Petra Fresh Mexican Bistro

Love the food, even the kids meals are delicious! They don’t have the fastest ordering but they do care about service. It’s a special treat for the whole family to go to Petra!

My BF and I only get the salads and guacamole here. The grilled chicken and beef salads are always fresh, plentiful on the meat/​portions and the same price as a salad from Chipotle but they taste fresher since it’s not all sitting out for hours on end and getting scooped out of containers.
Service has been good but we only order take out. So glad it’s near our house

I’m overdue rating Petra! My husband and I have been dining here regularly since it first opened eight years ago. This restaurant takes pride in MANY things; they have the best, freshest menu, clean restaurant and loyal employees, to name a few. We love dining here and highly recommend to anyone! Enjoy!

First time here. We will be back! I had Diablo shrimp, wife had guajilo chicken. Fantastic.

I really want to love this place, but if I hadn’t gotten a free entrée I wouldn’t be here. $ 13 for a shrimp quesadilla is a lot, and I can get a better one at Fuzzy’s for much cheaper.
They used to have cool chip holders; those are gone and replaced with plastic holders.
I have no clue what they did to their rice recipe, but it’s awful. The kids both spit it out (and they love Mexican rice) and I tried it; holy oregano Batman! It’s the oily and the taste is off putting.
As for my free entrée, the shrimp were way overcooked. Chewy shrimp is no Bueno, but then again it’s free, so I can’t complain. You get what you pay for.
I’ll be back only when I get the free birthday coupon, but wouldn’t venture back for any other reason.

The food isn’t as good as it used to be.
The rice tastes like it has lots of oregano and the salad dressing, too.

Petra’s is a favorite of mine – both for lunch as well as dinner. The food is always fresh and tasty. The Basics: Chips-​great. Guac-​yummy. Iced tea-​not quite strong enough, but good none-​the-​less. I tend to order the beef tenderloins tacos often-​for good reason: they’re great. Today I took my office group for lunch and we ordered desserts. Wow. I’ve been missing out! The desserts are prepared on site and are worth the splurge. I really like this place and recommend it many times to friends.

This food is sooo fresh and completely different than the Tex mex you get everywhere else. They make it right there with ingredients from local places. The queso is very creamy, flautas are crunchy and light, and the beef champignoes are yummy. This is also my kids favorite place, so much so that my daughter has wanted it for her birthday for the last 7 years

I’m giving it a 2 because the lady at the counter was actually very nice. Unfortunately that’s the only good thing I have to say. We moved to McKinney about a month ago and have enjoyed trying new restaurants every week. After reading the good reviews about fresh food we were excited to try this place… but there is absolutely no way that was fresh. The rice had the same rubbery texture that packaged, pre-​cooked rice from the grocery store has and the meat… yikes. For $ 45 I expect a lot better. It was disappointing to say the least and we won’t be going back.

Let me start by saying, if you like restaurants with nice prices, maybe an evening margarita on a beautiful patio (with misters) and good food, Petra is for you! This place has a great patio that is dog friendly, and as a loving fur-​parent, what more could I ask for?!
The food is delicious, a fresh take on traditional Mexican, mind you, that doesn’t exactly mean low calorie. So, you might want to bring your extra large pants, because you’re going to need them when you’re done here. The food is delicious, I usually start with their creamy tortilla soup, and my boyfriend loves the chorizo queso and fresh made guacamole. The tacos are delicious from the fish to the guajillo chicken, the floutas and the Shrimp Diablo are another must tries! This my boyfriends absolute favorite place, good portions at a wallet friendly price.
The staff is friendly, and it’s got a very family friendly atmosphere. Not a huge joint, and unfortunately because of its location, I think it’s easily forgotten. But your stomachs will not forget the experience had here!

Petra is muy excellentado. The food is always fresh, hot, and good. Service is friendly and excellent. Go in for lunch and ask for that day’s special. Get a drink, sit down, and soon tostadas and picante sauce will magically appear before you. A short time later, a plate with food you may not recognize, but looks delicious, will also mysteriously appear. Mmmmmmm, it IS delicious, like nothing you’ve ever tasted, but wish you had.
Don’t second guess the lunch special! If you’re scared, put on a blindfold, and just say, «The special, please.» You’ll be very happy with your excellent choice, I promise.
SCARY…I just read reviews saying this was like a Mexican Pei Wei. Aaaaargh! It’s nothing like Pei Wei… it’s GOOD. This is fresh, hand-​made-​from-​scratch, authentic Mexican, and no, not border-​town Mexican. Maybe closer to Monterrey (Mexico) fine dining Mexican. And when I think Mexican, maybe because I was born and raised in Tejas, I think Tex-​Mex, which this is definitely not. And it’s not that horrible stuff they call Mexican in Santa Fe or California, either. It’s real. It’s good. It’s not Pei Wei frozen and trucked in. Ya gotta believe me… or I’ll be Petra-​fied!

I walked into a friendly, welcoming environment filled with bright colors and cheerful employees. I began with an order of the chorizo queso. I can say with positivity that I have never tasted a more flavorful, bold, and delicious bowl of queso in a very long time!
I ordered the «taco sampler plate.» Although it is pricier than other menu items, I had the opportunity to mix and match three of Petra’s delicious soft tacos. I decided on two beef tenderloin tacos, and one fried fish taco. Needles to say, they were wonderful.
I was also given two sides. I chose the lime rice and tortilla soup. The lime rice was nothing spectacular, but it was tasty and satisfying. The tortilla soup, however, was spectacular. It could’ve been a meal in itself! The tortilla strips, melted cheese, and tender, juicy chicken all came together to make one of the best tortilla soups I have tasted.
I left Petra very satisfied. I was full, but not bloated! I have nothing but good things to say about this wonderful restaurant. I will continue to visit this spot for years to come!
I am not one to give 5 stars, but my experience was one of a kind.

The service is incredibly slow. Food sub par. Place is clean but completely unimpressed for the price of food. The only good part of our meal were the tortillas. Will never go back here.

I did not expect the food and service to be this good. Its an order at the counter and put your plastic number on the table kind of place… but there are servers walking around asking if you need anything… and they bring you (free) chips and salsa… and let me say the chipotle salsa is GREAT. The food tastes fresh. not sloppy, greasy and gross. I have had the chicken salad and the veggie tacos. Both are great. The friends that I go with were also were surprised that the food was this fresh and delicious. Its never really crowded, as the restaurant is sort of hidden.

This is the type of establishment where you walk up to the counter order your food, take a number, sit down and wait for it to be delivered. I dined in during the lunch rush, and though it was quite busy, the food was delivered in a very timely manner. I ordered the margarita with hibiscus swirl and the shrimp Mexicanos tacos. The margarita was pretty standard and The hibiscus swirl didn’t add much flavor other than sweeten it up a bit, but I’m a sucker for a margarita so I downed it anyway! Now on the other hand the shrimp tacos were fantastic! The shrimp was fresh and seasoned well and came with big slices of avocado, which I love. The plate comes with two sides and I chose cilantro lime rice and the Mexican slaw. Both sides leave a little something to be desired. I neither tasted the cilantro or the lime with the rice and the Mexican slaw was quite bland as well. I would go back for the tacos again but maybe switch up my sides a bit!

Petra is the best place for fresh Mexican bistro style food. You must try the fish tacos. They have fresh Mexican slaw avacado slices cilantro and come with two sides and they always serve chips and salsa but if you like queso try the blanco queso with chorizo. If you’ve have had chorizo queso u know sometimes it has a grease pool from the chorizo, not at Petra. I can’t say enough about the cuisine. But just try it for yourself. Oh and if you like trying new drinks try their Hybiscus iced tea. It is sweet and there are free refills. They also have outside covered patio dining and they are always meticulously clean. Enjoy.

I used to like going here and my wife and I would consider this our quick fix for a great fish taco. As others have said the quality went down, cost went up and the portions went down… hey I get it restaurants have to figure out how to maximize their revenue stream but if your going to increase costs you better do something to off-​set that.
The biggest thing they screwed up was an issue that happened and when they tried to make it right they gave us a gift card (that’s cool, we get it we will come back and try again) but when we came back and tried to use the card they didn’t put any money on the card. made us feel like we were awful people because of the way the lady behind the cash register was very vocal about it… I initially clicked on two stars but after talking with my wife to recount the situation… I changed it to a 1 star, thank you Petra’s for helping us find other places to spend our money when we choose to eat out… roll the dice I guess if you want to go here… we don’t go here anymore.

If you’re in Mactown and in a pinch for a nice Mexican meal on a budget, look no further than Petra’s.
It’s nothing super high class, but lord is it tasty, affordable, and fast. The mrs. always goes for the tortilla soup (poured right at your table) and I’ve been told that she even dreams of it sometimes. I opt for either the veggie taco or the shrimp taco route (2 is more than enough for a dinner btw.) Everything is perfectly cooked, but sometimes the mini tortillas are a bit soggy. And adding on the choice of sides, you’ve got a pretty decent meal for yourself. Also, as all things Texas, you’ve got bottomless chips and salsa FO FREE.
tldnr version: It’ll do, pig. It’ll do.

This was my first trip here. I really enjoyed it!
You order at the counter. By the time you get to your table you have chips and 2 salsas waiting for you. The food comes out fairly fast and was delivered by a friendly server.
I had shrimp tacos. They were delish. Decent value… $ 11 for 3 tacos and 2 sides.
Will become part of normal lunch rotations when in the area. Good value for what you get and tasty food.

Tried the fish tacos at a friends recommendation. Was not disappointed! I chose tortilla soup and salad for my two sides. The honey Vinegarette dressing was so delicious! Tortilla soup was great too, but a little too creamy for my tastes.. Still delicious!
Menu choices were plentiful… I had a hard time deciding exactly what i wanted. I can’t wait to come back to try more!