La Bodeguita Del Medio - Palo Alto

Unfortunately, I have to give this restaurant one star. I've had Cuban food in both Miami and LA, and this place was so far off the mark that there's no comparison. The croquettas had nothing but potatoes in them. The $16 shrimp ceviche was the size of ateacup. The yuca fries were $8 for 6 tiny, not-crispy-at-all pieces. The pork chunks were extremely dry. The only saving gracewas a decent, but not exciting, ropa vieja. The flavor profiles in all dishes was mediocre at best. I could do better watching ayoutube tutorial. Cherry on the top? 5% charge (yes percent) for eating in the restaurant and minimum 18% tip on their defaulttip options. Lol, no.

I used to adore this restaurant for years as a vegetarian. However, when I transitioned to a vegan diet, I hadn't visited in quite a while. I decided to give it another chance during the pandemic and was pleasantly surprised to find a few delicious vegan options on the menu. The drinks were also fantastic and authentic. The atmosphere is always cool and the staff is excellent.

Dragged my Cuban husband here for happy hour, will not ever return, because the food is not of good quality. Also, for those looking for authentic Cuban food, this is not it. After trying their too salty foods, we puffed up, our eyes are very puffy like when you eat high sodium ramen late at nite . It was very empty at around 4, but guess they fill up later, because we weretold we have to vacate our table by 5:30 pm. The server really pushed the brand new cocktail that he said was so new, it wasn'teven on the menu, so I gave it a try. It was a watery orange juice. We ordered two items from the happy hour menu chicharronesand calamari and from the regular menu the croquetas, empanadas, and yuca fries. We did specify no beans ????we are alwaysgetting, what you're Cuban and you don't eat beans? What you're Asian and you don't eat rice? Server decided we were just goingto have the empanadas plain, even though I tried twice to tell him we did want the purple cabbage slaw that comes with theempanadas, just not the black bean salsa or coconut sauce we don't like coconut meat/milk/flavor, although we do like freshcoconut water . The calamari was so incredibly salty, tiny and dry, possibly freezer burn. The amount of salt coating thecalamari burned our mouth, there was just so much salt. The yuca fries were not fried crisp, but soft and chewy. All the sauceswere mayo but the yuca fries came with a thin bbq sauce that tasted like watered down mexican chipotle. The empanadas were verypiggy, I could not eat them due to the smell. It kind of looked like a wet mushy, ropa vieja stuffing. My husband braved therancid manteca odor, tried it and said it was mushy, very salty, and he got some chunks of pure fat. The chicharrones arrivedalong with lemon wedges that we would have liked with the calamari. Rubbery dark pinkish meat, not as salty, would not describethis as chicharrón but as fried pork cutlet pieces. We flagged one of the many employees to can

The Seafood Ajiaco was tasty, featuring a creamy sauce with mussels, shrimp, and lobster tails.

I was pleasantly surprised by the wide variety of food at this restaurant. They offer a great selection of seafood and chicken dishes. The J.S.P.M drink is one of the best choices. The quality of service is a major highlight at this place. If you love seafood, this is a must-visit spot for authentic Cuban cuisine and excellent service. I highly recommend trying the Caribbean curry, as the spice level is perfectly balanced.