La Bonita's — Restaurant in Palm Springs

Food was tasty! That is the great part.

But the first thing my kids noticed when they went to wash their hands is that the restroom is super dirty. They warned me not to go in.

Secondly noticed that it was pricey... $16 for 3 small chicken tacos!!! But thought they might be embellishing the dish with sides so ordered anyways. It came with a smallest quantity of rice, beans, and salad I have ever eaten at Mexican restaurant. The tacos themselves were tasteless.

To be fair, found enchiladas were tasty, chimichanga was okay. Margarita was good too. But chimichanga was supposed to come with Avocado, sour cream, and sauce. None of it was given. When reminded of avocado, the server brought thin slices of small avocado. The top slice was good but underneath all the other slices had rotten pieces avocado. When told him that it was unacceptable, his excuse was that he personal just sliced the avocado and if he could sub it for guac or nothing. But not a fresh avocado! To top it off when the check came there was additional $3 charge on top of $17 for chimichanga because my wife opted for red sauce when he asked her if she would like red or green sauce! No earlier notice that the type of sauce changed the price for worse. The server (probably owner) was unapologetic and asked us if we wanted him to give us some discount! I paid the full price but didn't leave him a tip. He had anyways charged us more than 7 dollars on top of menu prices, and had underserved us .

What annoys about this whole experience is that you visit palm springs to have good time, and pay for it and more but receive substandard experience at the least suspecting place.

I read all the great reviews about the place and wonder if substandard service is the norm around here in Palm Springs! Anyways, made a note to myself that I would not eat at a restaurant if they cannot keep their restrooms clean. Difficult to gauge how clean the kitchen and the ingredients are once the dish is served...

Went here based on other google maps reviews. Overall a very good experience.

The good:

unique Mexican menu. I believe It aires on the more fusion side but don’t let that detract from thinking it’s not Mexican. Think Mexican with an upbeat twist. The flavours and portion sizes were excellent. The guacamole and chips were very yummy. Everyone enjoyed their meal.

The bad: A little more expensive than some Of the other local restaurants. The biggest cost was the fresh quac and chips. Many places this is complementary. Here it sets you back $15-20 depending if you also add the salsas. We said no to the salsa but it was brought anyway and also charged for it. The server asked us upon seating if we wanted to guac and chips without mentioning there was a cost. It felt like an immediate upsell and only realized the price after opening the menu.

Since the cost was high and the portions are large, it filled us up. Not their problem but warning to other foodies thinking it may be a good idea.

The drinks aren’t inexpensive for Mexican Coke and lemonade.

There is an automatic 20% gratuity for parties of 5 or more which seems excessive for that little amount of people.

The atmosphere was nice and the service was polite.

I do want to stress we were impressed with the quality and taste of our dishes. We would go back but there are things we would do...

The food was good as was the service. That said, they fly Palestinian flags in the restaurant which is very insensitive to the thousands of Jews (men, women, and children) who were slaughtered recently by Hamas terrorists on October 7th, 2023. I do not believe the staff understand the meaning behind the Palestinian flags being displayed amidst ongoing tensions between Israel and Iranian proxies in the Middle east region. I also am unsure if the owner understands the nuances surrounding flying Palestinian flags in a time when anti semitism is at alarming highs worldwide. As a Jewish man I felt disrespected by the flags especially seeing as many in my family were murdered by nazis in the Holocaust and Israel is our safe haven in a world where so many want to see us Jews wiped off the face of the earth. To the owner: I respect your courage and grit as an entrepreneur but I hope you educate yourself on Jewish and Israeli history. This will help you develop a more nuanced understanding of world history and how the Jews and Israel fit in it. After you do so, I believe your political opinions will change and you may even consider flying Israeli flags. As an MBA, I recommend staying out of politics in the context of your business. You will just end up turning off half the population...