Palacio Maya Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Kansas City

First time visiting. Staff was all very friendly and attentive. The place looks amazing and they did a wonderful job making it look like its own place instead of an old IHOP. Chips were warm and the salsa was tasty. Waiter was very nice and super attentive. And thats where the good parts of this restaurant end.

Wanting to sample a bit of Mexican restaurant staple foods I ordered a combo plate of one burrito, one enchilada, and one tamale. First warning sign is that the food came quick, too quick, chef mic (microwave) quick. Granted, it was early and the place wasn't hopping but it was still too quick to be freshly made.

I started with the enchilada. It was decent, nothing that made me want to come back for it but tasty enough to eat. The red sauce though, that was a problem. Almost too sweet, it had a strong flavor of ketchup that bordered on being more Itallian flavored than Mexican. It took a bit, but I got used to the flavor.

Next was the tamale. To be honest it was probably one of the best tasting tamale I've had in quite a while. If the masa incasing it wasn't tough, and nearly crunchy at times, the tamale alone might have brought me back. But there it was so firm, tough, and crunchy, like it was super old or had been steamed way past the time it should have. Probably the weirdest textured tamale I've ever eaten. It was without a doubt not fresh which was a shame since the taste was really good.

Then came the burrito, oh where do I start with this one? At first bite something tasted off about it. The tortilla was rubbery and stretchy, which you get when you microwave them. Then there was the ground beef inside.... a weird flavor, almost like corned beef. Didn't say it was corned beef in the menu, and corned beef in Mexican food would be quite weird anyhow. Was it canned meat? Why would any restaurant use canned meat? Whatever it was, it didn't taste very good in a burrito. My wife tried a bit and agreed, it seemed canned to her too in texture and flavor.

I wish this place the best. Its the building my wife and I first met, back before its current food fare. I wish all local restaurants the best, but with so many other tasty Mexican restaurants in the area this one has some stiff competition, and I'm not sure its up to the task. Perhaps if I start seeing a lot of rave reviews for the food I'll give it another chance, but...

2025-02-06 Our first time here

Plenty of parking. At the end of the evening when we were driving away, you get down to an intersection by McDonalds and you can only turn right. This was a little inconvenient for us because that's not the direction we live. Not blaming that on the restaurant, though. It's just something you need to be aware of. Also, I didn't see any dedicated motorcycle parking area.

They really made the inside look excellent. If you had been here when it was an IHOP you can still see what they had to work with, but they really did a good job with it. It's very fresh with a lot of light color as opposed to the solid primary colors at a lot of other Mexican restaurants.

I had iced tea to drink and they had sugar and pink packets on the table. The iced tea was exactly what you would expect.

I ordered the Papa Palacio Maya for my entree. I did not know that it is served exactly like fajitas, with the skillet still searing the food, tortillas on the side, and a plate of toppings. I also didn't know there were potatoes in it. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. It was also way too much food to eat.

I did not have occasion to use the rest room, but I can tell you that the restaurant itself was very clean. I did not detect and greasy floor tiles or anything of the sort.

Service was quick, and they got the order completely correct. Food was on our table quickly, too.

Overall, I think this is a place we may visit again. I know there was at least one other entree that I almost went with, so I'll have to go back again just to try it. I would recommend this place...

This was our first and will be the only visit. First, the remodel they have done on this space makes it seem smaller. Maybe they enlarged the kitchen, but it cut into the dining area to bad effect. The lighting is too bright and is daylite balanced, maybe looks good in the day. The server was more interested in a conversation she was trying to have behind the bar. And the food did not save the experience. After initially ordering, we both realized without being asked for a preference, we would likely receive flour tortillas. So we put that change in almost immediately after ordering. Also asked for hot sauce. The runner brings out our food and it of course comes with flour tortillas, and no spoon for the soup, and no hot sauce. I flag down the server, and ask for these things, and wait. After a couple of minutes, she returns and I finally have a spoon. The soup had a good flavor, but the chicken was in huge, extremely tough pieces of overcooked breast meat. Obviously too big to eat in a bite, and no way to cut the pieces up. How are you supposed to eat 4 oz pieces of chicken in a soup when it needs a knife and some struggle just to cut it up? I set them aside and ate the tasty soup. My wife’s carnitas had mealy overcooked pork, and was barely seasoned. The northland must be destined to have sub par mexican food, and that building is...