La Bodeguita Del Medio

On a recent trip back to the Bay area, me and some girlfriends had a lovely dinner at La Bodeguita del Medio. We've been here before, located on the classic Street of California Ave with other lovely local restaurants nearby. La Bodeguita has an amazing extensive menu of Latin American delights in classics. Highlights for us were the classic paella and various salads that we ordered to share. One of our friends is gluten free, they have limited options for that... So just be aware that if have some severe food allergies... Due to the way that their fryer works across contamination is likely.But despite that everything that we had was absolutely delicious. Portions were generous and the flavors were exceptional. Definitely a restaurant to order things to share and try. Highly recommend making a reservation... We were a large party but by the time we're leaving to every table was basically full and a waiting line outside the door. Come check them out!

Really tasty food, reasonable portion sizes, excellent service. Environment was very nice.The food is seasoned well, not over the top, not under seasoned. We had the chicken, skirt steak, crab cakes, roasted asparagus, and banana Havana dessert.Our server was new, but very attentive and professional.Also, Happy Hour from 12-5!We'd love to come again and try more dishes.

I love Cuban food and there aren't many Cuban restaurants in the Bay Area. Their Ropa Vieja is very traditional taste great just like I used to have when I was a little kid.Their service is a little slow, so plan to take it easy and relax. I've sat both in their bar area and their restaurant area. The service is better in the restaurant area than in the bar area.They have a full bar, their desserts are good. Priced mid range.Street parking

We took my parents out to dinner for a family celebration and enjoyed the dinner, service, and ambiance. It's hard to pick a favorite out of all the dishes we tried but the arroz con pollo and the Tierra y mar were both hits. Lots of great Cuban flavor and traditional dishes. We highly recommend making a reservation ahead of time as they were very busy after 6pm. We also loved checking out the cigar room in the back! Such a cool vibe. We'll be back again.

Food is okay. I don't recall anything really standing out or super memorable...Ceviche comes with fried banana chips. Interior is a bit dark, and could be more inviting.

Service, food and ambiance continues to be 5 stars all the way around! This time around my friend and I shared a bindle of BBQ ribs, Havana Bananas, Crab Cakes and Palmitos Salad. Everything was sooooo good. We had several servers throughout the night, but at the end we had Georgie, great service!I am writing another review to state that when I entered the restaurant and was seated, I was offered a "floor pillow" since she noticed that I was sporting an Aircast. She left and came back with a pillow for me to plop on the floor to place my foot on it. Who would have thought that this pillow would provide so much comfort during the dinner. I mean seriously it was glorious. It took off the pressure without having to remove the Aircast. It wasn't until much later in the evening, that I found out that the person that offered the floor pillow was the owner. THANK YOU, for keeping your patrons happy and as comfortable as possible!!! I really appreciated it and was touched. While wearing the Aircast, I have been to plenty of restaurants and no one has offered anything to make me more comfortable. Yay, for floor pillows and even more for empathetic people.

We had a great girls' night out at Boguedita del Medio. It's so nice that you can reserve a table and not worry about crowds or a wait - the indoor/outdoor seating is nice, too. My friend and I got margaritas and shared small plates together - the ensalada de yesica, croquetas (yummm) and plantain chips. Everything was filling and flavorful without being heavy. Our server was very warm and attentive and made sure to check in on us as we stayed a while catching up. Looking forward to coming back and trying more dishes!

La Bod is almost a local institution. We showed up on a random weekday and it was a struggle to be seated. Eventually, we were seated on an outside table, basking in the late afternoon rays of sunlight of June in Palo Alto. The mojito was a nice aperitif, and then the paella was flavourful, and full of delicious and fresh seafood. I have no complaints about the food at all.What wasn't great, however, was the experience at the end: they bring the credit card reader to your table, and when I pointed out to my friend that they'd already added a 5% surcharge, which is akin to a tip, the waiter shot me a dirty glare. I think that pressuring people to add a standard tip multiple when you've already added a surcharge is shady behaviour.

We keep coming back and have enjoyed pretty much all of the dishes! Shout out to Richard for the good service. Good vibes inside and they have fire pits outside for heating, though it can get pretty cold. I also can't wait for their dine-in surcharge to get banned.

Came here on a Friday dinner for Mother's Day weekend. We called earlier to make a reservation, but they only had outside seats available. We walked in and they had bar tables open, so we sat there instead.We got the Seafood Paella, Chicken Empanadas, and Fried Calamari.Seafood Paella 4.5/5: Huge portion, good enough to feed around 3 people. The rice was delicious and flavorful. The mussels and clams all around it were alright, could have used more flavor or sauce for them.Chicken Empanadas 4/5: Quite large, comes with 3 for each order. The insides are very hot so be careful! It was also slightly spicy. They were pretty good and a generous amount of meat inside. There was also red cabbage below it but didn't really add anything to the dish.Fried Calamari 4/5: Your typical fried calamari. It wasn't on the menu but we saw people post pictures of it so we asked if they had it, and they could make it for us. The calamari was crispy and their tartar sauce went amazing with it.