Located on California Ave in Palo Alto's secondary downtown, this Cuban joint is a popular lunch and dinner hangout for the working class and the local residents alike. I have been here on several occassions, but tonight I invited Winona for dindin. She's the Assistant Dean of Students and Director for the American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Program at Stanford. My freshman year at Muwekma, she took me in and made me [feel like] an honorary native. :)
Tonight we meet up for a little reunion. The entrance to the restaurant portion bypasses the bar, where happy hour is apparently still going on. The ambience inside was very relaxing - dim with Latin music flowing lightly about in the room.
The complimentary bread was pretty good with the accompanied balsamic vinegarette. But soon, I pounced on my Arroz con Pollo - Cuban style braised chicken with spiced yellow rice and plantanos maduros. My pollo was actually huge - I believe it was a half chicken. Very tender and juicy, the chicken almost slid off the bones. I would have preferred a tiny bit of a kick somewhere in there. Winona ordered the Romaine Caesar salad with queso duro viejo, yuca croutons, aged manchego and chili ginger caesar. It was apparently delightfully refreshing!
Pricing is a little steep - $8 for the salad and $18 for the chicken. Service is pretty decent - our waiter was pretty attentive and not at all pushy. Definitely worth a try! For lunch, try the Carne Asada Sandwich - delish :)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-bodeguita-del-medio-palo-alto
http://www.labodeguita.com
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ooh, i had some pretty good paella there once. aww i miss winona. wish i could've been there
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