Las Palmas — Restaurant in Bentonville

Don't be fooled by it's lackluster and stereotypical appearance, this is not your average Mexican restaurant!

It is, indeed, considerably below average!

I have come to Las Palmas on work lunches twice now, the first on a very slow Tuesday, the second on (for them) a very busy Sunday (not to worry, their busy-ness will not prevent you from being seated immediately. Plenty of open tables!) Thought that maybe that first go-around was just a bad day. Boy did they prove me wrong!

Both times I was greeted by an unhurried yet unhappy hostess. She asked about the size of my party not with words, but with a look similar to one you'd receive from a 20-year DMV clerk. Luckily, my ability to read body language is top notch, so I understood what she meant. She showed me to my table and returned to her post, leaving me with a cheerful "here's your seat, enjoy your meal and have a wonderful day!" Well, actually, she turned her back on me and said nothing, but I could tell by her aura that that's what she was trying to say. Again, this happened both times.

My first time here, from that point on, was decent, despite the food being overpriced compared to the quality - but it came out pretty quick. Service was okay, but sorta slow even though the place was nearly empty. Waitress was very nice and made sure my drink stayed full.

The rest of this review pertains to my second trip.

I proceeded to wait another 10-15 minutes before being asked what I'd like to order. The waiter correctly assumed I'd been sitting for a while and figured I already knew what I wanted. Very intuitive! However, if he, like the other staff, had simply looked away as I tried to make eye contact across the room, I would've just called his name out. Up until this point, the only person who had actually spoken to me was a very nice young lady who brought chips and salsa to my table.

Food took a while to come out, but kind of understandable considering their relative busy-ness. Good thing, too, because I was just about ready to walk out.

When it did come, it was about the same quality as last time. Not particularly good, especially considering the price. I'm usually not one to talk about presentation, either, but it looked like they just slapped it on the plate and called it a day. I'd like to say front-end was probably rushing the kitchen, but their general lack of awareness makes me doubt that.

I really seriously cannot understand how they have 4 stars on here.

Tl;dr

JUST GO TO SENOR SHREDDY'S. It's worth sitting outside in the summer heat. You might not get quite as much food, but you'll actually enjoy eating it. Plus, it always looks like they put some love into it, regardless of how many...

I've gone to this Las Palmas many, many, many times over the past 5 years. I love it to death and it's actually one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. My favorite thing is likely the white queso, but my god I also love their mild salsa to death. Probably one of the better salsas I've ever had. I have has slow service at points, but those times seem to be when they're under staffed and busier. There have been occasions where it's taken a long time for requests to be done, like once when out with my family and some friends, my youngest 2 (3 and 4 year old) didn't get their food until last.... that was slightly aggravating. The only other problem was when something was being played on the tv, a show not at all for little kids, and we asked multiple times for it to be changed due to not wanting all the children with us to watch it and I don't remember if they ever even listened to us and turned it off.

That's likely the only bad experiences I remember from all the years of eating there. I've never had an order messed up, the food has always been good and when there is a problem, they are quite usually willing to help fix the problem. Even with ordering to-go's: service is great, everything is nicely packages, and the people at the register and friendly and helpful.

Oh and of course!! They are very, very willing to make adjustments and alterations for little to no cost! Any and every time I order a menu number, I usually get a beef burrito to a bean burrito and any enchiladas to a cheese enchilada, as well as replacing all of the sauces on the items to be cheese sauce and they've always been so extremely kind and do not charge for it! That's likely one of my favorite things about here, so helpful and willing to adjust. Plus it's not crazy expensive, especially for the quality of the food you're usually receiving.

Keep in mind, every place and everyone can have bad or off days. So if you have a not so great experience, be open minded to...

I would urge everyone to stay away from this restaurant and the orient express next door. I was surprised by the terrible quality of the food, not for a few items but everything except for the water. Two coworkers and I went to there for dinner and the food was absolutely terrible, no flavor at all. Even the chips were chewy somehow. I don't know if they were frozen or had been reheated or what but the chips were chewy. I went there for a bloody mary which the waitress said they didn't have and then returned to say that they did. The bloody mary didn't have any alcohol, which I asked about and they said sorry and brought me one shot glass of something to mix with it. The bloody mary ended up being $7. I don't know why but I also tipped $1 which I heavily regret. My friends beer on tap budweiser ended up being $10 for I think 24oz. My other friends food was absolutely terrible, the beans tasted like they had been frozen or watered down or just not seasoned. I am not exaggerating when i say that the beans had absolutely no taste. The beans and rice are the staple of a restaurant so I dont know how they could go on serving such terrible food. The cheese on the food had a very strange texture like it was old and then overheated or something. I had to ask for a refund to which the manager when called told the worker to not charge for the food. Service was ok to not competent. Just don't let this place rip you off and don't go here. If you don't heed my warning and you have a terrible experience-- Don't pay for the food. A place like this shouldn't exist to give almost nothing in exchange for our money. Everything about this place...