Pastime Gardens

Lunch was awesome...very nice staff - very friendly. Their fresh tortilla chips are to die for......

The food is great, love the flavors. We got small plates and there was a huge amount of food. Great prices. Very nice chef. Definitely a good place to eat!

I got there shortly before they closed. They were so accommodating making sure I had everything I needed. When I realized they were closing in just a few minutes I asked for a togo box and thanked them for not rushing me out the door. The food is always excellent there and I wanted to enjoy it slowly. If you have a chance to stop there you won't regret it. I give them 5 stars🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Usually very good. A normal complaint from someone else would be the wait. One cook, 45 ish, people. There should be a wait.

Excellent food in a very casual environment, service is great and everything is scratch made. Yum!

Awesome place to unwind, have a few beers and be in the presence of good people!! Delicious food and the server Rosie who is an asset to this restaurant with her friendliness and forever smile!!!

This place was great. Food was good but the service and atmosphere was great. It was like eating in your mom's kitchen. Don't go if you're in a rush it's worth it to take the time and enjoy the surroundings

Slow service. Food was OK. I had a tostada. Not as good as Taco Tico. Maybe because I had to wait an hour and 20 minutes and that's all I ordered so I was starving by the time I got it and I ate it so fast I could barely taste it.

Great food!! Made fresh so you are going to wait. We went during lunch and it was super fast. Lots of carry out orders. This is the place to go if you want comfort food. Great place to chill and enjoy a drink

Original, homemade, and so delicious. Select hours is worth timing out to get there. It's always worth the wait!!!! Best chips salsa around!!!!!

Amazing amazing amazing is the only comment I have. Lived in S. Cal for over a decade and know what Mexican food is. 3 ladies run the place. One cooks, one serves, and one handles the bar. I read the reviews and the most negative reviews were a wait of 1.5 after ordering the food. Even if I had to wait 1.5 hours to get the food - it is worth the wait- every second. Never in my life have I tasted something soooooo fresh. It is simply unimaginable to get food made from scratch after you order especially from a restaurant - including the tortillas - yes. Enchilada made from scratch (yes scratch) after

Great find in Mason City. My wife needed a quick bite and had to be dairy free. Most accommodating. Thanks

Not sure where all the great reviews came from. I ordered the relleno plate and it was a quarter can of green chillies and cheese in a tortilla fried. Beans and potatoes were fine. I think if I went back again I would just drink. Kind of a cool dive bare and the staff was pleasant.

We mosied on over on a Tuesday night after hearing this place had some legit grub and we were pleasantly surprised by what we found.

First things first, this spot has some shwack hours - a few nights a week from 5:30-8:30 and on Sunday. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday they have an a la carte menu that includes, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas and tostadas, as well as their infamous chips.

Seriously, the chips here are the best I've ever had. They were most-def homemade, crunchy and come with cheese dip and salsa! Absolutely incredible!

Dinner consisted of enchiladas and tostadas

Chips are great. The service is down to earth. These ladies have been doing it for sometime. They know what they are doing. If you don't like it go back to the cities. I have celiacs disease and they accommodate that too.

Good food, good portions and a nice atmosphere but the hours are horrible. They are hardly ever open. It's a shame I could eat there a lot more but oh well.

Pastime Gardens is one of the three reasons I come home! Great food an consistent since the 70s! Lunch at pastime gardens an dinner at northwest steak house is the perfect Mason City day!

Here we are with another Mason City staple! Now as a Californian I like to think that I am from the place where Mexican food is just the best in all of the country, however Pastime can give some of those places a run for their money.

Taco Tuesday is the day to go to Pastime, you'll probably wait a bit but it's well worth it! Trust me. You'll have the options of what type of tacos you would like, I personally chose chicken, and there's the options of wheat, corn or flour tortillas, and if I had known this I would have chose corn, but mine did come with flour and they were still

Visibly fun place, chips good, not a bad place if you are driving thru mason city. Food was good, had the chille relleno.

Great food. The service was SLOOOOOW but sociable. I recommend the homemade chips and the deep fried taco shells. Just don' t go if you're in a hurry.

Let's face it... some of the best places for Mexican food are holes in the wall. This place is no exception. Small place. Not fancy. Great food.

Great atmosphere. Don't go here if you need your food quick, but the food is great. The chips are unlike any other chips that I've had. Some people LOVE them, I think they're just ok.
They also have a few craft beers on tap, which is a definite plus.
A super tiny restaurant with weird hours, but it's pretty great.

The Chips are unlike any place I have seen for the chips n salsa. The salsa is really good.

I ordered the beef burrito and it was alright. Might have been jealous when I saw my co-worker's food. He ordered a Taco Salad and that thing was huge. It isn't like any other Taco Salad I have seen. I comes topped with carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, and other fresh veggies. Yes they are fresh, I could hear them cutting them up just for his order. My order was pretty good size as well.

The portions are bases on small, medium and large. We each got a medium and we could have easily been fine with

Great atmosphere, very unique place if you want a real restaurant and not a chain experience this is the place to go. They have a limited menu on the weekend and I think Tuesday nights. The Saturday crowd can be large so come early or be patient it is worth the wait.

I remember going to the Pastime when it was operated by the original owners way back in the 1970s. I was almost drooling by the time Saturday rolled around as my parents would order take out every weekend. Definitely was considered a culinary highlight in my life. This is NOT Taco Tico or Taco Johns or anything you would find in another MC restaurant, then or even now.

When rumor spread that the original owners were selling the place, fear arose that the new buyers would totally change everything to meet their own liking and then my Saturdays would be ruined Turns out, I had nothing to worry

My parents frequent Pastime Gardens at least once a week, if not more. They dream of the homemade chips, cheese sauce, salsa (so good) and guacamole (if it is available).

I've been to Pastimes several times in the past and love the atmosphere. The interior is incredibly unique as are the ladies who run the business. The food is their own interpretation of Mexican, so don't expect authentic. However, this isn't a bad thing. You can order sauteed peppers and onions on your food as well, in case you'd like some veggies with your meal.

Try Pastime Gardens, but expect to wait