Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant

It was good… but now it’s CLOSED

I heard this place closed, does anyone kknow. I love this place. Best emxican food in the area.

Very authentic Mexican food. Highly recommend tacos

I have lived here for 8 years and have been searching for good Mexican food.
Found it!
Our wait person was super friendly. The place is very clean and food is very fresh and authentic.

Experienced La Palma for the first time today and my life has been chained. Those $ 1.50 tacos are amazing! The horchata is incredible! I will be going back! P. S. despite what Unilocal says, they are open!!!

I stopped by La Palma on a lazy afternoon to put another notch in my belt trying to eat at all of the most authentic Mexican restaurants in Pinellas (see my list growing weekly).
La Palma is hidden away in the Publix Shopping Plaza on the southeast corner of East Bay and Belcher in Largo. If you see the Sushi Spot/​Noodle World, it’s just down to the left of it. The fairly plain, narrow exterior storefront is deceiving. I’m guessing it’s just about 20 feet wide maybe? Once inside the décor is «standard Mexican restaurant», but the space is colorful and very clean, and surprisingly holds about 35 seats.
The menu is fairly extensive with all the standards you’ll find at a good, authentic Mexican eatery, including breakfast with a couple of versions of huevos (eggs), huaraches (a good-​sized fried masa base for meat topped refried beans, avocado, cheese, lettuce and cream), and sopes which are a smallish tortilla with either ground beef, chicken, pastor (marinated pork) or chorizo (Mexican sausage), topped with refried beans, lettuce, cheese, and cream.
The remainder of the menu is full of authentically prepared items like enchiladas, empanadas and tamales, which I hope to get back to try soon. But I was here for a taco taste test, and ordered up a pair with carnitas (pork) and longaniza (a sausage a tad spicier than chorizo). And just to remind you that La Palma serves up authentic Mexican fare, in addition to tacos with steak, chicken, and ground beef, there are more exotic fillings like cow head & tongue, and pig stomach.
Freshly made chips and a good red salsa arrived quickly and paved the way for my two tacos which came with the standard cilantro and lime, along with a rich, green salsa with just the right combination of heat and flavor. I found the longaniza good, and the carnitas even better.
Service throughout the meal was great, friendly and attentive, and value was excellent as the tacos were $ 1.50/each, on the low side for taquerias in the area.
La Palma was a nice, cool, quiet place to relax on a warm sunny afternoon. The Mexican beers were cold, the food was tasty, hot and spicy, and the staff was very friendly. An all around excellent meal in my book. The rating on my Pinellas taqueria scale is:
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 4
Food: 4
Value: 5

I really enjoyed my lunch here today. Its a small place with authentic Mexican. The only thing better than the food are the prices. I will be back for sure!

I was very disappointed after reading all the good reviews about this restaurant. Having just moved to the area, being a lover of Mexican food, I immediately wanted to find a good authentic Mexican restaurant. However my experience here was horrible.
For starters the server spilled drinks on me with little apology. But I understand those things happen so i didn’t let it bother me. I ordered the chicken quesadillas and what arrived in front of me looked more like chicken tacos. But the worst part was the fact it was the most bland Mexican ever. The quesadillas looked like the were made with plain canned chicken, Colby jack cheese, and a bit of tomato. My friend ordered 3 hard beef tacos two of which the beef had carrots and potatoes mixed in it.
The only thing worth mentioning to eat there was the medium salsa which was a green based salsa that had great flavor and spice.

Atmosphere: Umm. Ok. What has Unilocal guided me to here. Small even for a strip-​mall restaurant. Big T.V.‘s featuring Telemundo and (on good nights) soccer. Despite being kinda scary the bathrooms are clean.
Service: Very nice. Friendly enough to put an already edgy tourist at ease and still cater to the large squad of locals who make it a regular spot.
Food: It starts with the chips… Real, homemade, fresh, chips & salsa. As soon as it hit the table I knew it was something special. Tacos were outstanding. (Yet again, wonderfully delicious, home made tortillas) Chicken with the right amount of spice and cojito cheese crumbled on top. The burrito was as big as my head. (Yes, I have a rather bulbous noggin) So good it nearly made me cry in my ice cold beer.
Bottom Line: Not a place to take a 1^st date.(Might scare them a bit) The food though… wow. Not to be missed. You can keep your fancy-​schmancy Americanized Mexican food. This is the real deal. worth your time.

Having lived in southern California for forty years, I think I have a good idea of what superb Mexican food is. And this restaurant has it. The best tamales I’ve had, ever! The carne asada is a grand slam. When you have taco’s don’t sell yourself short, try them Mexican style; which are steamed corn tortillas (the corn tortillas are homemade) meat, cilantro and onions. The carnitas are awesome as well. The chile relleno’s are decent. They’re not bad, I’m just used to a different flavor of sauce. The tres leche’s cake is authentic. We patronize this place at least twice a week. Try it if you’re looking for authentic Michoacan food.

Fantastic mole. This is real mexican food. I can’t wait to go back to try more of the menu.

Not sure what «clean Mexican food» is supposed to mean, but this place is the real deal.
It’s in a strip mall and amazingly unassuming. It looks more like a place the local laborers would come for lunch — but the menu is incredibly expansive and food delicious.
If you’re looking for décor and ambiance keep looking. It’s not dirty or ramshackle by any means, but it’s simply decorated, with some nice colors and basic stuff on the walls.
Here’s my camarones!
What I consider the makings of a good Mexican restaurant:
— run by Mexicans (check)
— excellent chip and salsa (check)
— serves «traditional» beverages (jamaica — CHECK!)
Great for lunch or dinner. Tampa is amazingly short of «good to great» Mexican joints — and this place is one of them.

Really great taqueria, very simply food but delicious. Their hot sauce had a beautiful velvety color to it with earthy tones and a good healthy kick of spice. The rice and beans were good but the rice was still not the best I’ve had. Good service and after buying six tacos, two sides of rice and beans, some mexican soda, and a churro for desert. Everything came out to just a little over $ 20 bucs, very pleased.

I’ve been in this place a few times and they have been consistently good. The salsa and the chips are great, and pretty much any meal that they have on the menu. Tried the chile relleno (stuffed chile), the sopes, the tacos, flautas, carne asada, mole etc. They serve also «aguas frescas» or flavored water (jamaica, tamarindo, and horchata).
The service is good and the people is very friendly.
If you like Mexican food (not Tex-​Mex), this is the place to go.