penca

bar staff. the bartenders do a great job. i've met brian and the new guy stephen, and think they do an outstanding job with the customers. management material in the making! good job guys!

solid 4 out of 5. had a nice saturday lunch here. good tacos with special corn tortillas. great chips and salsa for hor 'oeuvres. friendly service. very reasonable prices. worth the trip.

this classy yet comfortable restaurant provides a modern interpretation on some wonderful oxacan and regional mexican dishes. the best dining experience we enjoyed in our week long stay in tucson!

tucson's best cocktails. really appreciate the attention of the bar staff to the fine art of unique, well mixed, subtle, yet unforgettable cocktails. a mixologist mastermind must be behind the great list of house specialties. pineapple beer? yes! after joe explained the brilliance behind the blend, it was a must try...and it did not disappoint. it was delicious and refreshing. the house sangria blends are also quite delightful. sit at the bar and be entertained by the hardworking staff.... this is not bar antics, it's smart people crafting something really special. a great atmosphere with good people and delicious libations. love this place.

i thinka i won't go backa to penca. i never got to the main menu because the young man waiter who waited on us couldn't make his mind up if he wanted to serve us the happy hour menu or the main menu. we finally settled with the happy hour menu because he was very non-communicative. when 1 salad arrived, i was given my friend's salad and wolfed it down before i realized it wasn't the one i ordered. i did think it was strange because i was clear i wanted bell peppers on it and would pay for it. the turkey soup was cold, so i had to send it back, and then it came back too hot. we also ordered corn tacos and the waiter never said if they're soft or hard shell tacos. i wanted hard shell and i forgot to ask him, because tacos are usually hard shell. but, guess what? they were soft, but tasty though, but could have had more meat.

what really bothered us (and we're not uptight by any means) was the loud south-of-the-border music that sounded like a big party was going on of 100 or 200 people, and there were only 3 people in the restaurant!

our waiter never really returned after the wrong salad given and another more professional woman came, but by then we were ready to leave. the ice tea was given in a glass that looked more like tall skinny shot glass, and of course he didn't think to bring us any sweetener, so we had to get up and get it. the salad could have definitely had more ingredients in it for anybody. the one that i originally ordered didn't look much better, except that it did have my bell peppers. the waiter never offered bread, so we ordered a tortilla, which was stale. i don't know how they can serve a stale tortilla, but they managed to do it.

i've heard good things about this restaurant; that's why i went there. but maybe the management went on vacation or something. i don't think i'd take a chance on going back though.

great food and sipping tequilas. i've been to penca twice and both times thought the food was excellent. the menu is revised regularly (i understand) and is very tasty, upscale, mexican oriented. but not a typical mexican restaurant. they also offer tequilas and mescals for sipping. their mescal is out of this world tasty. you can order a sipping series of tequilas and mescals. the kind of restaurant you can bring out-of-town guests and won't be disappointed.

terrible. went in with some friends last week. place was so dark i couldn't read the menu and my wife had to use her phone to see it. the place was too loud for normal conversation and the food was not very hot. most of it seemed pretty bland. the server was excellent, but got a feel of total chaos in how things were done. of course, that was just the icing on the cake as it took some time to even find the place with no visible sign out front. apparently the owner was chitchatting at the bar and unaware of the dissatisfied guests she had. my friends recommended that we go and we're thoroughly embarrassed by the experience. we certainly won't be back!

great ambiance ok food. nice place with great rumba/cuban style music... from mexico? i don't know. their menu looks really interesting but they plates lack something on the execution. there was nothing special and the plates were all just ok. our party had the mole, the chile relleno and the chile en nogada, only the mole was worth ordering again, the two other were just plain. we will give them another try anyway as they green salsa and nacho were real good with a beer.

love the turkey tacos--- magic on a wonderful handmade corn tortilla . amazing salsa. happy hour ---- fun at the bar watching the the bartenders mix it up! love having so many tasty choices downtown.

penca 'stinka'.... i read an outstanding review about this place and couldn't wait to try it. we went on a saturday late afternoon. it was happy hour so there wasn't a full menu nor were the prices. thank goodness for that. there was nothing impressive about this place at least as far as the food was concerned. everything was borderline mediocre. the ambiance is nice, the service sucked. carne asada tacos were as tough as rubber. i was hoping i wouldn't embarrass myself by choking. the tacos de lengua were not flavorful at all and the only reason the meat was more tender was because that's the way lengua is. my wife got a mixed green salad that sounded yummy on the menu, but upon arrival, was bland, flavorless and very limited on the ingredients listed. there is a full bar but they don't carry na beer. can anyone say designated driver? this place looks and sounds impressive, but is just the opposite. they need to hire a chef that can make this place what it's supposed to be. won't be going back...

chilis en nogada dish was cold, tough meat, and not enjoyable at all, especially for the price $18.00!!! will not go back! they need to find somebody who knows what their doing!

loved it. great to have one more fun choice downtown. beautiful venue. wine well selected.we ordered the swordfish steamed in a banana leaf... delicious. we since recommended to several friends who also enjoyed.