Hi Everyone. Just taking a moment to say that Panhandle
Tex Mex Cantina has new owners as of 31st July 2017 and after renovations will be re-opening in September. We hope we can fix all those negative experiences and even excel on the positive ones. Our motto is *Not Just Mexican*
Hope to see you all back soon.

Lovely people, great service!! Always look forward to a trip down to the island for pan handle Mexican margaritas and tacos

Unfortunately i can not review the food of this restaurant because we didn't eat anything! My girlfriend and i went to this restaurant on the 05th December 2015 (Saturday night) We enter the restaurant at around 8:00pm and waited next to a sign that said "wait here to be seated" The restaurant was almost empty. There was a young male staff member that had seen us enter but was to busy cleaning tables to acknowledge we were standing there. A female staff member popped her head out from behind what looked like the kitchen doors but wasn't interested in greeting us. There was another female staff member behind the front counter that was deep in conversation with a customer that appeared to be finalising there bill. We stood waiting patiently for over 7 minutes before being approached by a female staff member that asked in a very impolite manner if we had made a booking. We were taken to a table and left with the menus. We were pretty keen on some margaritas but our waitress had left before we had a chance to order some. We spent about 15 minutes or more looking over the menu and we had both come to a decision on what we would like to order. In this time no one approached us to see if we would like some drinks or see if we were ready to order. We placed our menus down and indicated to our waitress we were ready to order, she was cleaning a table and i had a feeling she was going to take our order when she was finished. I was wrong! After she finished cleaning the table she returned to the kitchen then when she returned to the dining section she proceeded to clean a different table. My girlfriend and i had now been in the restaurant for over 1/2 an hour and came to the conclusion if we stayed we might not be eating till after midnight!! We got up and left without a single staff member even batting an eyelash.
So as i mentioned at the start of my review i can not review the food because we didn't get any! We wouldn't return here if they paid us...

This Mexican restraint is great, I went there when I was visiting cowes a few weeks ago for the weekend. It's got great service and the food is amazing, I went in and they seated us pretty much straight away gave us a menu and gave us a little bit to decide what we wanted and when we were ready they wrote down what we ordered, while it was cooking they came up to us asking if we would like drinks or anything, they got our drinks then not long after we got our meals, and through out the night they were asking if we needed anything, it was really good and ill defferently be going back on my next visit, highly reccomend

Can't say I was overly wowed by this place, typical Mexican/Australian restaurant with large portions. I found my chicken burritos to be a tad too bland for my liking and the cocktails where not impressive at all. Overpriced fish bowls for literally watered down mixture from a slushie machine. Staff are friendly though.

We usually visit this place whenever we're in Phillip Island, it's quite nice. Their mexican rice is my favourite. They make nice quesadillas, tacos and nachos (not sure about the rest, I haven't tried them). Drinks are awesome too!

I can not explain how much I love this place!! I gave everything 5 stars because that is how I feel about it. The quality of the food is amazing, the service is always with a smile and it is definitely value for your money!
I also like all the nic nacs on the walls, it makes it fun and is a great atmosphere.
If anyone says they are going to Phillip Island I will always recommend Panhandles in Cowes :)

Was on Phillip Island to play tourist (penguins, Churchill Island, etc) and decided on a quick meal between attractions and thought this sounded about right. How wrong we were. Give this place a big miss. Close it down or teach the cook about adding spice and flavour to his cooking. Bland is the only way to describe the nachos we had. Boiled meat + the plainest chips possible + no name cheddar cheese + tin tomatoes. AWFUL. Plenty of it for the price but tasteless.

Very nice tex and mex! The country ribs were great with a hickory smoked BBQ sauce which had you licking your fingers. The Burritos were great as well. Best to book in peak season.

Approximate cost: $20