? read more

Burrito tortillas fresh pressed right before they are served to you. Food is excellent and fresh, and fairly priced. Loved this place! Great for a quick meal on the go as well. read more

Had lunch here today with some French guests. I ordered the Carnitas bowl along with a raspberry tea. The meal was great! I also tried some of Panchero's hot sauce and loved it! I will definitely return here! read more

It was okay. In theory I like how they mix the burrito filling together, so you get a little of everything in every bite, but I felt it made the burrito mushy. Not horrible if I'm craving Chipotle, but in my opinion, not as good. (But MC doesn't have Chipotle, so occasionally this will have to do.) read more

Panch is definitely my choice for fast food Mexican style food. The queso (cheese) is good but what's with the name? You have several options of items to put into the burrito and two of them are cheese and queso. CHEESE = QUESO in Spanish. The first time I went into a Pancheros I was very confused about those options. Turns out it is very popular in the United States to call melted cheese queso instead of... melted cheese. Anyway the food tastes great and the staff is always friendly. read more

Enjoy the food but workers are as competent as a first grader trying to learn their abc's and the first grader probably could of done a better job. It wasn't even a busy day and I had to remind a worker 3 times to move my burrito back because I wanted the extras. Each individual time she got side tracked and started something else. I Like the food but hire other people who aren't recovering crack addicts or deem as mentally ill. read more

Just tried the new Pancheros in Rochester MN. I was scolded by the Burrito Nazi working there several times to back away from the sneeze guard. When I gestured for a topping, apparently my finger broke the plane between the customer side and the worker side of the sneeze guard. Eventually, I moved two steps back so I could point without having a violation of the Pancheros protocol. I asked for more sour cream when I got a small dollop of it and there was an extra charge for that. But what was worse, the Burrito Nazi was unable to wrap my burrito because I had selected too many extra toppings, I guess, and he toss some of my toppings in the trash so he could do the wrap. He also did a moosh and mash step to press all my toppings into a uniform gray glop and lost the natural layering of the toppings. I prefer the distinct layers of the burrito build. I also prefer getting all the food I am paying for and did not appreciate the guacamole and sour cream part of the glop going into the trash to make room for the wrapping process. Other Burrito shops know how to wrap an over-stuffed burrito. read more