This was my second visit to this restaurant, and I enjoyed it both times. No, it's not fancy. And no, it doesn't taste like the food chains that serve this kind of food. But the portions were large, the food was tasty in a more home cooked and authentic kind of way and the service was polite and attentive. We sampled flautas, fajitas, burritos, chips and salsa among other things. I would definitely return. read more

Ehhh I should've known what I was walking in to based on the yelp reviews. The service was sloe, the food was eh and the ambience was dark, eh, and nothing special. Let's start off with the service, you have to ask for everything including how many cups of water and the bill and utensils and so on (and expect to wait at least 7-10 minutes after each request). Next, the ambience was odd to me. It was really dark with a giant fan blowing in the corner and overall didn't seem very clean. And now the food, because that's what really matters anyways, sadly the food did not make up for the other two things. The chicken was dry and not very flavorful (I was hoping it would live up to at least half of Sardis but it does not) and the French fries were soggy and unappealing (I don't even remember what the coleslaw tasted like so I think that says enough). I don't think I'll ever come back here... If you want chicken, go to Sardis, if you want fries... go anywhere else. read more

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I've been eating here for years and the food and service is always great. Always greeted with a smile from the staff.

Where do I begin? On Friday evening some friends and I decided to go to happy hour here. When we arrived we were greeted and seated, from there it all went downhill. After waiting for 30 minutes we finally received our drinks, the margaritas were watered down and when we asked for a fresh drink we were asked to leave as the staff slandered us in spanish, little did they know I could understand everything they were saying (I'm a black dominican). DO NOT go here. read more

Worse customer service, hate to mention the country where she is from but her accent sounds like Dominican. Shes very rude she should be more polite to customers. read more

I was robbed. I've lived in the 20904 for decades and worked here for years, and I've only just discovered Pansa Llena's 3 shrimp tacos for $7!! This place was totally happening at 12:00 on a Friday afternoon - music thumping, people of all backgrounds chatting, eating, drinking. I went to the counter and ordered three tacos. For Yelp's sake, I decided to try all three meats - shrimp, chicken and steak. The chicken and steak are stored in bins a la Chipotle (didn't like it too much), but the shrimp was grilled and made to order. I will now proceed to describe my shrimp taco. It was made on a warmed corn tortilla with shredded lettuce, cheese, salsa and sour cream. The grilled shrimp was warm and tender - definitely not overcooked. I'm guessing you can add other toppings (guac, corn?) for extra. While I waited for my food to be made, I looked at the menu and saw that they also serve charcoal chicken - though I don't know if it's such a great deal ($4.79 for a 1/4 chicken and 1 side). But I'm fine with my shrimp tacos! Like others have said, they've got a full bar, a handful of tables and a really laidback staff. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone in the area! Goodbye, Chipotle! Goodbye, Baja Fresh! read more

Margarita was good. Food is ok. Service is horrific! The service alone would make me not want to go back even though the margaritas were good. We had to get up off our seats to get "a" waitress and when I got up she's chatting away with a customer at the bar. How many times the same waitress came to the table and asked if we needed anything and I said. To go box, check multiple times. And the door to the restaurant..huge hazard. It's a floppy door so the guy who left before me let go of the door and you expect it to stop, but instead it swung through and would have smacked me in the face if I had not reacted the wY I did. This restaurant needs to fix their hazards. No way I'm going back even if margaritas were good read more

Don't you just love your Yelp friends? It's so great when you find a kindred spirit who understands exactly how incredible a great meal can be and who are equally discontented with the likes of Chilis, Applebees et al. Such is the conversation I recently had with Yelper extraordinaire, Ina K. She has turned me onto to two new hot spots of late and she is 2 for 2! Pansa Llena is Spanish for Full Belly and that is exactly what you will have after a visit to this this casual Mexican Grill. Tacos are the thing, and heed the advice of those who have come before you... Shrimp Tacos are the way to go. We stopped in last night and enjoyed the complimentary basket of chips which were clearly home made, crisp and extra sturdy. They serve a nice salsa with them, that is overflowing with fresh veggies, onions and chilis, in a yellow tomato sauce. It's quite mild so if you want a kick, ask the the green salsa served in small plastic containers. Woo Hoo! The dining partner in crime and I both ordered the Taco combo, one chicken, one steak and one shrimp. All were very good, plentiful and tasty, but the Shrimp Tacos steal the show and for $8.00 this is a bargain that can't be beat. Ultra fresh shrimp grilled simply and nicely seasoned. They are plump and juicy and for my money make the perfect taco stuffing. The tacos come on nice home style soft corn tortillas and are served with lettuce, cheese, pico de gallo and sour cream. On my next visit I would ask them to leave off the sour cream and the cheese and douse the shrimp with the green hot sauce and call it a day. Service is very friendly and you can either order from the counter or choose table service. Keep 'em coming Ina! I'm looking forward to more. read more

Came here under the recommendations of Bat-Wreck H and Ina K. I was looking for a cheap and cheerful ethnic Sunday lunch for me and the kids on a rainy day, and boy did they deliver. 1. Great combo of mexican and peruvian menu options. 2. Shrimp tacos were absolutely delicious. 3. Thing 2 said " best chicken I have ever had in my life" but he has been saying that a lot recently. 4. $1.75 hora feliz cerveza ! That's chevere ! 5. Service was prompt and friendly. All that and the AC Milan game on the TV. Brilliant ! read more

Cheap eats. We got the fajitas mixed with chicken, steak and shrimp. The fajita meat came out on a nice piping hot plate. Serving of lettuce, tomato & onion were way too small. The rice was tasty. Chicken and steak were decent but kind of regretted not just getting the all shrimp dish. They serve a free salsa with chips as you wait for your food. The salsa was tasty. Service wasn't horrible. Decent eats at a good price. read more

Stop number Lucky Thirteen on the South of the Border Queso (or Guacamole) Comparison, Culinary Discovery Tour and Gastronomic Extravaganza (SotBQ[oG]CCDTaGE). An earlier review says that "Pansa Llena" means "Full Belly". I prefer Laura V.'s translation -- "Tight Pants". Same thing, really, yet more evocative. Laura, hubby Martin and I drove for 45 minutes through some very wet, gray weather to reach Tight Pants. As even suburbia started to peter out into long stretches of trees (and after we passed a house with the most amazing collection of concrete yard decorations that included TWO giant concrete lions), we came upon the shopping center into which Tight Pants is tucked like a dollar bill into a sweaty g-string. Sorry, I just wasn't expecting it to be so small, and so tightly tucked. Anyway, we got inside, and found an odd mix of a fast-food joint with a neighborhood bar. Do we order at the counter? A waitress quickly approached and seated us with menus, saving us the confusion. We didn't have long to wait for Kevin and Brian, but in that short space of time we ordered margaritas, a beer for Martin, queso, and guacamole, and had tried all of the above as well as the complementary salsa before they reached the table. The margaritas were sweeeet -- tasting heavily of margarita mixer. The chips were good, and the salsa had a great flavor, but was a little too watered down. The queso - pretty average. I liked the guacamole, though - it was creamy, and had plenty of lime juice. The menu has a number of Mexican offerings, as well as charcoal roasted chicken, the smell of which was making my mouth water. For some reason, the chicken was treated almost as a separate restaurant -- it came with sides of french fries, rice, or cole slaw. That's too bad, because I could have totally gone with a quarter chicken, with a side of beans and rice, or tortillas. I chose the fajitas - mixed chicken and beef. The meat was of good quality - not stringy or chewy, and well cut. But it wasn't well-flavored - it could have really used some seasoning. Combined with the bland beans and rice into one of the bland white corn tortillas, there wasn't much excitement going on in my mouth. My meal could have probably been remedied by (a) ordering flour tortillas instead of corn (to avoid the crumbling mess I ended up with), and (b) liberally using hot sauce on the meat. But hind sight is twenty-twenty, whereas my sight when hungry is more like five-twenty. My conclusion was that Tight Pants is a perfectly adequate, even enjoyable dining spot that I might come to occasionally if I lived nearby. But I'm not out this way very often, and dinner here did not really convince me that I should come more frequently. read more

Pansa Llena is an expensive, mom and pop diner which serves forgettable "Latin" food served in small portions. It is also a place that has no ambience nor does anyone who works there know the meaning of customer service. PROS None CONS All of it read more

Wanna know the perfect way to end your week? There are three easy steps outlined below: 1. Drive yourself over to Pansa Llena and head straight back to the bar. 2. Order a margarita made with Patron (on the rocks with salt is how I like mine). 3. Follow up the numerous amounts of margaritas you're going to have with some Charcoal Chicken! This was how last Friday wound up for R and I, and you know what? That's exactly how *this* Friday is going to wind up too! I cannot think of a better day to end my week! read more

Very unsatisfactory service! We have to wait more than 40 minutes to have our food served. The food is just Ok. Not recommended! Don't come! read more

Pansa Llena - Mexican Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

The most absolute worst service ever. I call 15 minutes prior to order food a grilled salmon meal. I get there 15 minutes later and I ask one of the associates if my meal was ready and he said it's cooking and it will be out soon. I said ok and 5 minutes went past 10 minutes went past and then it was going on 15 minutes and I still haven't received my food. Mind while I was waiting inside another guy comes in must have been a regular or someone they knew gets a drink made and gets his appetizer before mine. And I called the place prior and the thing was it wasn't even busy there. I couldn't understand why my food wasn't ready. I was so disgusted I just left. Terrible customer customer experience. read more

I wish no stars was an option. The best thing on my plate was the sour cream. Overall, a lack of freshness and flavor. My chimichanga wasn't crispy, the cheese on top wasn't melted, the chicken inside lacked flavor. The beans were bland and the rice must have been frozen and then reheated because even plain white rice, freshly cooked would have been amazing compared to this horribly bland, frozen excuse for Mexican rice. The salsa was watery and was clearly made with canned tomatoes. And the service...Wow, worst EVER. The waitresses were far more interested in flirting with the male patrons than with providing even mediocre service. I had to ask for a refill even though she walked by several times. Chips were skimpy and a refill of those had to be requested, too. Truly horrible service. So, bad service and bad food. Do not waste your time or money. read more

Came here with some co-workers for lunch. Ended up paying like $15 for the most basic taco salad. Big chunks of avocado, tomato, and iceberg lettuce with some grilled shrimp thrown on a plate. When I asked for some salad dressing they gave me some Italian salad dressing that tasted exactly like the Kraft zesty Italian that you get from the grocery store. This salad was beyond bland. Outside of that the service wasn't that great. I'd go elsewhere. read more

Good was cool. Not sure why I was charged gratuity on a party of 2 at the bar. Especially when my server disappeared from the time she brought my drink until the time I gave her money. Also, the menu, not the server mentioned that gratuity would be added (we had already tipped in cash). read more

I would give it 0 stars if I could. Service is horrible. Food is ok. Order was all wrong. Had to wait for order to be corrected. Then to add insult to injury, waitress decided to tip herself the 15%. When I confronted her about it, and asked her to show me on menu where it stated that tip was included in bill automatically; she stated that any bill after $35 had tip added automatically. Don't step foot in this joint. Food is ok and service is horrible. Shame read more

First I want to say that their shrimp fajitas are $9.99. Ok, stop number 13 on the South of the Border Queso (or Guacamole) Comparison, Culinary Discovery Tour and Gastronomic Extravaganza. Mary Kay (my willing SotB companion) suggested we try something new and different. I think this place was in Pennsylvania so that was a start. We were joined by MK's hubby Martin, Fabulous Yelp CM Kevin and (as he refers to him) "the boy" Brian. We drove quite a bit to get to Pansa Llena, and then we found it. Strangely tucked into a strip mall next to a pizza place and a driving school. Would this be another Tippy's? WOULD THERE BE ALCOHOL?? Pansa Llena complied with plenty of alcohol. We started with the margaritas. They were quite sweet with a lot of sour mix, but there was also a good deal of tequila in them so ok. We ordered up some queso and some guac to start us off. The queso honestly tasted like Velveeta so not the best in my opinion, but the guac was really good! Smooth and velvety, with a kick of lime. Good stuff. Their salsa was honestly unmemorable and therefore I can't really say much about it. Blame it on the tequila. Now, back to those shrimp fajitas. Seriously people, where else in the DC area can you get any fajitas for $9.99, let alone SHRIMP?? Deal of the century!! The shrimp were yummy and cooked perfectly. There was a very generous portion (as shown in Kevin's photos). However, the tiny little corn tortillas they gave us to deliver the shrimp goodness to our mouths were seriously lacking. They only held minimal shrimpy goodness and then fell apart instantly to create one shrimpy mess. One other side note: Why is it that so many Mexican restaurants skimp on the green peppers in the fajitas? I don't understand this. I have a mountain of onions, but one little pepper slice. I like an equal amount of peppers and onions with my shimp. What gives? I digress. The fajitas overall were very tasty. I just wish they had better tortillas. My dining companions had a variety of items from tacos to beef/chicken fajitas, to a gorgeous salad. The reviews were mixed. Service was very friendly, although I think they wondered who the heck we were and where we came from. Prices reasonable. Oh and they offer Peruvian style chicken which gave the place it's wonderful char-grilled smell. (Did I mention that Pansa Llena is spanish for "tight pants?" "No it's not," you say? Ok, it's not. But good lord I had tight pants when I left.) So, if I lived closer to Pansa Llena, I'd definitely go back. But I wasn't so blown away that I'd drive an hour for it again. read more

Has been here several times now, and absolutely love it! Food is outstanding, although mind you I only order plant-based options of the various dishes, which they do an excellent job on. Only recommendation there is to include more veggie options on the menu. Excellent drafts, and huge margaritas. Really low happy hour prices. Excellent music creates a cool vibe. And outstanding service! Will definitely be coming back. read more

I was so dissappointed to see that Pansa wasn't on yelp. It's good, really good. They also have daily specials and various types of chopped meat. Try the lengua, it is amazing!! Salsa rocks as well. Oh they have a full bar, which totally blew my mind. read more

Ordered countless times from pansa lansa. We stopped ordering from them late last year, but now pick up food to go or eat in sometimes. What nice people, what a great restaurant. Excellent food. Bacon wrapped jumbo shrimps are fantastic. Good strip steak and lobster tail too. Super polite delivery, which is important. read more

Good comfortable place. 3 TVs over the Bar and several more throughout the place. Priced good! Great value in every meal I bought and dined here as well as Carryout. My quick meal is the 1/2 rotisserie chicken dinner with 2 sides to go or eat there! read more

I must have gone with the wrong entree in seeing these other reviews for Pansa Llena. I had enchiladas and they weren't so hot. The salsa and refried beans looked like they came straight out of a can. It just wasn't very tasty at all. On the flip side, the owners are extremely friendly and accommodating. I will possibly give their business another try and go with a new entree. Below I see Steve recommended to stick w/ the pollo a la brasa and Central American dishes. Will do. read more

I love this place. Always delicious food, friendly service when eating in. They offer quick take out, or delivery for when I don't feel like leaving home! read more

Our local Mexican joint that we love had a kitchen fire, so we branched our and found Pansa Llena. It does not hold a candle to Pollo Mex, but it was solid. My husband had beef fajitas, flavor was ok, not the rich marinade we expect. The shrimp quesadilla was very good. It's reasonable priced. Only real complaint is we believe the GrubHub driver took out our mailbox and said nothing. read more

Interesting local hangout, and friendly to strangers. Great Charcoal Chicken platter! I have to come back and try more things on their extensive menu. read more

Love the food. Staff is lovely you can never go wrong with the chicken,yucca ,fries, and salad. Great music awesome staff. Happy hour from 3pm to 7pm . read more

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Order half chicken to go want dark meat, I said this twice at the restaurant, when get home was half chicken dark and breast, ok ... them the order plantains was just brown in the outside and uncooked in the inside Horribe, just went straight to the garbage, chicken is ok but not special it all, will be not come back is much better restaurants the this one. read more

This place varied like MD weather. There will be a period of a few months when it was awesome, then it was just okay, now we just don't go anymore. So I guess I'd say, give it a go. Great prices. Sometimes they're trying to make it a club and it's really loud and awkward. They keep changing their rice and salsa, not for the better. read more

I was meeting someone in the White Oak area so I decided to go to Pansa Llena since it was Happy Hour time and I like Latin food. It's a tiny "cafe style" restaurant. The bar area isn't too big, as it looks like they just made a small one to say they have a full bar. But it's cool because there was nobody there when I arrived. PERFECT! A low key spot to get cheap margaritas! According to the sign, a small margarita is $3.99 and a large one is $4.99. So OF COURSE I got the large! Duh! The waitress/bartender helped me right away and made my margarita. Now maybe because I'm a bartender and make a pretty nice 'rail' margarita, I felt that it was lacking tequila and/or triple sec. But that could easily be fixed by just asking for a rail shot of tequila ($4.99). In total I had 3, but I added a shot of Grand Marnier to the last one and THAT is when I finally 'felt it'. To eat, I ordered 2 Pupusas (pork and cheese) ($1.99/each) and an order of wings ($5.99 for HH). The pupusas were soooooo good! Ask for extra cabbage if u order more than 1. If you see in the pic, that cabbage (for me personally) was only enough for 1 pupusa so I asked for more cabbage. They won't charge u for that. :). The wings were good. I will request them to fry mine slightly harder when I come back. Besides that. Yummy. I also ordered some of the Pollo a la brasa to go. I didn't care for it too much. I've had better. Overall, I'd return. It's a nice low key spot. I went around 6pm so I can't tell you if there is any type of crowd. There wasn't a lot of people when I was there. The kitchen is in the back and it doubles as a Carryout so there were people in and out getting food. Not crazy long line or crowd of people where you'd be bothered. read more

Pansa Llena - Chips and salsa. $4.99 LARGE margarita! - Mexican Near Me - Silver Spring, Maryland

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Ordered a ceviche de pescado from here and it was a HUGE mistake. Usually I'd order from Samanthas which is in Piney Branch but I live in White Oak so Pansa Lllena is a lot more convenient. First, the container it came in was half empty, literally it looked like someone had already eaten half of it. Second, the flavor was just off. I'm not even sure how to describe it but I've been eating ceviche my whole life and this is not it read more

I get takeout with the Roasted Chicken in the back. It's always great. The atmosphere, not so much unless you're a soccer fan and you can watch the TV near the ordering location. The Chick is great and the beans and rice and fried Yucca are good. We also order Plantanos for dessert. read more

The $5 happy hour margaritas are sooooo amazing Hércules and his staff make amazing Salomon tacos and chile rejenos

Taco Bell is a million times better than this place... And far cheaper. Service was absolutely horrible. I'm not even going to talk about the terrible food, except for the fact that it made my partner and I both sick. Just save yourself some time and money... And your stomach... And go to Taco Bell. read more

This is my fav Mexican place to go when I want an after work margarita. It's not fancy schmancy so don't come with those kinds of expectations. They always got soccer playing which is very important to my Brazilian wife. Good atmosphere, giant margaritas = great time. Food is really good for the price. And Flor is the best! read more

It has an authentic Tex-Mex menu and the decor has some pictures of Mexicans and Texans taken way back in the early 1900's in the south Texas region. My Fajitas de camarones (shrimp) was delicious. The customer service was one of the champions. I was dotted for drink refills and if my order was pleasant. read more

This is a really good neighborhood resturant the customer service is awesome and the food is absloutly delicious. The manager and employees make you feel right at home eating delicious authentic mexican food. I recommend this place. read more

The beef/chicken/shrimp taco combo is a nice mix of their offerings. Shrimp was stringy and doesnt' taste like shrimp to me - more like crawfish or whatever other variation ther eis. Nothing spectacular, though nothing terrible - does the job but not something I'd go out of my way for. The place is bare-bones with a surprisingly stocked bar with dine-in options. read more