La Granja Restaurant — Restaurant in Palm Beach Gardens

There are a whole lot of restaurants along Northlake in Palm Beach Gardens and your really need to stand out from the rest in order to make a real, successful go of it, and this La Granja location seems to be serious about surviving.

For those unfamiliar with this regional chain, the food on offer is a diverse menu of Peruvian favorites served in copious amounts for reasonable prices.

You'll find the ubiquitous rotisserie chicken, grilled steaks, chicken breasts and pork cutlets along with BBQ ribs and Peruvian classics like Arroz Chaufa (fried rice), Lomo Saltado (beef stir-fry with fries and rice), Ceviche and all sorts of fish and seafood dishes! I'm also really picky about my rice and beans, and they deliver on both. The black beans are solid, but the yellow rice is always tender, moist and flavorful! I always feel like I could eat or all day!

This location also has a full-service bar alongside the dining room, which makes this a great spot for grabbing a delicious meal while watching a futbol match on TV.

My only criticism, and it's one I have of other locations, as well, is that the staff are a bit brusque. They're not mean, angry or unhelpful, but I always get the sense that they feel like they have better things to do than take my order and collect my money. Still, and with that in mind, I don't think it's enough to dock La Granja a full star, but it is...

Usually La Granja is pretty good with flavor and portion --so I'm trying to see if I should give at least 2-3 stars. Only 2 bad things were: the most important, I was surprised to see they had the condiments, sauces, plastic containers to go, served on a table as soon as you enter restaurant. The food was open and exposed to the public handling with out gloves, protectors, sanitizers.. ppl were touching containers. Serving with good servers and no one around to clean. With Covid, that was a shocker!! - With the fried yuca, it was horrible- not pre-boiled but rather dropped into frying pan so in essence was so hard to chew. We threw it out. I was disappointed. Was concerned if food condiments were not protected from Covid germs from ppl entering and touching ..ugh I can imagine kitchen. I must say I didn't eat my food. Gave it away because my stomach couldn't accept these 😩 . May be i should give it a 1. EDIT i am doing an edit as I went back with my son to give the restaurant the "benefit of the doubt"--- and still poor quality food was served. Chicken was like charcoal at bottom..too overcooked, dry tasted like rubber.. rice was so kinda dry and tostones were not fried all the way so they were thick and hard to swallow..I WOULD CHANGE TO 1...

This place is really all about the sauces. If you've never been here, their staples are rotisserie chicken, rice and beans, and plantains. The seasoning on the chicken is nice, but nothing to write home about, but the sauces on the table are what keeps people coming back for more. The white sauce is a vinegar sauce. You'll get the flavor of mayo, vinegar, and I think a little mustard in it. The green sauce is about the same but a little spicy. The red sauce is similar to the green, but a slightly different flavor. I think the bottles said jalapeño and habenero, but they weren't all labeled. Make sure you try all the sauces, and if you are doing take out they have to go cups at the salad bar. I recommend getting the tostones instead of the sweet plantains that come with your meal, they are smashed plantains that are deep fried. The sweet plantains that come with the meal are good, but the tostones allow for more of the sauces. I also recommend the yellow rice over the white rice. The steak and pork are also popular options. The salad is okay. It's basically shredded lettuce with some onions, tomatoes, and maybe bell peppers in a vinegrette. Nothing that you...