La Palapa Restaurant — Restaurant in Jalisco

FEBRUARY 2022 REVIEW-BE WARNED DO NOT GO! I had been wanting to try this restaurant for a while as I had seen the google reviews were great, however my experience was quite the opposite. We made our reservations via OpenTable for a party of 3. I had been wanting to take my friend to a nice restaurant on the beach since she was visiting. Upon our arrival the hostess had us wait briefly to seat us. When she sat us the restaurant was approximately 70% full but there were many 4seat tables open, however she took us to the table right next to the bus station, we didn't say anything as we were still on the beach but approximately 5 rows back from front beach view, however after being seated for approximately 15 minutes and not even being asked for our drink order I asked a waiter to see if he could move us to a different table as it seemed we were being overlooked, he left and never came back, I saw the hostess and approached her and asked her the same, however when I explained the situation, she didn't apologize about what had happened to us and said the nicer tables were "reserved" I explained that I did have a reservation which did not give any options for "preferred seating", and that there were plenty of other tables at better locations available and that I was simply requesting a change of tables, she said if I wanted to move I would have to wait approximately 1 hr. At that point I decided to leave. I was unwilling to be treated this way and pay over US$200 for dinner, we went to the restaurant next door which treated us 100 times better. La Palapa also reported our visit as "missed" to Open Table which I also didn't appreciate. Very disappointed with my experience and I will not recommend this restaurant to anyone, this seems to be the type of restaurant that has gotten a little to big for their britches and they do not care about customer service as they feel they are doing you a favor by letting you...

I've never written a review before. I never even thought of writing a review for all the good food I've eaten until I came here and experienced La Palapa's food. It was life changing, and I'm not over embellishing. I came off the plane tired and thinking about work, and left La Palapa not even remembering my home address -it was that good.

The beet salad and the coconut shrimp were our starters and they were a perfect pairing. The shrimp was on top of a bed of pureed potatoes that were blended with cilantro and spinach in such a perfect way. It was like a smooth, mellow, warm fluff of goodness combined with just the right amount of salty tangyness of the sauce. It was like having a pixie dance on my tongue.

The main course was beef medallions (myself) and a filet of fish (my wife). It was the perfect size because every bite was so flavorful I couldn't believe how satiated I was half way through. The steak was tender, cooked perfectly, and had a smokey flavor that was woody but subtle. The sauces were perfectly flavorful without being overpowering. The fish was crispy on the outside and tender underneath. I can only describe the coating as caramelized because I'm pretty sure that's how they achieved it. Also, I never thought of adding a hint of horseradish to brussel sprouts before but now I will do that every time.

The only way that I can explain how they are so good is that literally all the chefs do is think and dream about perfect food all day long. That literally must be what they live to do, because otherwise it wouldn't be half as good. I didn't even check the price, and I didn't care or mind, as it was worth...

We were here on Wednesday June 18 for dinner. 3 stars a minus two for the service. We ordered a spicy tuna plate that was delicious. The bread+ butter was also incredible. Appetizer included calamari, lobster bone marrow tacos, both delicious and the ceviche was okay. We ordered about 7 plates of appetizers total and split amongst 4 people. We ended up only getting one main plate since we ordered so many appetizers. The shrimp were bland and not very good. For dessert we had the key lime pie which was heavenly with a melt in your mouth lemon meringue and and perfect buttery graham cracker crust. The chocolate espresso cake was rich and decadent.

The main con was the waiter. We ordered some drinks but some of the people in our party don’t drink alcohol and the waiter was visibly upset by this and repeatedly pressured us to order drinks. Then when we only ordered one main plate since we ordered so many appetizers to try the menu he scoffed at us and did not come by our table after that. We had to ask the buser to get his attention various times as he was serving the other tables and ignoring ours. Every time he came over he gave us attitude and couldn’t wait to get away. When we finally got the bill his entire demeanor changed as soon as he saw the tip. Suddenly he was in a good mood. Overall very unprofessional behavior. Some pretty good dishes and a beautiful view but I don’t know if I’d come back due to the...