La Palapa — Restaurant in Redwood Valley

So, my folks and I have been to this restaurant a few times in the past, given that we live literally about a minute up the road from the place, and most of the time, the staff was friendly and prompt, the food was great, and our needs were met without issue. I don't know what happened, all of a sudden, but the last two or three times we've been, none of that was true.

Tonight, for example: We came in to a mostly empty restaurant, not even the height of the dinner rush. About 6:20-ish, give or take a few minutes. We were seated, had menus and drinks in short order, and the chips were on the table in about as much time as I had to blink. And that was about the point where the service took a sharp nose dive through the floor.

Our waitress did not show up again after our initial interaction, until my mother, an hour later, FINALLY got the ticket tossed at her with all the interest one might find in a snobby teen. No refills were offered at any point after the drinks hit the table, which had the lovely effect of putting me off my food because my throat was too dry to finish what I was eating. We finished our food easily fifteen minutes after it arrived, but we're left to sit for forty-five minutes with no acknowledgement from our waitress (or, really, anybody). My sister and I finally got fed up and went out to the car at my mother's urging, and my mother had to then:

A) Flag down the waitress for a box for her leftovers

B) Ask about our to-go items that we had ordered an hour ago and had yet to show up

And when those finally happened, it wasn't even the waitress who brought the items. It was the lady who had been helping in the kitchen.

My mother told me quite plainly, "If I had had exact change for our ticket, they would have gotten exact change and not a cent more."

Even other tables were being ignored, as a lady who was seated at a booth around the corner from us had to come to the front counter near our table and directly ask one of the staff for something that had yet to have happened for her group.

I'm of a more forgiving mindset than my folks tend to be when service is bad like this, but I'll be blunt: if the service is ever this crappy again, I will happily take my business elsewhere. Even if it means driving all the way into Ukiah to do so. These guys are getting two stars for the food, and...

What a gem! We were on a road trip through the area and stopped at La Palapa. I almost never write Google reviews, but I want to encourage others to patronize this little place as well. I can only review what we had: burrito de chile relleno, burrito de carne asada, and the chips. The chips! They are so good -- definitely made in-house. The burritos were fantastic, and much better than we get at home in southern California. SoCal thinks it owns Mexican food, but this was much, much more interesting and flavorful. Be sure to order a salsa a la diabla on the side -- I happened to notice it on the back of the menu, and was a great compliment to La...

We order food a lot from this establishment and always order food wanting a plate as we eat at the watering hole next door. 50% of the time they will get it right. Yesterday, they did not and didn’t give utensils. My partner went to get utensils and asked why our food was not served on plates. He was told that I did not ask for plates. Very untrue statement. Awhile later a woman from the restaurant came and told my partner to not come back. Very bad way to do business! Even with all the mistakes they make, we were still supporting their business....