I have been eating here for years and tonight will be the last. The food is still good but the…read moreservice is terrible! Two weeks ago we came and ate and never got waited on the same thing tonight you get your food. You're never ask if you want to refill a box or even if you need your check, we stood up at the front several minutes before someone finally come to ask us what we needed. We then paid the bill after letting another couple go in front of us that have received their check the waitresses sit at a back table on the computer or on their phone.. I hope the manager will see this and the service will get better. I let the woman that checked us out know of our concerns.

No trip to Smith Mountain Lake is complete without a dinner at El Toreno Mexican restaurant. SO…read moreGOOD! The food was amazing as usual! And I think I had the best margarita of my life. Thank you staff at El Toreno! See you next year.

Excellent service and food! Waiter who served us was fabulous! Best seeting for larger groups.read more

First off the service was outstanding. Our food came quick and hot. The view of the lake from the…read moredeck is absolutely amazing! They have Carnitas and if you can do Carnitas as well the rest of the menu is a lock. Five stars on the Carnitas and everything we tried. Prices are completely reasonable. Recommend the lunch specials!

This Pancho Mexican Restaurant is located in Vinton, Virginia. It was the second of three to open,…read morethe other two being the first one in Daleville and the third one at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke, Virginia. They are a family owned local business. Located in the East Vinton Plaza, this casual Mexican Restaurant serves menu items for lunch and dinner and a popular lunch buffet with all-you-can-eat option. A friend of mine invited me last Tuesday to go there for dinner. When we arrived the restaurant was clean with walls nicely painted and and with a few framed paintings on the wall and colorful painted booths with Mexican motifs. The host greeted us with a warm welcome and handed us our menus. The menus were pretty much the same as those of the other two restaurants. Very nicely designed with color pictures of.some of the items on the menu. You can tell that this was a very popular restaurant in the neighborhood because in the time we were there many other customers came in and were seated. Our server welcomed us with a smile and took our order. To drink we just had iced water. As our main course my friend had the Guadalajara Especial and I had the Flautas, from the Mixed Specialties area of the menu. As we waited we enjoyed some wonderful fresh tortilla Chips with an amazing salsa. When the main courses were ready our server brought them to us. They tasted as good as they looked. Our server came by our table at reasonable times to check on us and see if we needed anything such as a refill of our water. Considering the Cleanliness of the restaurant, the nice variety of items on the menu, the quality of the chips and salsa, the big portions of food cooked to perfection and very tasty, and of course the excitement customers service provided by all servers, I highly recommend this restaurant as one of the better Mexican restaurants in the area.

We ate lunch here yesterday and had the buffet. The food was so salty that it was uncomfortable to…read moreeat. It was almost like a disgruntled employee or some kid was messing with the food it was so awful. I told our server and he just acted like it was no big deal. I realize he had nothing to do with it but I asked him to pass along the message to the kitchen staff. With the number of good Mexican restaurants in town I will never eat here again and do not recommend it for you!

Second time going to this truck and the food was amazing just like the first time. Food is made…read morefresh on the spot and the quality is consistent. The two empanadas and one pastele had a nice golden crisp with warm fillings, and the arepa was loaded with food! The drink was very thick and not too sweet, was perfect as someone who likes thick milkshakes (not that it was a milkshake). The green sauce they provide as well with the meals is addicting. Can't wait to keep going!

We have been left wondering how in the world this place isn't slam packed every second that they're…read moreopen. (The only reason must be because it's newer!) This was hands down the best Hispanic food we have ever had. I got some empanadas (best I've had anywhere) and my boyfriend got their Rincón burger (pictured below) - he said it was the best burger he's had anywhere, ever. If you're considering trying this place, absolutely do it. It's phenomenal. I can't say enough good things about it! Although I'm not typically a massive outdoor seating fan, their outdoor seating is so nice and I was a fan of the atmosphere!

I discovered this relatively new restaurant while driving with a friend a few months ago, and…read morequickly went and added the business to Yelp. At that time they were so new that they only took cash as payment, and since neither one of us had enough cash we weren't able to eat there that day, nor was I able to be the first one to review it for Yelp. But it so happened that while searching for new restaurants in Yelp, I found the review of the first person who did, and this motivated me to drive back the hidden path where we first had discovered it, to go try it out. After being awarded the Triad Yelper of the Year 2024 Award at the Yelpies Award Ceremony last year, an event that honored the highest-performing Yelp Elites, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to uncover those found in hidden paths that for one reason or another have not reached the public in its totality. And El Mexa Breakfast & Lunch in Roanoke, Virginia, is the perfect example. This relatively new family-owned restaurant is located in a small outdoor strip mall named Starkey Station on Merriman Road, in Roanoke, Virginia. It is so much out of the way that you had to have known about it to find it or just happen to take that hidden paths on your way to somewhere else to discover it, the way we did. And today I found out while talking in Spanish with the owner that another way people have been finding out about this place is when they have been coming next door to pick up their Domino's Pizza. They have seen it, entered and taken a menu, then ordering take outs from home over the phone, and coming to pick their orders up. What's interesting is that even though they focus on breakfast and lunch, since they close at 7:00pm daily, they have an opportunity of reaching the early dinner crowd and by offering their breakfast menu to some day round, this is opening the doors for more people to come at anytime of the day from 7:30am to 7:00pm. Their menu consists mainly of fresh Mexican pastries which they have dropped off daily from bakeries in Vinton and North Carolina. They have a variety of handmade Mexican Tacos, Tortas (which are gigantic sandwiches), Sopes (which are a traditional Mexican dish consisting of a thick, fried corn tortilla with raised edges base, topped with various savory ingredients), Taco Salads, and a Deluxe Quesadilla (a tortilla filled with cheese and other ingredients cooked on a griddle or stove until the cheese melts). After meeting and talking with the owner for a short while before other customers started to come in, the owner took my order at the counter, after letting me know that they now accept Credit Cards. To drink I ordered a Boing Mango Pulp Beverage which I picked up at their beverage refrigerator. To eat I had a Torta Cubana, which was a sandwich made in their typical large oval fresh bread, that contained a breaded steak milanesa, ham, Mexican sausage, chorizo, and Oaxaca Cheese. Included was also mayo, tomato, onions, avocado, and Chipotle. Usually, the wife is here to take care of the customers and their orders, while he does the cooking and fulfills the orders. But at this time of the early evening, he did everything while the wife had to do an errand. What impressed me the most was that even though this was a small place, everything was so clean and organized, and the food was so fresh and delicious. I invite you to view my photographs and videos that accompany this review to get a better sense of what I mean. I highly recommend this place for when you're in the mood for some genuine Mexican food prepared by very friendly and warm people, in a clean and comfortable environment. You know, very often it is in these hidden places that we find the most delicious culinary treasures.

I finally stopped by here for lunch today and thought it was really good. I got two chicken and two…read morecarnitas tacos and thought they were delicious. They just had a really good homemade taste and they were not greasy. I overheard another customer say that the Mexican bread in the display case was very good. The inside was simple and clean. The gentleman preparing the food was even wearing a hairnet!

The food service is amazing and the food is great. It has a…read morelot of options in regards to foods. Great place to eat. El servicio de comida es increíble y la comida es excelente. Tiene muchas opciones en cuanto a alimentos. Es un gran lugar para comer.

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to find a Latin American Restaurant and Market this good in…read morethis Star City of Roanoke, Virginia. Yet during the first half of Hispanic Heritage Month this year, I so happened to discover this hidden gem of a restaurant and Roanoke's Best Kept Secret! After being awarded the Triad Yelp Squad Yelper of the Year 2024 Award at the Yelpies Award Ceremony last year, an event that honored the highest-performing Yelp Elites, celebrating their contributions and accomplishments throughout the year, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to uncover those found in hidden paths that for one reason or another have not reached the public in its totality. And the Super Amanecer Restaurant in Roanoke, Virginia, is a perfect example. It's interesting what led me to this restaurant in the first place. I was talking with a Salvadorian young lady who's very kind and hardworking mother raised 7 children of her own in this country; and she told me that whenever she wants to treat her mother out to eat and asks her where she would like to go, her answer is always: "Al Super Amanecer." Located in Town Square Shopping Mall, a strip mall in Northwest Roanoke, Virginia, featuring a variety of shops, restaurants and other establishments, the Gran Amanecer II Restaurant and Market offers a diverse selection of Latin America comfort foods in a casual and relaxing environment. It has an ample parking lot, where many Hispanics gather in the late afternoon to socialize with their families and friends after work while enjoying some comfort food like pupusas or tamales, or tropical flavor ice-creams in or around their cars. Inside the Restaurant / Market is like another world. They are separated by an entryway and both the restaurant and market have the largest variety of Latin American food than any other place in Roanoke, Virginia. When I entered the restaurant, I was greatly impressed with its cleanliness, simple decor, cozy ambiance, and extensive menu. A friendly young lady greated me at the Host's station and after finding out that I spoke Spanish, asked me where I wanted to sit. I sat at a booth next to the window and then moved to a table because the sun was getting in my eyes. The menu had a great variety of Latin American dishes from places like Mexico, El Salvador, Argentina, and Honduras, among other places. To drink I ordered a Maracuya (Passion Fruit) drink. And as my main entrée I order their Parrillada. I invite you to view my photographs accompanying this review to get a better sense of the place and its food. This dish included chicken, steak, shrimps, 2 chorizos, lime, avocado, roasted jalapeño, rice, refried beans, and pico de gallo. All the meats were quality and cooked to perfection in such a way that it brought out their flavor. For the Grand Finale of this exquisite meal I had Churros with a scoop of ice-cream. They were amazingly delicious though a bit overcooked, thus too crunchy, and lacked the sugar on top, but were decorated so amazingly well, with chocolate and caramel syrup and a cherry, that I enjoyed eating them. Afterwards I went to visit their Supermarket and it too was the greatest thing I've ever seen in Latin American Markets. It had hard to find product at your fingertips, and others you didn't even know they existed. In the back they even had their very own meat department with the meats in the display cases looking tender and fresh In conclusion I highly recommend this restaurant and market for their variety of quality food and products cooked extremely well, and served by friendly staff providing excellent customer service, and an extraordinary dining experience.

Food was great! You can't beat the Sunday Shrimp special! Anthony and Miranda were great as well.read more

Went on a busy Saturday night a couple weeks ago and waited 30 minutes to be seated…read more Understandable. What didn't sit well was waiting 15 minutes for a server to approach us, and that was after I had waved someone down. Waited over an hour for our food to come out after that, so luckily we didn't have any other plans afterwards with a 2 hour dinner. Service was friendly when we did get someone and food was good. Would be willing to try again in the future to see if this visit was a fluke or not. It may be a bit before we do this though.

Los Arcos Mexican Restaurant is located in a nicely designed but older restaurant building with…read morecolorful furniture off Peters Creek Road in Roanoke, Virginia. Many times my friend and I had driven by this restaurant wondering how it would look inside and how the food would be. From past experience Mexican restaurants were either amazingly good or unfortunately poor. So today we decided to go and try it out. No longer would it be a mystery to us. We had no idea of how the ambiance would be inside, nor the customer service, nor the quality of the food. We arrived around 4:45pm for an early dinner on a Tuesday late afternoon. The outside architectural design of the building was full of arches, hence the restaurant's name of "Los Arcos." It had a nice outdoor patio dining area surrounded by a low wall full of upside-down arches. Since it was a record high temperature day, there was no one dining outside, but the area looked nice with each round iron table having a large red umbrella to protect customers from the sun. When we entered the restaurant, we were greeted and immediately taken to our table and given copies of the menu. The menu was very well organized with subject tabs and color photographs of their most popular items. When our server came by to take our order, we both ordered iced water to drink and as our main meal my friend ordered the Enchiladas Mixtas and I ordered the Burrito Jalisco with grilled steak rirfrom the Specialties of the House page of the menu. As we waited for our server to arrive with our meals, we munched on the complimentary Chips and Salsa. The chips tasted good although they didn't look that fresh and the salsa looked nice but tended to be on the hot side, with no mild available. When our food arrived, my friend enjoyed his. Mine had missing the pico de gallo side. The chorizo was very tasty as it should be, but I question the steak quality. Not that it was hard or brittle, on the contrary, I felt that it was too soft and spongy. It was seasoned right with lots of lemon juice, but it's texture left a lot to be desired, especially to me who am a steak connoisseur and afictionado. The side of rice was a bit dry and lacked freshness. The dessert menu selection was a very good one, and their photographs made them look so good, yet they were the greatest disappointment of our meal and dining experience. We both ordered Churro Cups. By now the restaurant was almost half full, but this was no reason for the time to prepare and serve our dessert to have taken longer than to serve our food. Then the crust of the Churro Cup was overcooked and hard. By hard I mean I was not able to cut it nor eat it. Yet it looked so good that you would have never imagined that it was inedible. I even asked for a knife to cut it and was unsuccessful. I asked one of the servers for the manager and he told me there was no manager, that he was out until 6:00pm. So I was not able to complain about the dessert or have it comped. The menu of this Mexican restaurant is amazing but I find that the quality of the food and execution of cooking them is lacking from the part of the cooks there. And the absence of a manager on the premises is questionable. For this reason and for the problems I encountered with my meal there, I don't think I will return, especially with so many good Mexican restaurants around. It's a pity because otherwise this restaurant has the potential of being a great one.

Food: The best Tex-Mex in the Valley with great margaritas…read more Service: Good Ambiance: crowded, but worth the hassle Parking: Its bad. Small parking lot which fills up quickly.