PALOMA TnT — Restaurant in Hamilton

OVERALL: CONSIDER NOT VISITING IF YOU ARE LATIN AMERICAN/LATINX!

From the beginning, my partner’s and I’s experience was not the best—but this is definitely an understatement, underlying an alarming plea strongly warning any potential Latin American/Latinx person considering eating here. On Saturday, January 18th, we called this establishment and asked “if this restaurant was Latin American/Latinx owned?” The person on the phone, quickly identified himself as the manager but hesitantly responded with “yes” and later told us that he was Salvadoran. We responded to him in Spanish, thanking him while trying to connect and suggesting that we were tired of eating Latin American/Latinx food made by white people—his response was awkward, but later reaffirmed that his chef was Mexican alongside his staff. After the manager asked us if we wanted to make an appointment, we said, “We would think about it, but thank you.” Just based on the awkwardness, we were hesitant to visit, but we thought, “Hey, maybe that’s the first time someone has ever asked him,” and, “he is Salvadoran” [like me—so why wouldn’t I apoyar a mi propia patria!”]. We decided to head over, but were definitely not expecting what we experienced.

Upon opening the door, there was Reggaetón blasting—it was amazing, the vibes were super cool and close to home. However, we waited for at least 15 minutes before anybody acknowledged our presence, but hey, it could have been because it was extremely busy and packed? The constant wait for service happened again when we ordered our food—it took almost 25 minutes for any server to take our order, even though they were fully attentive to other tables. Anything that other tables asked the server was very responsive—we felt like we were being intentionally ignored, and in our personal opinion, we couldn’t help but feel we were experiencing xenophobia sentiments as the people around us were all white—yet they were continually being served. The owner and chef (at least we think they were) visibly said “hi” to everybody but us, asking everybody “how everything was?” It wasn’t until he passed by us that WE greeted him in Spanish, asking him what the best thing on the menu was, that he replied, “Definitely the birria, as that was the only ‘authentic’ thing on the menu.” After finally getting a server, we ordered the birria and two alcoholic drinks. The vibes were very unsettling— Reggaetón blasting, Latin American/Latinx art on the walls, but everyone was white—and while we understand we are in Canada and not Latin America, we couldn’t help but feel so othered and outcasted in a place where we, ‘on paper,’ should be welcomed, feeling like we belong—uno ayuda a su comunidad—but this is definitely not the case.

Waiting long for service, not being greeted, and being ignored are microaggressions that matter and should have consequences. But these sentiments continued even after we got our food (which wasn’t even birria—the meat itself is not the typical one used, and overall lacked sazón). Though the chef himself brought us the food, through his pronunciation of the food and visible whiteness, we could tell he was not Mexican; even looking at the staff in the kitchen, mostly everyone was white-presenting. While there is diversity and we recognize that Latin Americans/Latinxs are not a monolith and thus not everyone speaks Spanish or looks stereotypically “Latino,” we couldn’t help but make those conclusions, particularly as the person we spoke on the phone said, “the chef was Mexican.”

The only time the chef spoke to us was when he saw my partner pulling out Google reviews and seeing the one star she rated—we are the people who were left a snarky ‘to anonymous person’ comment on a review my partner made.

Overall, we are saddened and disheartened to have eaten at this restaurant. This establishment, while represented as ‘Mexican,’ is catered to white people—(based on our experience). You may not be treated the best if you are Latin American/Latinx. Gente, váyanse a comer a...

My recent visit to Paloma TNT left me with mixed feelings. While the restaurant has a lot of potential, there were some notable shortcomings during my experience.

On the positive side, I thoroughly enjoyed the cocktails at Paloma TNT. The Spicy Guava Margarita and Hibiscus Margarita were both delicious and well crafted. Additionally, the restaurant's trendy decor, featuring a blend of high tops, bar seating, and tables, created a stylish ambiance. The staff was friendly and appeared dedicated to learning their new cocktail recipes.

However, there were significant disappointments with the food. Despite the restaurant being newly opened, none of the staff could recommend any tacos as they hadn't tried them. This lack of familiarity with the menu was surprising and disappointing. Furthermore, the tacos themselves fell short of expectations. They arrived cold, and the portions were underwhelming given the price. The Baja taco, in particular, had a small piece of fried fish (picture a piece of tempura shrimp) that tasted more like frozen fish mixed with mayo than fresh seafood. The Lomo Saltado taco was equally lackluster and failed to excite the palate.

The chicken antojitos were the highlight of the meal, but even they suffered from being served cold.

Overall, while I appreciate that opening week can be challenging for any restaurant, the lackluster quality of the food was disappointing, especially considering the high prices. I hope that Paloma TNT will address these issues and improve the consistency and quality of their offerings...

One of the most frustrating dinners I’ve had out in a long time.

I went to dinner here with a party of 4. We were initially seated directly under a speaker playing music that was almost too loud to speak to the people at our table, and there was a light just overhead that was pulsing on and off and seemingly random intervals. It felt a lot like a club even though the place was almost empty. It was so dark that when the light was off we couldn’t read the menus. We asked to move to a different table away from the light, which did help.

Once moved, our service was extremely slow. Taking upwards of 20 minutes to get our drinks in a basically empty restaurant. Once we finally ordered and the food was ready, it was brought out at different times for the people at our table, with about 15 minutes between the first and last person to get our food.

In addition to this 2 of the 4 orders were incorrect. A fish taco was subbed for a chicken taco, and a birria burrito was subbed with birria tacos. When we brought the burrito-taco sub the server said they were basically the same thing and gave us a hard time about asking them to bring us what we ordered.

Once we got the food we were never checked on, drinks were not refilled. We had to go to the bar to request more water and cutlery that was never brought to the table.

The food was okay but not worth the price, and given how bad the service was I won’t...