La Paloma

Very good food and service. staff was very courteous and fast. I had a take home of «Albondigas soup’ and it was excellent. I would recommend this place anytime.

Came here tonight for dinner. Was a little hesitant based off mixed reviews but it turned out good. I got 2 cheese enchiladas with rice and beans. Everything tastes good. Beans were a little hard but oh well. My husband got chicken tacos and said he liked it but felt like maybe it could have been a little better.
Overall we liked this place, service was great, food was good and we’ll definitely come back.

I waddled to my car after eating here. Old style family restraint love the ambiance. The food Is too delicious to not finish everything on your plate. I ordered the enchiladas suizas delicious sauce tastes and the texture of a gravy defiantly going back a lot.

So I was working near the area and see this big yellow building claiming to be a Mexican Restaurant.
Ordered 2 burritos… carnitas and asada. They were horrible. Nothing authentic in the taste. Refried beans in a burrito is a big «No No». Gave it a pastey taste and just gave me dry mouth. The worst part the tab for 2 burritos was $ 24. $ 12 for a burrito that doesn’t give my taste buds an orgasmic experience is a catastrophe. If they can’t make a good burrito then the rest must be terrible. It all starts with the basics. They failed in that department. Santa Clara apparently has no 5 star Mexican reataurants. Extremely dissapointed.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! You guys saved the day for me Christmas eve while I was not feeling well and were able to come up with 4 lbs of juicy awesome chicken and already chopped onions that you took out of your order for your salsa for the day for me to pick up right away! You where all so sweet every single employee that came through the lobby was so nice and said Merry Christmas with big smiles even while working Christmas Eve, you could tell they were all happy and okay with being at work until 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Which makes me think management is probably pretty professional and on top of their employees needs. My family and I will be back for many more meals! THANKS AGAIN GUYS!!! Heather!

I really liked this place a lot. My friend and I had a lovely lunch here and the service was great. Staff was friendly and attentive without hovering. I had a fantastic taco salad and the portions are HUGE! It was two more meals for me. :)
I will definitely be back.

I don’t know why people hate on this place. Their food is amazing. If u in a hurry and ur looking for faster service why r u coming here in the first place? And the people who write multiple bad reviews… so basically u came here once, didn’t like it and then decided to keep coming back? Alrighty then. I will always eat here and have been for years. Love ur food and ur service La Paloma! Keep up the great work.

Ok food, but service was slow. Nobody was there to greet guests and it took awhile for someone to acknowledge us. It’s not authentic mexican since I didn’t see anything like mole, exotic meats or non fried corn tortilla tacos. BUT the price for quantity isn’t bad.
I chose 2 item plate with shredded beef tamale and taco. Frijoles, rice, tamale, and lettuce were just meh. I was disappointed in my taco. I did not expect a fried corn tortilla taco. The cheese tasted like taco bell’s shredded cheese, but taco itself wasn’t good. There were no meatless options! The «corn cake» my combo came with tasted like sweet corn meal. It wasn’t the actual corn cake… just a scoop of… stuff.
Bf’s seafood plate was also just ok. Cheap seafood covered in white sauce. Parking near the large bin is cramped… skip this if you want authentic. Taco bell taste better than this place.

Pros:
+ Good food. Some dishes better than other.
+ Good margaritas (esp. mango one)
+ Good salads
+ Generous portions
+ Great service
+ Have not tried their desserts, but they chocolate ice cream with whipped cream looked appealing!
+ Has parking
+ Kid friendly
+ Good for small groups and family style
Cons:
— A bit slow (if you are in a rush)… But I like it… more relaxing :)
— Veggie pieces are a bit chunky. I wish they were more finely cut.
— Smooth homemade Guacamole — in this case, I prefer the chunky one :)

My boyfriend and I found a coupon for this restaurant in the Entertainment book and so thought we give it a try. We really enjoyed the food. My boyfriend had a salmon tostada and I had the chicken mole enchiladas. Yummy!!! My boyfriend loved the tropical mango salsa that was layered on top of the salmon. I loved the mole sauce that was on top of my enchiladas. Amazing flavor– the mole sauce which is made from chocolate was sweet and mild.
The entrée plates are huge and fill you up. I was very hungry before I ate and afterwards was very satisfied. This is definitely a great choice of a restaurant if you crave mole sauce. I cannot say enough about how delicious the sauce was as well as the rest of the food, tender shredded chicken, flavorful rice, creamy re fried beans– it could not have been better… can I say it was… perfect?!? I really hope we get the chance to go back there again as I hope to also try their lunch buffet!
Pros:
–delicious tasty food
–generous portions
–great daily deals on food
–has a e-​newsletter
–nice staff
–comfortable seating
–reasonably priced
Cons:
–Nothing!

Awesome food, good ambience and seating arrangement, nice service.
From the outside, I never could gauge that its a good restaurant until I stepped in. [Who picks bright yellow as the wall color?] However, the ambience inside the restaurant is really good.
Delicious food is served hot! If you study at Santa Clara University, this is a good option for lunch/​dinner.

Their Cadillac Margarita is good, they have mango shrimp quesadillas, and they have shrimp spinach enchiladas and chilies Rellenos was also good!!!
And of course service was always good!!!

Ugh.
Another one bites the dust.
Ask any Santa Claran for last 30 years for a good Mexican restaurant, and La Paloma would be shouted across bar stools. From complete local strangers. And deservedly so.
The food here used to be great, but has greatly fallen in quality in recent years. I’m over La Paloma, 2 stars for the bar and decent drinks. Unfortunately the bar isn’t enough to get me back.

We have been visiting La Paloma for some time now, and have always enjoyed the food and service. We decided to throw our small wedding reception dinner there, and are just beyond impressed by the customer service. They stayed in constant communication with us through the whole wedding process, set up the room perfectly, and even set up all the decorations for us so that when we arrived, everything was ready to go. They moved the night along from taking drink and dinner orders, managing the champagne toast, and serving dessert. Great service, kept water and chips filled, but also stayed out of the way. I also appreciated the fact that the waiters were bilingual. Overall, it was better than anything we could ask for! Thank you Cindy & Rudy!

I have driven by this place many times when running errands and finally got to try it out this past weekend. For me, my first visits mean everything and always leave a long lasting impression. I left La Paloma very pleased and excited to come back with my friends and family. I was very satisfied and impressed with the food, drinks and the customer service. My friend ordered the chile relleno, which she raved about. I had the chicken quesadilla with a side of their really spicy home made salsa that was made with 5 different peppers. We sat in the dinning area on the side where there bar is at, so we had the opportunity to mingle with Fribrado, the bartender on duty. He along with the rest of the staff were beyond friendly and very attentive to our needs. This definitely made our experience a great one. The best part was the drinks. I find that some restaurants make some pretty sweet or watered down drinks. However, here you can expect to get your drink made the way it was meant to be drank. I highly recommend this place If you love some good authentic mexican food and some pretty refreshing alcoholic beverages.

YUM! I had lunch here for the first time with my family today and loved it! I was excited to try it as my family kept talking about La Paloma, their food and their service.
The place looks really nice inside. I really like the décor and the colors. It was very homey and reminded me of one of the restaurants I visited in Las Cruces, NM.
The chips and salsa were very good! I loved that the chips were fresh and warm. The salsa had the perfect amount of spice. Not too mild nor too hot, but just right. I loved the horchata especially with the cinnamon sprinkled on top.
My food was delicious as well! I ordered the one item combination plate and got the chicken enchilada. I was so hungry I almost ordered two items but decided on one since my mom said she always gets full on one item. I glad I ordered one because I got full and didn’t finish my beans lol. The enchilada was pretty big!
I would definitely come here again. All of the staff were very attentive, friendly and our food delicious. :)

So the thing about La Paloma is that its just ok, and the majority of people that represent this place in their reviews or even by just being regular patrons, are die hard Santa Clara natives. Most «Santa Clara Natives» have been coming to La Paloma their whole lives and have probably never ventured off to find other Mexican Restaurants. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that either as in my opinion La Paloma is a fine «fine dining» Mexican establishment. In other words it doesn’t suck.
Most the time you can find La Paloma on Groupon or
, so be on the lookout for some money saving deals before you head over.
If in the Santa Clara area and looking for a decent sit down Mexican place, come here.

My family comes her often for birthday dinners as it is one of the only Mexican restaurants near my grandmas house.
Vibe– is pueblo inspired décor and has a very homey vibe to it.
Food– is always super hot or super cold, nothing in between! My favorite is the mango quesadilla on the appetizer menu and their house margaritassss! :) the rest of the food is average taste and quality, nothing special.
Service– is fast and friendly servers. They always make sure you have enough chips and water to fill up on before taking on the main course.
Drinks– probably the best part– they make their adult beverages strong and tasty.
Overall, nothing spectacular, just your average family owned restaurant that has been her for years!

La Paloma is a nice family type restaurant with quite the speedy service. Came here on a Saturday night at 6pm and was out by 7:10pm. The parking lot is incredibly small, so plan to possibly have to park on the street.
I got a chicken burrito, which was served with beans & rice. The rice wasn’t cooked all the way but otherwise I was happy with my meal.

I’ve come here a handful of times. It’s a great deal if you have a Groupon. Otherwise, I wouldn’t pay full price.
We called in 1 hour ahead of arriving and made reservations for a party of 5. We were seated in the small room to the left of the entrance because there was a large party going on in the main seating area.
Our server was attentive. Water glasses filled promptly, chips and salsa replaced swiftly. The food is mediocre. Most of the table ordered the 2 item combination plate. My grandma ordered the steak fajitas. We all left full & satisfied.
It should be noted, this restaurant is categorized as «tex-​mex», so don’t expect it to be 100% authentic Mexican food! I would choose this place over Chevys, though.