Mystery Diners · S6 E4
Pelons Tex-Mex Restaurant
Austin, Texas
Yes. This one is still open.
The short answer
Tex-Mex restaurant at 802 Red River St, downtown Austin; active hours and Yelp/OpenTable reviews dated into 2026.
What happened on the show
Doug Guller was seeing gaps in food and alcohol sales at his downtown Austin Tex-Mex spot, and the sting, as aired, turned up something stranger than simple theft. Charles Stiles sent mystery diners Holly and Justin in as a waitress and a customer, and the cameras catch the whole staff, led by the manager, soliciting donations in the owner's name for a real cancer charity, pooling the raffle money to hand a thousand dollars to a winner, with one waiter shaving his head to resemble the boss. The confrontation is unusually gentle: Doug, moved rather than furious, lets the manager and waiters off with a warning. Stiles closes with Doug donating to charities of his own. Because Mystery Diners was later accused of scripting these reveals, this charity sting, and its soft ending, is best read as broadcast rather than as documented event.
After the cameras left
Pelons is still open and never really looked endangered. The downtown Tex-Mex restaurant at 802 Red River Street shows active hours and reviews dated into 2026 in our pass. It is another established Austin independent that appeared on a crisis show and kept right on serving, its survival the ordinary kind rather than a rescue. The charity twist made a memorable episode; it did nothing to threaten a going restaurant that has simply carried on.
Location
802 Red River St, Austin TX 78701
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Sources
Confidence: high. Last checked 2026-07-19.