I grew up on Mexican food in the USA. Before my life in New Zealand I lived very close to Mexico. Since becoming a permanent resident of NZ it has been a mission of mine to find the best, most authentic Mexican food. Pan de Muerto delivers. The food is fantastic and authentic. The wait staff is friendly,knowledgeable, fast and fun. The original Margarita was perfect, just the right blend of tequila, lime and triple sec.

dined tonight as part of a big group, the food was not bad but getting out to pay the bill was a disaster. Most people didn’t agree with what they were charged and at one stage there were 15 people waiting to pay while the bar staff (3) were standing around doing nothing. When this was mentioned to the owner who was at the bar, he advised something like there was a facility to pay at the table and we should of done that???
He was not really interested!

Went in hoping that the move to a different location had not ruined my favorite restaurant.
Weeeeeeeeeellllllll, there were highs and lows, we got the Mexican colas, which were life changing, so so so good, jaritos cola, with a lime wedge, and a cinnamon stick!! It was the best thing ever! We had to wait about 20 mins for a table – not unreasonable for a fri night, and they gave us complimentary corn chips and salsa! Very much appciated!
When I ordered my beloved jalapeños rollenios I was utterly disappointed. They had changed!! They are now super spicy, and I couldn’t eat them…. I can’t tell you how gutted I was. I complained to the waitress, and manager, who both cheerfully said that the menu had changed, and the restarant was under new management… So disappointed.
Our mains were absolutely delicious, and a definite improvement on the old place / menu (although i did love the old place / menu) but small portions, and we’re we’re still hungry afterwards…
All in all a mixed bag. Love the new place, tables are a bit crowded, staff were friendly and professional, food came our quickly, it was a little pricy I thought, $95 for 2 adults & a child, 2 entrees, 3 (small) mains, and 3 colas…..
We will go back though, I like it… Just need to get over the post jalapeño depression.

Probably the worst Mexican restaurant I have been to anywhere in the world.
Service is shocking (took an hour and 5 minutes to get a margarita tonight) and our meals around an hour and a half.
Food was so-so and the margarita, when it eventually arrived, was hopeless.
Management needs a good shakeup and the waiting staff a good kicking, aside from the one new girl who did her best to keep people happy with no support from her coworkers.
Avoid this place.

Disappointment all round. There’s only so much you can do with Mexican food and what we were served didn’t justify the price. The food was typical of other Mexican restaurants (who charge less), and the service was appalling.

My friend looked through the drinks menu and didn’t see what he was looking for so asked the guy behind the bar. The response was a sarcastic “Have you tried looking at the menu?”. My friend then tried to elicit a suitable response to a rather simple question, however the bar man thwarted any attempt to receive a cool beverage with his final overly sarcastic proclamation “this is a Mexican place”. Gob smacked we were. A simple yes or no would’ve been enough.

Everything was overpriced and the service certainly won’t save this place. I don’t imagine it’s going to last the distance if they carry on like this. Bring back the old Pan de Muerto I say!

Great experience, not just the food but the whole place. Service was excellent. The food was delicious, some spicy, others just really tasty. Home made nachos, stuffed jalapenos where especially good. Served in a cone shaped dish the chicken chimichangas were my favourite. Good sized portions. Quirky design with lots to look at decor. Water jugs have to be mentioned , great design. The details are taken care of. Prices were reasonable. We were there early (6pm) and the place was full by the time we left – and don’t miss a trip to the loo’s, worth it for a look at the fit out. We’ll be back.

Part of a big group and they managed to deliver a full table of very tasty, good sized meals very quickly. The beef fajitas came out in a very cool array of plates and pans and was pretty tasty, the three cheese stuffed crumbed jalapenos were amazing.

Obviously the wait staff have upped their game since some of the other reviews as they were absolutely fantastic and for those of you who find it important, my water glass remained topped up at all times.

Will definitely be back to try some more of their offerings. An amazing fit out, friendly staff and well priced tasty food.

As part of a group of over 10 the only complaint would be the requirement to split the bill into even portions. Easy way around this is to order entrees/bar snacks from the bar and prepay if the rest of the group just want mains. This is definitely worth it to try the jalapenos.

Having been to Mexico many times on business, I can say in all honesty that this place is a Disney-esque version of the real deal (and a version on LSD to boot). It verges on hurting the eyes. That being said, our group was all for a bit of fun so why not? Well, for one, the staff clearly take themselves and this joint too seriously and the food? Average and not so much authentic, but still okay though the portions are a bit mean in relation to price (case in point, the guacamole is awesome but you’re given enough for a side, not a starter). But really, it’s still the staff letting them down. Service is brusque, almost rude, you can forget about getting that second drink. Maybe they should have spent a little less on the Disney imagineer/decorator and more on training? I truly wonder how long they’ll be around once the hype wears off.

I’ve been to Pan de Muerto several times since the move to the new location, most recently with a large group of about 20 people. Each time has been great and I’ve always left looking forward to my next visit.

The food is delicious, and just the right level of spice. Personal favourites are the pork chimichangas (can’t get enough of these!), the duck tacos with yummy pineapple salsa and the pomegranate brulle. You’ll definitely want to make room for all three courses here, you’ll be missing out otherwise.

The drinks menu is impressive and has some of the best cocktails I’ve seen in Wellington. I’m still working my way through all of the options but the Commonwealth is my top pick so far, very different! It’s also nice to see a good variety of Mexican beers, makes a change from the usual Heineken. Big fan of the frozen margarita jugs too!

The staff have always been friendly and helpful, and seem to know the menu well. They also coped well with a large group, nobody was left waiting for their food while others were eating. The decor is gorgeous, especially the bar. Even the bathrooms are something special!

I’ll be back again soon, this is my new favourite dining spot.

This place could have done everything right. At the very least they could have done something right.

But everything was wrong man. The table was wrong. The service was wrong. The food was wrong. If only it were just one thing that went wrong. But it wasn’t.

Not enough guacamole. Not enough corn chips. Not enough water service. Not enough everything.

I’m sad about this place, in 3 months time it will be empty because they blew it.

I’m not going back. Not even to see if they’ve picked up their game.

The bill came to $100 on the dot. And that made me happy, because OCD.

I dined at Pan de Muerto with a friend, and had such high hopes for getting some decent Mexican food. Unfortunately, Pan de Muerto didn’t meet expectations.

Having booked a few days in advance, I was really disappointed to have been given one of the tables for two in the middle of all the foot traffic in the restaurant. This particularly galled, when we saw walk-ins being seated at the quieter side tables (there were no reserved signs on the tables). Our table was also a bit unstable, and if one of us lifted our arms off it, the table would go for a little spin.

As friendly as the server was, we didn’t get a second beer that was ordered, and after waiting 10 minutes for the menus to look at dessert, we gave up and had to flag down the server to give our order without looking at the menu again. We had to ask for a refill of water, and the server then refilled the glass of the person who had asked, and ignored the other glass which was nearly empty. Serving 101 – fail.

The food was pretty pedestrian. The dip starter was extra greasy and served with too few corn chips for the amount of dip. The mains (we had a beef burrito and fish tacos) were fairly ordinary for the price paid. Hoping for some dessert delight, the churros looked great, but there was uncooked batter in the middle, and the chocolate sauce tasted a bit like ice cream syrup.

All in all, we had high hopes, but they weren’t met. The decor was the most interesting thing about the restaurant. We won’t be going back.

Went last night to check out. Service pleasant but staff need to be waved down. Food experience not good – one companion had the Alambre which was OK and the Fajitas OK – but, not in comparison to equivalents at other restaurants for same price. The Burrito was awful and should never have been served – same with the duck taco. Chimichanga good as a bar snack. Wine selection OK – they don’t know how to make cocktails as a basic traditional one is the worst experience in over 2 decades! Great fitout and shame about the rest. Overheard the owner telling a customer that if something appeared on MenuMania he’d never let him eat there again! Interesting! spurred me on to do my first ever review here….

We came here for a friend’s birthday. We ordered some jugs of margaritas for $36 each thinking this would be a good deal and were a little disappointed to see that they filled only two glasses. We were even more disappointed when we saw that a single glass of margarita was $14!!! In other words, we were paying $8 more for the jug. We asked to speak to someone who told us that actually the jug filled three glasses if you didn’t fill them to the top and that, as a matter of practice, they never filled their single glasses up to the top. Relatively ‘okay’ with this response we continued with our drinks. However, as the night continued some people in our group ordered single glasses of margaritas and they were all filled to the top!!! When we queried this again, the owner and the previous bar manager (who had told us that they didn’t fill them to the top!?!?) became extremely defensive stating that they didn’t advertise the jugs so it wasn’t a problem, and inferred that most people were too stupid to notice they were paying more!!!! Stunned, we asked if they would please take off the extra we had paid for the jug which they refused. Just to be clear, I eat out regularly and have never before posted such a negative review! So, in my view, if you want to be totally ripped off then go here for dinner. The staff were rude and clearly had no respect for their customers – not even when it was one of their customer’s birthday!!

Went to the new Pan de Muerto on Tory St last week and it is even better then it was before, huge menu try the chimichangas, the decor is out of this world, check out the bathrooms even if you dont need to go. Great food, excellent service, and the fitout will blow you away!!

We had been to Pan de Muerto when it was in Kent Terrace and were not that impressed but had read good reviews of it since its move to Tory Street. I’m pleased to say it has improved with the move although it is still a mixed experience.

On the good side, the food was well-prepared and tasty and there are some different dishes (to the usual KiwiMex fare) like the Alambre. The beef Alambre was particularly tasty, the chicken less so. The pork enchiladas were fairly average. The chimichangas were nice. The serving sizes weren’t particularly generous but were adequate.

The decor is terrific, especially the demon on a bike, and the toilets were nice and clean.

On the not-so-good side, the service wasn’t brilliant – we ordered the chimichangas as a main and it was brought out about 40 mins before our other mains were served. Our beef and chicken Alambre orders were mixed up.

The selection of wine by the glass was poor.

Perhaps the most off-putting thing about the place is the very low lighting. I have good eyesight and yet found it almost impossible to read the menu by the lights where I was sitting. Clearly we weren’t the only ones having difficulty as the staff had a torch that they were passing around from table to table so that patrons could read their menus! When I suggested to the waiter that he turn up the lights, he said the boss liked them like that for the atmosphere. Well, there is atmosphere and then there is blind stupidity (literally). This disregard for diners’ needs means we will not be going back to Pan de Muerto.

We want along last night for drinks and dinner. Service was great, drinks fantastic and loved the food. Even though we were seated right at the back by the kitchen, which at first we thought was going to be pretty loud, was a great dinning experience. Food came out pretty fast even though they were very busy. Love the decor. Totally be back again and recommend to anyone.

We had a burrito, fajita’s and corn chips. All very average, I thought it was a little overpriced for what you get. Atmosphere is great though and staff are all very friendly but the food let’s them down. Someone would have to twist my arm for me to go back.

What a great dining experience! Great food, staff, service, atmosphere and decor – not the cheapest Mexican restaurant in Wellington but definitely value for money, fresh and well-presented. Apparently Pan de Muerto has been open two weeks today. Clearly this restaurant is well-managed – already it appears to be really popular so it would pay to book unless you are prepared to wait for a table or be in the door just after 5. The only slightly negative thing I could say is that I found the menu a little hard to read due to the lighting (although the fab atmosphere is created by the lighting to a large degree) – may cause problems for oldies, or those with dodgy eyesight. Easily the best place I’ve been to in last 6 months. Worth 5 stars. Keep it up.

Maybe the best restaurant in town. We visit the new Pan de Muerto on Monday night. Everything in this place is perfect. The decor is amazing, it reaches the goal of being beautiful without being fancy. Even having no windows, it is really well lighted, and the toilets are the most beautiful I have ever seen. I have never seen so shining glasses and every meal we chose was served on a different beautiful plat. Maybe the only critic I can make is for the napkins, which were cheap paper napkins, I would have prefer cotton ones.
The food is very surprising. It is hard to say if it is truly Mexican or not, I think this food go a bit further and create something new (I have been in Mexico many times). Every meal we chose had a different subtle flavor, even the steak, which comes with a spicy-lemony tomato sauce. We also had chicken mole, Atzeca soup, and ceviche. The ceviche lacks a little bit more lime and coriander and maybe salt and had too much cucumber instead, it taste fresh, but needs more personality. The soup and the chicken were really nice. But maybe the best part of the meal were the dessert. The pomegranate brulee was delicious (but the cookies too hard?) and the churros were by far the best in town, accompanied by a tasty goat cheese caramel.
Everything tastes really fresh and I can see the freedom and the passion of the kitchen shining in every aspect of the food.
The portion were really well sized and well priced, so that we left really light in our stomach and wallet, which makes worth it to come back again and again.

A totally fantastic dining experience, great food, service was excellent, friendly and fun! Decor is incredible, worth a visit just to check out the toilets!!! Definitely worth several return visits. Food chosen by the four of us dining, included the fish, described as incredibly fresh and subtly flavoured, chicken mole which had a great balance of flavour,nachos chosen by our Melbourne guest delcared the best ever tasted. Usually we don’t do dessert, but made an exception, and so glad I did because the chocolate gelato was life-changing!!! If standards stay this high, this would rate as one Wellys best in my book

We went to the brand new Pan De Muerto on Tory St. Wow what a transformation the menu has doubled and it was nothing short of the best food I have ever had in town! The service was fabulous it truly is an experience not to be missed! Well done Pan De Muerto!! We will be back again and again.