La Maria Restaurant — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Ive come to this place alll the way from Arts District cause itb has very good reviews just to run into two rude ladies asking me if my dog is a support animal. My dog is a support animal in fact so I answer with the truth, they both mande me look for my dogs papers, one was rude but naive the other one was a Mexican girl with pink hair and no manners, no costumer service and no social skills. She read my dogs papers out loud and told me I needed to go eat outside in the patio. It is very cold and they only had one costumer, if she is the manager she clearly doesnt know much about a business. You cannot rely on public health excuses when none of them wears hair nets and not even tied hair. The floors and tables feel greasy. There's only two costumers for a bunch of employees and she can't even have the tact to handle the situation better, she only wants to prove she's right and she can do as she wishes in the small greasy place. You can take the latinamerican out of latinamerica but unfortunately in some cases you cannot take latinamerica out of the latinamerican.

Good luck with your public health standards.

By the way, not even in month stays at airbnbs ive been charged or asked for evidence about my support animal and I have to go through all this just for a couple empanadas an a burrito. Thank you so much.

Comment after the reply:

There was one table eating it was late none of your colombian employees were wearing gloves or hair nets not even tied hair. I'm colombian myself and I was very respectful in the beginning, respectful enoguh to look for my papers after the whole stuff (2 people ) asked me to see em which is against the law, however she read it out loud and then says due to saludridad she cannot have me and my dog inside, I corrected her word to salubridad since she was very into the whole topic and that when she got tense. I was never disrespectful towards her or nobody else. I have been to multiple restaurants in this city with very high public health standards and ive never been treated like that. The comment I made about latinamerica addresses the fact that your employee decided it was better bussinness to humiliate me by reading out loud such sensitive content that I only shared cause I wanted to eat colombian food and in the end not letting me stay than having better social skills and business mindset to have win win agreements instead of kicking people out by ruining the dinner. I have worked in the service industry and I know the client is not always right but his money is what jeeps the restaurant going so it's better to be friendly than to be sassy.

I would gladly accept the feedback about a public health issue if you're place would lookpristine however as a suggestion it would be better to spend all this time in cleaning and making the image of the restaurant follow the rules with gloves, uniform, hair rules for ladies, etc etc etc.

Im not pointing out any cultural issue or trying to be racist. I said that about Colombians cause I am one and iw as once like that I'd rather be right than be at peace or in this case I'd rather read out loud that my dog is not a service animal and ruin a dinner than having a check paid for the restaurant that pays my...

Did you know about La Maria? Neither did we, and we've been here for 25 years! It is a hidden gem, as the saying goes, but I would modify it to a hidden diamond!

Walking into La María, it looks a little unusual, it looks less like a sit down restaurant and more of a "order your food, pick up at the counter, and sit down where are you like" kinda place. But they have full table service, and the servers are wonderful. So we were greeted right off the bat with smiles and cheers, which is always a good indicator of the restaurants quality and viability; as my habit goes, I looked at what other people were eating, to see what's popular. There were a variety of lovely Colombian dishes, all looking delicious, and everyone seem to enjoy their food. Our server came out, and we ordered drinks, and this is where the nostalgia kicked in, because the drinks came out in a can with a cup. Very old-fashioned! It reminded me of those old little places that I used to go to in the 80s, and that's what me and my wife like, places that remind us of our younger days.

My wife ordered the grilled chicken salad with black beans, and I ordered the beef stew. The server assured me that it did not have any dairy products in it, milk or cheese or butter. I have been trying to avoid carbohydrates as much as possible, so I barely touched the rice that it came with. However the stew itself was fantastic! As you can see from the photos, the meat was falling off the fork, very tender and juicy. And my wife got more than she bargained for with the chicken salad. I think it came with 3/4 of a pound of chicken. 👋😆 She took the rest of her meal home, and we ate, reminisced and enjoyed looking at the beautiful artwork on the walls at the restaurant.

I hope you enjoy the photos and videos, and pay this wonderful little restaurant a visit. The parking is around back, kind of hard to figure out that first, but once you get it you'll figure it out. When we were there, there was plenty of street...

COLOMBIA 🇨🇴 Excerpt from Eat the World Los Angeles: The colors of the Colombian flag are no strangers to the restaurants that serve the food and culture of the country throughout the United States and beyond. A bright sign facing a high-speed section of Victory Boulevard announces the restaurant in yellow, blue, and red, as does the brightly painted facade behind it.

It is more likely that you enter through the rear of the restaurant and its small parking lot, but there are plenty of the same colors back there, as well as the terracotta roofing decor that is found both outside and within. The tables alternate the three colors with bright tablecloths. Little motifs of houses, paintings showing colonial architecture and scenes from back home set the rest of the mood.

In the morning, there may be no quicker way to a Colombian's heart than a plate of frijoles calentados ($10.50), which is served here with both huevos pericos and a cheese arepa. The former is often paired together, and mentioned on the menu, the arepa came as an unmentioned bonus! Regardless, for the price it is quite a filling hearty breakfast any day...