Los Paisas Restaurant — Restaurant in Pineville

If you're Colombian, you probably rate this place much higher. They are very active in the Colombian community and have a great ambiance for Colombian cultural and sporting events. My wife is Colombian. I am Mexican. My rating of this restaurant is based solely on the food. I have been married to my wonderful wife for 20 years. During that time, I have eaten at many Colombian restaurants and have eaten my in-laws' and my wife's food, so I feel I have a very good understanding of Colombian food. My wife wanted to go to this restaurant to watch Colombia play in the Copa final. It was understandably full to capacity and they actually had to have outdoor seating to accommodate the overflow crowd. I thought that was wonderful, but it was 98 degrees that day, so we decided to order to go and watch the game at home. We ordered a picada paisa, frijoles, and 9 empanadas. My thoughts on the food are as follows:

The empanadas: The empanadas were ok. The filling was flavorful and well seasoned, but I found the masa to be bland and dry. There are a few other places in the area with much better empanadas. Overall, 5/10

Frijoles: Meh. The frijoles had a decent flavor, but were undercooked and the broth was very watery overall, which is an indicator of being undercooked as the broth becomes thicker when they are cooked properly. 5/10

Picada: Also meh. Let's start with the good. I've become accustomed to store bought items in bandejas and picadas, so I don't include arepas or morcilla in any negative effect on my ratings. That being said, the morcilla was good and clearly sourced from a very good provider, even if they were slightly overcooked. The sausage was flavorful and cooked appropriately. The chicken cutlets were probably the best item in the picada. I'm not sure if they make them there, or buy them, but they were well seasoned and very juicy even though they were very thin. This is not easy to accomplish as chicken dries out quickly and is easy to overcook. The chicharron was good. It was cooked and seasoned well, but I was disappointed in the amount provided as I'm used to more of it in a bandeja or picada.

And now, the bad. The skirt steak: This was a very poor quality of meat. I found it to be very greasy and not very well seasoned. The shrimp: The shrimp tasted very shrimpy and fishy. This is a sign of poor quality, or of old inventory that wasn't properly refrigerated. They were cooked properly and of decent size, which accents the poorness of the product even more. The steak: Overcooked and lacking of any percievable seasoning. I get it, steak is expensive. All the more reason to make sure it is well seasoned and properly cooked. Mini potatoes and tostones: over cooked, dry, and lacking of salt.

Picada paisa, 3/10

For the price, I was very disappointed in the food quality overall.

In summary, I love Colombia. This beautiful country gave me the love of my life and my 2 beautiful children. I enjoy Colombian food. I did not enjoy this restaurant's food and the great ambiance isn't enough for me to want to ever spend money here again when there are so many better options out there. I don't write this review with any malice or ill-intent. I honestly hope the owners take this critique to heart and improve their product. The food is the only thing holding them back from being a top 3 spot for Colombians and Colombian events. Also, I wish they had a...

On arrival we were served straight away on a Friday night. My hubby and I have been customers for the past 5 year's and they never disappoint us. As other reviews are saying, portions are enormous, you will definitely get your money's worth!

Christian was our server for the evening. I highly recommend asking for him. He is very informative, Christian took his time with us as well as other customer's to make sure requests were met. He also complimentary my husband a tres leche cake being that it was his birthday! Thank you so much Christian! He is a very good asset to the restaurant!

You will get complimentary salsa verde. For our starter, we ordered the tostones that came with homemade fresh guacamole(definitely try this). Me and hubby had a main meal for each. He ordered bandeja paisa($13.85) which comes with rice, beans, sunny-side up egg, half of an avacado, colombian sausage, fried steak, fried pork(chicharon), and round white corn tortilla. The dish itself is a mother load of food. It was impossible to finish at the table. As for me, I ordered the camarones al ajillo($13.50). You will get a generous amount of jumbo shrimp mixed with creamy buttery, garlic sauce served with a salad, rice, and 2 pieces of green plantain's. The staff was lovely and provided us a box to take away when we asked. We will...

Hey, native Colombian here. The service has gotten worse over time, and so have the portions. I remember the first several years I went and ordered the Bandeja Paisa, they actually gave you better portions of sweet plantains.

I brought this up when they gave me 1 piece of one plantain, and then again gave me one after another visit with a friend I thought would love Los Paisas based on my lengthy experience with them, but it was just an embarrassment to have talked about how good the food was and how generous the servings were. It wasn't. It was less for the same price and they refused to give me 2 more, just 2 more plantains.

I told them they used to give more and what happened, and they said they never used to give more, which is an insult to my intelligence, considering how often I used to eat there. It cost a ridiculous price for extra plantains when I can buy 3 entire plantains for about a little over a dollar at home. That's a criminal markup for them to only give 1 piece of plantain and a sorry couple spoonfuls of rice.

I'm Colombian and grew up in Colombia and used to love coming here and reliving an authentic experience, but they've ruined that experience completely. It's a shame considering how much I used to look forward to...