Paloma — Restaurant in Shaker Heights

Wow! This is not your average taco joint. They have somehow elevated the Mexican taco to something heavenly with very unique offerings, combinations and high quality ingredients. The chicken wing appetizer had 4 huge chicken wings with a great sweet & spicy sauce. Our entrees were four different tacos (comes in an order of 3 & sides are extra). We really enjoyed the beef short ribs, fajitas & lamb tacos. All were SOOOO good and so fresh and flavorful!

Prices are higher than other Mexican food, but we didn’t mind because the quality was top notch — including hand made tortillas. The chips were warm, crispy and flavorful, but i do think they are overpriced at $13 as the portion is quite small; note to owner: skip the queso dip, offer more chips & charge $8 or at mist $10.

The space itself was open and inviting and they have a nice front patio that will be great for people watching come warmer weather. But if I would suggest they (1) upgrade the dining chairs from hard metal unpadded ones (that delicious food deserves a comfortable butt) & put in a few more booths and (2) add 3-4 industrial ceiling fans to move around some air as it was a bit stuffy and hot, which would also add interesting ambiance. BTW, the main hostess who seated us was very helpful & knowledgeable and service by a newly hired server was flawless. You can tell this is a place that cares - cares about its food quality, its customer service and it’s employees! We will definitely be back, maybe...

The waitress rolled her eyes at me and told me to “deal with it” because I waited a long time for the food to come. Everyone who came in after me was served before me. I’m pretty sure they forgot I was there, but what bothers me is the rude behavior more than the slow service. That’s not how good service is done and not professional at all. The manager came and told me I’m a liar and it didn’t happen when I shared my concern that the waitress rolled her eyes. I paid and left. Food is bad, not that the managent care to ask. Service is worse. It’s truly embarrassing to bring guests here wanting a good time and the waitress and manager to roll their eyes and be rude. The funny part: read the owner’s reply to this review. She responds aggressively, so let that speak for itself. Hope she doesn’t change it, as it’s only fair for others to see how they’ll be spoken to. And not that it justifies their behavior, nobody at my party said they liked the food. We actually shared it disappointed us amongst each other and didn’t finish our plates, so not sure why the manager is lying faking we said we liked it. Even if we did (which we don’t), it doesn’t excuse the horrible service or make up for the...

Addendum to prior review: Paloma recently underwent a renovation and change to their dining scheme. They have changed to ‘fine dining’ and now only serve their taco menu at their bar. My husband and I recently went to check out their change in menu for happy hour/dinner and sat at the bar. The food is still their normal standard of delicious. However, service is very slow and took about 20 minutes for us to receive menus, and we never actually did receive the happy hour menu. I will qualify this by saying they are short staffed as they only have one bartender staffing for about 12 guests. The main complaint though, was that in the end our bill for 6 tacos, two cocktails, and two side dishes came out to be $108 for two people. It was surprising for us because as we were going to sign the check we almost missed the 20% automatic gratuity that was applied. We feel that this should not have be automatically included as we were a party of two and seated at the bar.

Prior review: We went for dinner and brunch recently and had some really amazing tacos! Some of our favorites and the pig face and birria tacos! Definitely recommend doing a mix and match with the tacos so you can try several...