All Remaining Pancho’s Mexican Buffets Are In Texas- Here’s Where To Find Them

Are you blessed enough to have warm, fuzzy memories of family meals at Pancho's Mexican Buffet?

I am, and I'm grateful. I've gotten to enjoy the Arlington Pancho's a few times.

Sure, it's not extremely authentic Mexican food, but it is authentically delicious, novel, and nostalgic. And anyone who lets me have an obscene amount of guacamole is my friend.

At its height in the 1980s, Pancho's had a whopping 55 locations and was even a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ stock exchange, according to Wikipedia.

If you grew up in Arizona, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, or Texas, you very well may have eaten at a bygone Pancho's. And if your family let you raise the flag for more sopapillas, well, you're extra cool.

See the flag-raising action in this delightfully old-school commercial:

Pancho's has a long history here in Texas, as the very first Pancho's was founded in 1958 in El Paso. Sadly, there are no longer any Pancho's locations anywhere near there.

In fact, there are no longer any corporate-owned Pancho's at all. The remaining three (yes, only three- how sad!) are franchises, owned by two different companies.

If you've never had Pancho's yet, you need to, as it is a totally unique experience and unlike most anything anywhere else.

At the Arlington location (and probably the others, but I haven't been to verify), you grab a tray and then walk down the buffet line, where employees plate up whatever your heart desires. This is a good idea as you would probably otherwise make a huge queso mess.

If you get to your table and decide you didn't load up enough the first time, you simply raise their famous little Mexican flag on your table and an employee will bring you more or whatever you want.

The salad, salsa, and dessert bars are in the dining area and you can serve yourself there. Don't miss out on the sopapillas- the item that Panchos is most famous for (although I always hit the flautas and chile rellenos really hard, too.) 

Have I talked you into a visit? Here's where the remaining three Pancho's are keeping the tradition alive: