Message from La Paloma Mexican Restaurant

Authentic Mexican Food
  • Take Out & Catering
  • Traditional Mexican Cuisine
  • Tasty Margaritas

Run by third generation restaurateurs, La Paloma restaurant has pleased customers with exciting new and traditional Mexican dishes since 1977. La Paloma's colorfully accented interior is filled with loyalists who get what they want: good food, lots of it, at moderate prices.

MarkerLa Paloma Mexican Restaurant

(408) 247-0990

2280 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95050

Editorial Description by Citysearch
Traditional and new Mexican cuisine since 1977, plus specialty drinks, margaritas and weekday happy hour with free appetizers.
Rated 8.7 out of 10 by Citysearch.

3 Reviews of La Paloma Mexican Restaurant in Santa Clara

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Great Little Place  3 Star Rating - Satisfactory

This is a great little palce with some great mexican food. The service is great and the menu is really simple, but overall you will have a great meal and a great time

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uncaring staff  1 Star Rating - Unsatisfactory

food was good, service not bad. the one thing was the plates were so hot that my daughter got a second degree burn from it. they do say the plates are hot but not to the point that it causes physical damage. notified the manager and he didn't care. basically saying so what

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Mexican Food in a soothing Environment  5 Star Rating - World class

Location - Its on a busy location of elcamino real, which I think is good. I guess it gets more and more people coming in. Parking is a little difficult to get especially during the weekends.

Food- This is the best mexican food I have had so far. I usually order the chicken fajitas. The chicken was tender and fresh, not overcooked or dry. The tortillas were steaming hot. All the other items on the menu are yummy.
The thing I liked best was that they went a little mild on the cream, cheese and all the heavy stuff that goes with it. I have noticed other mexican restaurants trying to make the dish rich with sourcream , butter etc. I am more inclined towards healthy eating outside and since I am a big fan of Mexican food, I found what I was looking for at LaPaloma -a healthy mexican food.

Their color scheme reminds me of indian village colors (I am from India). When you step in, the wall colors and the ambience takes you to a traditional mexican village.

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5 Reviews by Citysearch: (read all 13 reviews on Citysearch)

Not up to expectations. I suggest skipping this place. 1 Star Rating - Unsatisfactory

Read the great reviews on here and drove right over for dinner the other night. Long story short, I wouldn't spend my money there again. The place is "traditional" Mexican in appearance and a bit dirty looking. The floors are carpeted and likely are the reason for the slight odor as you walk into the place. The food was bland and didn't do it for me. About the only thing I actually enjoyed was the free salsa. And I suppose the water wasn't too bad.

Pros: Salsa
Cons: Restaurant odor, bland food, dirty appearance
Posted 02/08/08 at 3:23pm

Good meal at an affordable price 4 Star Rating - Very good

The staff is friendly and the food enjoyable. I usually order the tostada or tacos and have not been dissappointed. Sometimes the restaurant is pretty busy in the evening and may require a few minute wait. The margharitas are quite tasty too.

Pros: Very good food at an affordable price, great margharitas
Cons: sometimes crowded in the evening, tight parking
Posted 12/18/07 at 11:45pm

Errr... 1 Star Rating - Unsatisfactory

La Paloma is really very mediocre Mexican food. I consider myself to be a huge fan of Mexican food and so upon realizing how popular La Paloma seems to be, I wanted to give it a try. I ordered some kind of cheese enchilada thing and it was VERY heavy and EXTREMELY salty and just generally bore no resemblance, in either palatability or presentation to other, better enchiladas I've had at numerous establishments in the Bay Area , all over California and Mexico itself . The rice was bland and the beans had an unusual, unidentifiable texture. The service was decent and the restaurant itself is clean and comfortable, but the food is severely lacking. I ate there with three other people, and they all had similar opinions to mine regarding the fare. My first thought when it was all said and done was that La Paloma is a restaurant that would be enjoyed by people who don't like or haven't tried real Mexican food. Upon reading others of these reviews, I realized I was right when I noticed that some people have used Chevy's as the standard by which to base their comparisons of what good Mexican food is.

Try La Paloma if you're dying of curiosity or happen to find yourself there through no choice of your own (i.e. a family dinner, lunch meeting or date) but otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it.

Pros: Good service, clean.
Cons: Food's not great.
Posted 07/09/07 at 1:25pm

Good enchilladas and big portions 5 Star Rating - World class

Tried this place at lunch with a friend. The portions are good and the food was delicious. Some of the best mexican food I've had in California. Forget Chevy's this place is good home cooked mexican food. The chips and salsa were good. My friend from New Mexico liked it too. I want to try the lunch buffet sometime!

Pros: Good Mexican for not much money
Cons: Parking can be difficult on friday night
Posted 04/14/07 at 1:18pm

La Paloma Service 1 Star Rating - Unsatisfactory

We waited twenty five minutes for our waitress finally we just got up and left would not
recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Pros: none
Cons: Bad Service
Posted 04/14/07 at 12:51pm