Hola! Welcome to FoodFriendzy’s first restaurant review! To follow the theme last week of Mexican food, some of the friendz got together to go to a local traditional Mexican restaurant called Las Palmas. Las Palmas is located at 4200 Wade Green Rd NW #164, Kennesaw, GA 30144 and is open 11AM-10PM on weekdays and 11AM-10:30PM on weekends.
There are many things that go into making a Mexican Restaurant great. Categories we will rate are: Chips and Salsa, Atmosphere/Service, and then give an overall score. Therefore, each one of the friendz will go over all of those general options and then review each meal that they ordered. The scores will be out of 5. A 5 is “Best Ever” and a 1 is “Terrible”.
Chips and Salsa
Tyler: First, off if you know me, you know that I love Mexican food. If you don’t, learn a little more about the friendz including me by clicking here. One of my favorite go to snacks is chips and salsa. However, there has to be the right salsa. I like salsa that is not chunky and has a little bit of kick to it. With that being said, the chip also matters! I like a thin and crispy chip, mainly because the thinner it is the less filling it is. That just means I can eat more before getting full!
Alright lets get into the review. Las Palmas’s salsa fit my liking being thin and having just a touch of kick. However, with that being said it was not a salsa that I was shoveling down my mouth. I would give the salsa a score of a 3.6. Better than average, but nothing special.
Next the chips. One of my favorite thing about eating chips from a traditional Mexican restaurant is that they bring them out warm. If there was an affordable tortilla chip warmer out there, you bet I would have one in my apartment. In the meantime, eating out a Mexican restaurants is the only place I can get those warm chips. Las Palmas’s chips aren’t as thin as I would have liked, but other than that they had good flavor and were warm. If the chips were a little thinner they would have been up there in score. I would give the chips a 3.9. Not quite into the incredible chips range, but almost there.
Overall, the chips and salsa earn an overall rating of 3.75. How would you rate it Megan?
Megan: Like Tyler, I prefer a salsa with a little… or a lot of kick to it. Las Palmas, in my opinion, had a pretty good salsa. It wasn’t as spicy as I would have liked, but it was well blended with a good amount of flavor. After eating about a whole side bowl by myself, I would give it a 3.8 out of 5. The chips were not what I usually prefer. They weren’t as thin as most, however, since the salsa was so delicious the thickness of their chips did not really bother me. All in all I would give their chips a 3.5, as they were warm, not too hard, but a little too thick for my liking.
Julie: I prefer my salsa a little spicy but not to the point that my mouth is on fire. Las Palmas’ salsa was the perfect balance for my taste buds. On the other hand, I do enjoy a thick, or chunky, consistency when it comes to salsa. And lime juice is everything in a salsa! So I would have enjoyed the a thicker consistency with a bit more lime. I rate the salsa a 3.5. Unlike Megan, I do not enjoy thin chips. There is nothing worse than having a chip break off mid dip! Las palmas had thick chips but managed to keep them from being hard as a rock. I give the chips 5 stars!
Charis: I was the friend that chose Las Palmas. Let me start by saying, I LOVE Mexican food. It’s one of my top favorite types of foods, so when I go to Mexican restaurants, I have high expectations. I had been to Las Palmas once or twice before, but had never sat down and contemplated the restaurant’s quality, food, service, atmosphere, etc. I was happy to bring my friendz with me!
Chips and salsa; three of my favorite words. The chips and salsa at Las Palmas are fairly good. I wouldn’t say they’re the best I’ve ever had, but they are good. The chips were a little tougher than I would like, and were also not very warm (I like mine fresh and hot). I also enjoy seasoned tortilla chips (similar to those of Tin Lizzy’s), and these were pretty plain. However, the salsa was exquisite. It has a kick to it, is thin, and super tasty. I would say it tasted better than a majority of Mexican Restaurants I’ve been to.
I ate quite a few chips with salsa, so I can’t say I had many issues with them. This being said, overall, I would rate the chips a 3.5 out of 5, and the salsa a 4 out of 5.
Logan: I am an odd friend in the group, I grew up eating chips and sour cream at Mexican restaurants because I am usually a big ole wimp when it comes to spices. I decided to try the salsa out for the sake of the review, and I was very pleased that I took a chance, the chips were crispy and lightly salted and the salsa was very flavorful without being too hot to handle. The sour cream was good as well. I’m not too picky when it comes to chips, but they were about exactly what I would expect at a nice Mexican restaurant. I would give the chips, salsa, and sour cream a 4 out of 5.
Main Dish
Tyler: Fajita Nachos
Yes, I know I am the most basic American ever. Almost every time I go to a Mexican restaurant my go to is steak nachos or “Fajita Nachos”. Nothing on it, but steak, cheese (queso cheese not melted cheese), and sour cream. The only real way to mess this up is to put something on it that I don’t want or to forget to bring me my sour cream (like pictured above). However, I break up my nachos into the queso, chips, and steak.
Lets start with the chips, like above the same chips were used for the nachos (obviously). So to save you from hearing my same take on their chips. The score of their chips is a 3.9.
Moving on to the queso. You are probably thinking to yourself, how can queso be rated?! All queso is good queso. While I am not disagreeing with the latter portion of all queso being good queso, there is one factor that I use to rank queso. That is the jalapeño flavor. There is nothing wrong with straight queso with no jalapeño flavor, however to me the best queso has the kick of jalapeño too it. To each their own though. All queso starts out at a 3.0 as it is all good. Las Palmas’s queso earned a score of a 3.7. There was a little bit of jalapeño flavor, but I want more!
Lastly, the steak. This is probably the most crucial part of the nachos and can sway the rating of the nachos for me. Las Palmas steak was excellent. It had a little crisp to it on the outside of each steak piece. Which to me I love. Also, the steak was juicy and full of flavor. Some steak from Mexican restaurant can be flavorless and feel like you are biting into leather. Not at Las Palmas. The steak on these nachos earn a score of 4.4.
Overall, these Fajita Nachos earn a score of a 4.0. I would definitely go back and order these nachos. Megan, how were your tacos?
Megan: Al Pastor Tacos
Before arriving at the restaurant I was set on ordering Ceviche..if you’ve had it you understand why. However, once I started looking at the menu I decided on their al pastor tacos (pork tacos tops with pineapples) instead. I asked for corn tortillas because they go so well with steak and pork. When I received my tacos and took one bit I was in heaven. Not only was the pork marinated perfectly, but it was cut into small cubes instead of shredded like most Mexican restaurants do with their pork. The pineapples paired amazing with it (of course), and the salsa verde was spicy and oh so flavorful. Without a doubt I would give their al pastor tacos a 4.5 out of 5, as they were the best ones I have had while living in Georgia. If you get the chance to try La Palmas, and you like pork and tacos, give their al pastor tacos a try…you will not be disappointed!
Julie: Loco Rice
The menu here provides many visuals of their most popular dishes, which makes it extremely hard for me to decide. When I saw the image of steak, chicken, and shrimp covered in queso on a bed of rice, I was sold. If you put shrimp in anything I am guaranteed to order it, but the combination of steak with it sealed the deal. The shrimp was my favorite part. It was seasoned perfectly and did not have that bland flavor of frozen shrimp. The steak gets an A+ as it was neither tough nor chewy. The chicken could have used a bit more flavoring, but I am not a big chicken fan so I am biased towards the steak and shrimp. The rice was excellent as expected. My only complaint with the queso is in agreement with Tyler. I wish it had a bit more of a jalapeño kick. I like my queso with fresh jalapeños in it as well but most restaurants do not offer their queso that way.
I rate the Loco Rice at Las Palmas a 4! I would definitely order this dish again.
Charis: Loco Rice
The food was amazing. I ordered the “Loco Rice.” This dish had steak, shrimp, and chicken over a bed of queso rice. The meats were all cooked perfectly– the steak well done and seasoned well, the chicken perfectly grilled and golden, and the shrimp grilled to perfection. I have to say though, the steak was my absolute favorite. I would rate all of the meats on the dish a 4.5 out of 5. Each were cooked to perfection, and I had absolutely no complaints about them.
Next, let’s talk about the rice. The rice was very authentic tasting, and had superb queso drizzled all throughout it. It was seasoned, warm, and very tasty. The queso was like a cherry on top. It was warm, thin, spread evenly thorough-out the rice, and had a little kick to it (maybe jalepenos?). Overall, I think the queso rice was my favorite part of the meal.
Now let’s talk food portion sizes. The food portion was incredibly large. So much so, that I had it for lunch the very next day! The entree was on a fairly large plate, and was full to every edge of the plate. For the price (around $11), you couldn’t beat it. I was very satisfied with my decision to order this dish, and most definitely would order it again.
Overall, I would rate this meal a 4.7 out of 5. One of the best meals I have ever had from a Mexican restaurant.
Logan: Burrito Wrap
I am usually pretty basic whenever I go to mexican restaurants and get a chicken and cheese quesadilla, but this time something on the menu stood out to me and was practically screaming for me to try. That item on the menu was the Burrito Wrap. I’m not usually the biggest burrito fan, but this mama was off the chain! It was a tortilla filled with rice, pico, shredded cheese, and your choice of chicken, steak, or shrimp. I chose the chicken, and it came with a side of sour cream and guak to dip it in. I thought it might be something like a knock of chipotle, but it definitely blew my expectations out of the water, all the ingredients were super fresh and the chicken was grilled to perfection. This was of the first times that I had something that made me want to change my ways . I feel kind of weird rating something so highly right off the bat, but I would go out of my way to come back for this meal again. 4.8 out of 5.
Service/Atmosphere
Tyler: For a Thursday night, I was surprised with how many people were at Las Palmas. The place was almost packed full. Therefore, it was loud (which is not necessarily a bad thing). One thing most Mexican restaurants have in their atmosphere is Spanish music playing throughout the restaurant. Maybe it was just to loud for me to notice, but I do not recall their being any Spanish tunes playing. I give the atmosphere a solid 3.6.
For the service, our waitress was very good. Always checking on us, but not too often where you feel they are interrupting or intruding conversations. Our food came out super quick once we ordered. It was like they read our minds and started cooking our meals before we ordered. They did try and squeeze us (a group of 5) into a small booth, which was interesting. Our waitress quickly realized the mistake and moved us to a larger table. Overall, I give the service a 4.6.
This puts the service/atmosphere at a score of 4.1.
Megan:La Palmas was a great experience, while there were some things they could improve on, overall it was great. While there aren’t too many walls or sections, it did make for a loud environment. However, the atmosphere was inviting and fun. I loved that it wasn’t a dark type of restaurant. I enjoy having light while I eat and socialize with people, so this was a big plus. Also, the server we had was attentive, but not overbearing. She got our order in very quickly and came back often to check on us. The decor and music were great. Not overwhelming, but enough to make you feel the culture. I would give them a 5 for service and atmosphere. We had a great time.
Julie: The service was exceptional. Our waitress was pleasant and timely with our food and drink orders. She was patient with us when we didn’t know what we wanted to eat the first time she came to take our orders. The atmosphere was fun and inviting. The lighting was great and the decor made the restaurant lively. My only complaint is that it is quite loud. When conversing with the Friendz it was difficult to hear Megan and Logan who sat across from me. For myself I felt like I needed to yell to be able to hear myself. I give the service a 5 and the atmosphere a 3.5.
Charis: As far as the atmosphere goes, the restaurant is fairly spacious, with multiple rooms. This helped the sound be more spread throughout the restaurant, and made it easier to talk with the people at your table.
The lighting was not too dark, but not too bright. I personally don’t like going to restaurants that are so dark I can barely see the food I’m picking up. But on the other hand, I don’t like going to places where the lights are so bright it gives me a headache. This way the restaurant was perfect, and fit the environment.
The music was at the perfect level, and left space to hear your own table’s conversations. That’s one of my biggest pet peeves with restaurants, when they have the music up so loud you practically have to yell to the person sitting directly in front of you. That was not the case here, and I enjoyed that.
It was decorated nicely, and gave a very authentic vibe. The color scheme was orange, green, yellow, red, and other bright colors. It was very eye-appealing and felt authentic to Mexican culture.
For all of these reasons, I would rate the atmosphere a perfect 5 out of 5. I have no complaints or concerns for this category.
Logan: This place was seriously great, it was dinner time and while they did seem to be doing fine with business, I felt like it wasn’t too terribly loud or packed, which made everything feel nice for our group setting, but even for a more intimate little fun date night. The staff was very friendly and did a very good job of being there for us exactly when we needed them to be. We weren’t a very needy bunch, but they were always there and took care of us nicely. I felt like this place could’ve honestly had a building of its own, but being part of a shopping center didn’t bother me at all. I didn’t go in expecting this place to be a mexican palace, but friendly faces, quick food/service, and a festive environment made this place a winner to me. I’d give this place an above average 4 out of 5.
Overall
Tyler: Overall, Las Palmas was very good and earned a strong overall score of a 3.9. That is a very strong score considering, I don’t think a 5 exists, because if you give out a 5 you are then saying there is nothing better in the world. What do you do if the next place you go is better? Las Palmas just missed out on the prestigious 4 rating club. However, I strongly recommend giving Las Palmas a try as it is one of the better Mexican restaurant that I have been to in Kennesaw!
Megan: All in all Las Palmas is an awesome Mexican restaurant. The food was great, the frozen Pomegranate margaritas were strong and flavorful, and our overall experience was awesome. I give them a 5 out of 5! We stayed for about 2 hours; eating, drinking and having a good time. If you find yourself in the Kennesaw area please check out Las Palmas…you will thank us later 😉
Julie: I give Las Palmas a 4. I enjoyed my experience and have already made plans with my roommates to go again. Next time, I think I am going to try the burrito wrap that Logan had!
OH! How could I not mention those margaritas! We decided on a pitcher of the pomegranate frozen marg and it was phenomenal. I love margaritas of every kind and these were some of the best I have ever had. Four of us split the pitcher and had enough for 2 glasses each and then some. Margaritas form Las Palmas get a 5!
Charis: Overall, I had a pleasant experience at Las Palmas. It is definitely a place I will bring my friendz in the future. The salsa and chips, loco rice, and atmosphere exceeded my expectations.
I would rate Las Palmas overall at a 4.5 out of 5. It is a wonderful place to eat Mexican food at, and tasted very authentic to me. Excellent!
Logan: Overall to me this place impressed. I felt welcome and happy from the moment I walked in till I walked out the door. Obviously, good company goes a long way, but I would definitely come back here again. I was happy with the apps, the service was great and almost absurdly fast, the drinks were exquisite, and the food was BUSTIN. I’m glad that I was able to try somewhere new with my friendz, I took a chance on something that I’m usually indifferent about and was absolutely surprised. I walked away satisfied. This place is one of those hidden gems that I can’t wait to go back and visit again! Overall I would rate Las Palmas a 4.5 out of 5.
Next Review
Check back next week as the friendz take on pizza from Big Pie In the Sky! If you have any recommendations for further restaurants for the friendz to try comment below.
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