Pancho Y Emiliano

Cute restaurant but you may need to squeeze yourself between the wobbly tables and hope to goodness you won’t spill your neighbours drinks. The tables are also very short especially if you’re sitting on the benches rather than the chairs. It was a somewhat uncomfortable dining experience.
The service is ok, you may need to wave a few times for water refills!
As for the food, it is quite good. We got the Enchiladas ($ 13) which was decent and filling! We also got the Chicken Tinga Tostadas ($ 6), which was ok. The chicken is quite bland, but there was a small kick of spicy that made it better.
Wish the portions were a tad bigger, especially for its price.
There are definitely better (flavourful) places around Kensington to try first!

Great atmosphere… Fabulous music, the sweetest staff who all gave super service and the chance to sit by a window watching Saturday Kensington shoppers saunter by. The tamales were full of flavour and deliciously warm (try the jalepeno), the guac was fresh and pretty perfect. Our server recommended her personal favourite fillings for my tacos: al pastor (a little dry as I got it without pineapple) the lemon and pepper steak (amazing) and cactus (surprisingly sweet). A lovely spot I would definitely go back to… Note you can by their torts which are awesome!

Appetisers arrive «whenever»: my husband’s ceviche (tasty!) arrived in a timely fashion but my cactus salad (eventually very fresh and delicious) didn’t arrive until after our main courses of tacos al pastor and Baja fish tacos, all very tasty. But I said I didn’t want my salad anymore since it was so late and I was now eating my tacos but the waiter said I had to take it and could not cancel the order. Then he kept staring daggers at me as I ate the salad which made me uneasy about my food. My husband ate most of it though: hope we both survive.

Waited over 45 minutes while others were served. They offered the special but it took over half an hr to tell us that it was taking longer than expected. The food served to others looked fine from a distance. I won’t be back

This place was just what I wanted. Authentic Mexican. The pozole was the best I’ve had since I was in Guadalajara. The service was
and courteous and the atmosphere was great. I sat on the patio and watched Kensington roll by as I enjoyed my meal to the tune of classic Mexican radio. Amazing.

I came here on a double date this Saturday around 3pm.
Atmosphere: Looks inviting. Is not actually inviting. They should have a sign at the front patio that says «Wait to be seated» or something to direct patrons when they walk in. A man finally waved us over to a table where there was a family who had just paid their bill (that must’ve been awkward for the family because they were obviously still enjoying talking to each other and had no plans to leave right away). We didn’t know where to go so we were just randomly standing in the middle of the patio for a couple minutes until a table finally cleared and we were seated.
The cups are small, the tables are low and wobbly. It just added to all the awkwardness that this restaurant was serving up to us.
Service: The server we had was a young guy– he was nice. However, they take a very long time. We ran out of water and had to ask three different servers until they finally brought it to us. It was scorching hot outside and bringing water for your customers should be a priority, especially when they’ve already asked THREE times.
The food: The presentation is really nice. But that’s about it. We all ordered the nachos and guacamole– it was okay. Nothing special. Three of us ordered the Wet Back Burritos. One person ordered the three tacos. None of us enjoyed our meal. Super bland. The hot sauce is not hot at all. We all left with more than half of our food left on our plates. Not one server asked us how the food was or if everything was okay. They obviously just want to take your money and don’t care if you enjoyed yourself or not.
Price: Way too expensive for the small quantity (the nacho and guacamole appetizer had minimal nachos on it) and lack of quality.
Ultimatum? Never coming back here again.

Anyone looking for a casual drink with your tacos be warned — they do not serve alcohol. This wouldn’t be a problem if the experience made up for it, which it did not.
While nursing our water in shot glass sized portions on a wobbly table, we came to realize that they had forgotten our order. Upon realizing this, the food came out randomly, leaving some of our group finishing their orders while some were just being served. They forgot one of our party’s meal altogether and brought it out with the cheque and no apology. When asked where our change was after waiting for roughly ten minutes the waitress shrugged and said they were closing and it would take some time. Although they had the best intentions I’m sure the service ruined the entire experience.
The biggest highlight was the washroom — real nice.

We ordered ceviche, fish tacos and chicken enchiladas.
The ceviche and tacos were fantastic and the enchiladas were good but not outstanding. Cute little place in Kensington market, definitely one of the cleaner ones. Service was great, my only complaint is that they didn’t have their liquor license yet.
I will be coming back here.

Food was great…
Tostado with tinga chicken and one with barbacoa (sp)?
Also double tacos with chorizo! Delicious and a bit spicy! Food was fantastic but service was a little slow but it didn’t matter once the food came out!

I am very picky when it comes to Mexican food, and this place was just okay. We ordered chips & guac, an order of fish tacos, and a few other tacos (a chicken and a pork, IIRC). The fish tacos were definitely the best of the bunch, but the meat in the other tacos was a little on the dry side for my taste. Once we added a little more lime to the guac, it was good too, but could have used a little more pizzazz.

After spending many afternoons walking around in Kensington Market, I finally decided to give this restaurant a try. I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food, but I enjoy the occasional quesadilla. So naturally, when I was here last Sunday, I ordered the chicken pibil quesadillas. They were good but the quantity was way to small for the price (11 $). I wasn’t full after my meal but didn’t feel like ordering anything else on the menu since I’m a very picky eater.
The atmosphere on the other hand was great. The decorations were interesting (old tequila bottles, historic Mexican pictures…) and the service was impeccable. The waiters were all super nice and fully bilingual!

Waited a half hour for my food (place was not particularly busy). When the food did come, it was not the right order. But I was starving so I accepted the burrito instead of waiting again for the tacos I had actually ordered. They had a new waitress serving us that day so the mix up of the order is forgivable.
However, when another waitress came by to give us our cheque, I mentioned that it was not the mix up of the order that was the main issue but that it took such a long time for it to arrive. She responded by saying «this isn’t McDonald’s». Sweetheart, we are talking about a burrito here; this restaurant isn’t a fancy 5 star establishment. 30 minutes for a burrito is just not good enough.
Ohhh, as for the taste of their «Wet Back Burrito»… it was bland. It took 30 minutes for them to deliver a bland, almost tasteless burrito. A burrito I never ordered in the first place… lol.

Cute little spot with a good patio. The food unfortunately is flavourless and extremely overpriced for what you get.
Better to go to seven lives if you’re in the mood for some tacos.

I wanted to take a friend to El Trompo but sadly it’s closed on Mondays.
I was drawn to Pancho y Emiliano by the Rancheras that could be heard from a mile away
I like that the menu has a lot more traditional dishes than your regular taco joint.
The Tamal was a bit on the dry side, the salsas weren’t hot enough but the Mexican platter (2 tacos) was pretty good.
I started liking this place even more when the bill came. I paid $ 20 for 1 app, 1 main, tax and tip included.

3.5 stars really. My Mexican friend wanted to take me to El Trompo but we foolishly didn´t realize it closed early on Sunday evenings.
Luckily Pancho y Emiliano is open a bit later.
Now, my friend is from Monterrey in Mexico and has been in Toronto for 4 months learning English. In that time, he has basically eaten at every single Mexican restaurant in the city 2 or 3 times each. He refuses to eat any other ethnic foods which is a shame.
His opinion is that Pancho y Emiliano is mediocre. My opinion is that it is better than most Mexican places in Toronto. What it lacks in authenticity, it makes up for in trendiness, décor and cool patio.
The prices were decent, two tacos and a rice and beans side for $ 9. The tacos were big too, loaded up unlike the little tiny things you get at Grand Electric and other fusion type places.
My food was quite good, I had no complaints whatsoever. Mr Mexico says their salsas are not hot enough.

I had a Baja fish taco during Pedestrian Sunday. It looked impressive but unfortunately, it lacked flavour. Even after slathering on the sauces, it really could’ve been better.
I bumped them up to 3 stars because the service was good and I thoroughly enjoyed sitting outside with two flavours of Jarritos.

Another patio in Kensington, another place for me to park it on the regular.
Go inside, place your order and pay and go back out and soak up some sun while you wait for some authentic Mexican treats. I thoroughly enjoyed my veggie burrito, though it needed some kicking up from the table hot sauce. My partner’s fish burrito was more fried and flavourful and I’ll go that route next time. There will be a next time!

Today, bf and I had a mad taco craving. After our enthusiasm deflated upon seeing the line at Seven Lives, we decided to try PyE. REALLY glad we did!
The Baja fish tacos were so delish ($ 8 for two corn tacos). The tacos are perfect portions, and we augmented it with a tinga tostada to complete the meal.
Okay, the fish had a great batter, not too heavy and they came out crispy. We added the red and green hot sauces to bring out the sweetness of the fish, and the sourness of the vinegar coleslaw. The tacos were finished with a little guacamole: perfect.
The tostada would be a good sized portion if you just want a snack. It was wonderfully crispy, stacked with flavourful pulled chicken, lettuce, sour cream and cheese.
The staff are really nice, and we had such a pleasant experience this afternoon. It was nice to see that the tables were packed, and I hope people keep coming back for delicious food!

the prices are kinda high for the portion you’re getting, e. g i paid $ 6 for one taco. Probably would have taken 2 – 3 to fill me up, when i can go to Mexican Salsa down the street and get 3 tacos for the same price.
but anyways, service is fine, food is good, i probably won’t be back though

I only tried one dish, so maybe my lack of understanding for the negative reviews comes from there. Wonderful service — the friendly gentleman taking my order made sure no meat based products would end up in my dish, abd even then I waited less than 10 min on a busy day.
The cactus enchiladas I ordered were delicious, with a subtle kick and simple but perfectly melded flavors. Really loved the tortillas! Tasted unbelievably authentic.