La Palapa — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

Made the 50 min trip from Gbg to try it, and would gladly do it again. My 6 yr old son and I (best bro date ever,) started with what I THOUGHT was just chips and guacamole. Then a cart showed up with fresh avocados in a Molcajete (mortar & pestle,) and was asked what ingredients and how much of each for a customized guac….TBH I was expecting bagged guac most restaurants use, even cubed frozen avocados, nope….

Having this to start out has done 2 things, one great….one bad. 1. My son may have gotten over his dislike of “potatoes” (what he calls tomatoes, I’ve tried, I’m letting him run with calling them whatever he wants, it makes me smile.) 2. By the time we got home, he wanted a snack. and asked for guac, but was not happy with the Aldi’s guac in my fridge, he wanted fresh made in my Molcajete that’s sat on my counter as “decoration” ever since my old roommate left it behind 7 years ago. 🤦🏻‍♂️ Well played La Palapa.

I also added a chicken Tamale with Green Chili sauce on one side, and Mole on the other, sadly, it was gone before my son could share much I did not partake in any cocktails being with my son, but the ones I saw made, and the drink list was beyond your typical Mexican Cocktail List made for yinzers, and hope to return to enjoy another time.

His Quesadilla was way beyond a typical kids quesadilla with melted blended cheese and a tortilla, with enough flavored chicken and flavor, that Dad ate the leftovers as soon as we got home and was impressed.

I had the Mocajete with chicken, steak, shrimp, peppers, rice, beans, etc. I didn’t leave hungry, but smelling the leftovers on the way home made sure it didn’t last to going in the fridge.

Because we were fortunate enough to come during their celebration of De Los Muertos, we had Pan de Muerto and hot chocolate for dessert.

We were seated in the enclosed patio so I and he could not take much in as far as the amazing decor of the everyday decor, the Alibrijes (neon animals from Coco Disney film for parents.) Or the tasteful and proud Ofendra altars for lost loved ones, but we were able to visit them, and write the names of a loved one on a butterfly before leaving. On the other hand, we were able to enjoy a soccer match broadcast with a legion of fans, apologies for not knowing either team involved, but the atmosphere was exciting.

The only negative, that I have, if it is one, is there as far too much that I want to try. I had the special soup, but the other two available I want to try. I didn’t even touch any of the specialty dishes, or the tamales, or the flan, or the burritos, or the seafood,. It’s great, because I and my son could’ve easily had any item off the menu and enjoyed, including the beef tongue. I cannot wait to go back, and come warm weather season, if we have it again in Pittsburgh, that’ll be the best hour long drive windows down for some of the best food I’ve had...

Loved it so much, I wanted to share my Yelp! review here too. My family had a small birthday gathering for my sister's birthday here, and it was amazing. Everyone was wonderful, from our server(s), to the manager. The mariachi band was an unexpected pleasure, and kindly came up and serenaded us in both Spanish and English, singing Las Mañanitas, and variations of Happy Birthday, accompanied by violins, guitar(s), and trumpet. (Yes, we all tipped them too!) It was wonderful! The food was possibly the best food I've had anywhere, ever. I was immensely impressed. I had the fajitas special, and wow, 10/10. The corn tortillas were perfect, absolutely perfect. It's amazing how easy those are to mess up at other restaurants. The rice, so good I nearly dropped my fork. Most places, the rice is the weakest dish, passable, however at La Palapa, it's shockingly good. The mixed meats were again, perfect; shrimp, steak, and chicken, all cooked to perfection. The peppers and onions were tender, and neither under nor over done. Pinto beans, well, they're pinto beans, hard to mess up, but still delicious all by themselves. (Or slathered on top of my fajita fillings, but I'm probably weird that way. lol) When I asked for a certain desert, our amazing server brought a beautiful substitute slice of tequila cake because they were out of what I'd requested. When I explained that sadly, I couldn't eat it because of the wheat, she very graciously allowed us to box up the cake for my sister, and gave me an insanely delicious flan de coco, without charging for the cake. The decorations are exquisite, and for sale! It was all beautiful to look at, and very tempting to buy much of it! The whole experience was something unexpected, and almost magical. I loved every second, and more importantly, I think my sister had a wonderful time on her birthday. La Palapa instantly made my, "favorite places to eat," list tonight. I'm looking forward to trying more of their menu soon!

(On a side note, I strongly dislike most cilantro. I'm one of those odd people for whom cilantro usually tastes like soap, or stink bugs. When I saw that my dinner was covered in it, I got a little worried. However, I tried it, and to my surprise, the cilantro they use at La Palapa actually tasted GOOD to me. That rarely...

EDIT: Went back again, but this time takeout. I got enchiladas and empanadas while my dining partner got the barbacoa and empanadas. The chicken in all of my dishes were pretty dry. Without the generous servings of sauces, it would be pretty bad. The barbacoa was absolutely bland. I thought it would be better takout but the food was not good at all. Downgraded from two to one star.

I made a reservation and arrived on time. However my dining partner and I had to stand waiting for 5 minutes before being seated. Not a big deal because it was busy but we made a reservation and during that time, I saw workers glancing over and two people came over but did not acknowledge us. The manager came over eventually and seated us.

We saw everyone around us had these rings with hot sauce placed on their table immediately upon seating, except us. We were wondering if that is just for people who are drinking but there was a table next to us that received it and they weren't drinking as well.

While waiting, the two tables next to us were seated and the servers approached them before us. In fact, if the people sitting next to us didn't say we were seated before them, we would have been skipped over the whole night. I don't think the manager told the server that we were seated there.

My dining partner and I were very close to walking out twice during our visit. There are many other local restaurants that need business and have great food.

We eventually recieved our appetizers and entrees and the food was delicious and reasonably priced. If I ever return, it will be take out or delivery. Just a bad...