El Meson Del Paraiso — Restaurant in Palmetto Bay

For nearly 15 years I have kept quiet, but now it seems to me that I should disclose the awful experience I had with the miserable people who ran this place during the year 2009. I had dined at Meson before (and the food was good at that time), until one day, on Mother's Day 2009, I had such a dreadful nightmare of a visit that it left me with such an unpleasant and lingering distaste, that I never returned, and I shall never return there.

That afternoon, I came in wanting a special sandwich they had advertised outside at that time. It was a combo of a chicken or fish sandwich (I don't remember which, but it was a burger-type sandwich), and it looked good in the picture, so I ordered it. When they brought it, it turned out that this sandwich came with cheese. The sign outside didn't mention anything about cheese, nor did the picture have cheese. I don't eat cheese, and dairy products are a problem for me. When I told the waitress, who happened to be the owner's wife, about this problem, she denied the mistake, boldly and arrogantly claiming that "it was on the menu" (which it wasn't, and in fact, she had not even given the menu to me to read when I enquired about the special from the get-go). She did nothing to resolve the situation for me as I couldn't eat cheese. 95 percent of that sandwich ended up in the trash, and she had the audacity to ask me if I liked it and if everything was okay, smiling like a fool.

A reputable restaurant acknowledges its mistakes and tries to rectify valid concerns, attentively and respectfully. I as a patron simply wanted another sandwich without cheese. The ingredients were not disclosed to me and the woman did not care. But this place couldn't care less about its customers, based on my experience. The food is good, but the service they provide is so nauseating, it cancels out anything good about the food. It's not worth being in such a toxic environment, in my experience. Take your business to a place that has accountablity and transparency, and not one that places the blame on the customer unjustly, because they are too frugal to make a new sandwich on a count of their erroneous...

Coming here was the first time for me, my son was visiting and he had asked to go here.

We were greeted as we entered, and seated with menus right away. The atmosphere felt very comfortable and I love the colors. The restaurant was small, and there was not much to the place. Parking was easy. This place was located towards the end of a strip mall next to a subway and it wasn’t too busy at the time we got here.

Our food came out quickly, and was very fresh with a lot of flavor. They provided a jalapeño sauce that was spicy and amazing. And they gave us fresh bead before our meal.

My son knew right away that he wanted the ceviche and ordered it. I had the chicken and my husband had the steak. All of our food was cooked perfect, my chicken may have been a little overcooked but it tasted great.

Prices were very reasonable, and they gave us a lot of food and with a friendly service. I will...

First time visiting, no one really spoke to us at first. Then Alicia approached us, she was our server & was the nicest and most patient person. She was so accommodating. We only speak a little Spanish and we communicated with her easily. The atmosphere was pleasant with good music playing in the background. Other patrons were not friendly, but we were really only there for the food. It was delicious, hot in temperature, on the expensive side, but worth it and fresh!! Felt like we were eating at someone’s home, the food was so good!! It was a wonderful treat for my husband & I. We truly will make this a place we visit again.

We ate: Chaufa de Carne fried rice, Ceviche - Leche de Tigre, Picante de Camarones in hot garlic sauce. (Not sure if we spelled it right, but we left pictures...