Le Papagayo Carlsbad — Restaurant in Carlsbad

For such a nicely appointed restaurant with what appeared online to be an extensive menu, it was a very disappointing experience. To start, we ordered the garlic chardonnay mussels, but they came in a tomato herb broth with lots of onions. There wasn't any garlic or slightest hint of chardonnay. When I noticed the waiter walking by I waved him down and asked him to confirm it was the garlic chardonnay mussels. He asked if it was spicy and when we said no, he said the chorizo is spicy. I suspect it was the base they use for the spicy chorizo mussels, since he couldn't just tell by looking at the dish. The kalua pork was not served with coconut rice, as the menu clearly states, but with dry, literally crunchy plain white rice topped with cajun spice. After nearly cracking a tooth, I started carefully picking through the rice in a failed attempt to avoid biting into more dried pieces of rice. Eventually, the waiter came by and I asked for a small side of the COCONUT rice without any added spices. At that point, I assumed they'd mistakenly given me the wrong type of rice, since the waiter had told me it was his favorite dish and didn't correct me when I order a small side of COCONUT rice. Unfortunately, he returned with more of the same dried out plain white rice, but this time the dried pieces were actually fused together in clumps that had obviously been scraped off the bottom of the rice cooker. When I told the waiter about the lack of coconut he looked genuinely surprised and went to the kitchen to inquire. It took quite awhile before he returned and told me that they no longer serve coconut rice. I showed him the clumps of dried rice and suggested he should let the kitchen know about the issue before somebody actually broke a tooth. When he return he said they were sorry and offered to buy me dessert, suggesting their cheese cake, but I don't like cheese cake and never order it. I love chocolate!! Especially, a flourless chocolate torte with raspberry puree and fresh whipped cream. I'd already checked out their desserts before ordering dinner and planned on getting their flour less fudge cake, substituting the candied pecans and burnt marshmallows with the mixed berry compote served with their butter cake. So, I asked for that instead of cheese cake. But, when the waiter came back he told me the kitchen said I could only have cheese cake. I told him I didn't want the "free" dessert, if all I could have was cheese cake and that I would pay for the dessert I wanted. Then, I suggested that perhaps they'd be willing to buy my coffee. Soon after a man walked by obviously checking out our table. I've been in the business for my entire life, so immediately suspected he was from the kitchen. After dinner, on my way to the bathroom I confirmed my suspicion when I saw him working on the line in the kitchen. When the waiter brought the coffee, he placed a handful of creamers on the table and started to leave, but he'd never asked how I took my coffee, so I quickly asked if I could also have some sugar. Then, while he went to get the sugar I realized he hadn't brought a spoon, so I was left feeling like I was making him run back and forth when I had to request a spoon once he returned with the sugar. I didn't know until the bill came that they'd decided to comp the coffee which was great, since it was brewed so weak I didn't drink it. I know i could have asked for an espresso, but at that point the waiter was nowhere to be found, so I was frustrated and I just...

After our visit to Le Papagayo in Encinitas a few months ago, both @gbocean and @odez1 recommended that we also visit their location in Carlsbad Village for comparison purposes. Well, good call ladies!

The menus were nearly identical between our 2 visits, but what was more important to us is that the food quality didn’t change. We specially ordered different dishes to assess if a variance occurred and none was noted. Excellent food across the board!

As an example, when I ordered the “Barcelona Traditional Paella” I wondered just how all of those ingredients (chicken, fresh catch, shrimp, mussels, linguica sausage, and chorizo saffron rice) would get along in my bowl. Well, apparently they get along quite nicely and have formed some kind of friendship. Although some of the flavors engaged in a bit of a tug o’ war with one another, that tussle was for the overall betterment of the dish.

While the Main Course Menu offered limited Gluten Free or Vegan options, the Starter Menu located on the flip side offered numerous options representing these “genres.”

Live music was featured on a stage suited nicely for this purpose, which only added to the cozy ambiance.

Dogs are openly welcomed guests and because you’re in the heart of the Village, the post meal wandering/strolling opportunities are plentiful.

If your jam happens to be searching for a place to catch the game, the TV’s were everywhere and close enough to the seating (and large enough) to make watching your team not a problem.

Overall, we found both locations to be excellent and look forward to visiting them again.

And that’s…Henry’s...

Viva Le papagayo in Luecadia! ...but does the Carlsbad location have the same owners??!?! ....Friday Night for dinner...It's perfect if you want diner booth seating, slow service, and cold food. Be sure to enjoy paying $17 for what they call a 'flat bread pizza' that had cold hard bread with hardly any flavor or toppings. It'll remind you of that hungover morning that you ate the left overs from when your 11 year old made a pizza the night before with the babysitter. We also ordered the $20 classic muscles. While it was cold too, along with some muscles that never opened ..we determined that if it had been hot and didn't have the already dead muscles in it, I bet the flavor was amazing... the garlic bread, that our condescending server said 'wasn't' suppose to come with our meal, turned to large tasty hard garlic crouton something. When it's over you'll wish you were full and you'll figure out that person who dropped off the ticket was actually your server. They do have a restroom around, but be careful that you don't run into an employee or slip and fall from the grease spilled by the kitchen door to door from the bathrooms. Bathrooms did have some atmosphere. For every second breathe you take, you'll forget more and more about the cold tasteless bread you waited so long to get.The bathrooms give off an amazing and awesome nostalgic feel of bus station deodorizer with an open plunger by you and plenty of disposable seat covers left around from the 'economy' holder it used to be held in. I would definitely recommend Le Papagayo Carlsbad to anyone and everyone that I want to loose...