Palomino

Over the years, I have eaten here quite often and thus I am obviously a fan. The location is great, easy to find parking nice view of fountain square. The restaurant itself is now becoming a bit dated but is still nice, clean and somewhat stylish.

They have an all-day happy hour and thus the bar is often filled or crowded for food and drink specials. Always seems to be a reasonably friendly group.

Some of the appetizers are great. The wood-oven pizzas are quite nice as is the crab and artichoke dip (you have to try that dish it really is great - best I've had). The Bruschetta is also worth the price. The Chop Chop salad is something you have to try - it is my favorite salad in the city.

The service here is well known as probably the best in the city. In my experience, this is usually true. In the past I have had one or two bad experiences when my server had been overloaded with tables or was given a 10 or 12-top and was unhappy but in general the service is efficient, friendly and not over the top.

The food is a bit tougher to call. It really depends upon what you are ordering and/or what you expect. I would agree with some other reviewers who have stated that their fish presentation often is lacking. The fish itself is usually quite fresh and tasty but the serving sizes are surprisingly small.

I've had the steak offerings and they are fine - nothing special and seriously you are like 300 feet from Mortons so if you want a really good steak just walk down the street. The rotisserie pork is extremely tasty as are most chicken offerings. I'm also not a big fan of their "world famous" paella - tastes too bland for me and seems a bit light on content.

IT is the pasta dishes that they usually do exceptionally well. I would STRONGLY recommend the seafood (scallop and shrimp) pasta dishes. The scallops are huge the shrimp fresh and large and they cook the seafood very well. It is quite filling and one of my favorite dishes.  The specials that change periodically are very often some of their freshest and best offerings and worth a close look.

The drinks they serve are often creative and tasty (tho unless you are hitting one of the specials they can be a bit costly). I have had some memorable drinks at Palominos in the past. I'm just sorry that they tend to rotate drinks off their menu often and you may never see them again.....

All in all this is sort of my "go-to" place - if I am unsure what someone may like or what type of food they prefer I will take them here. At least 90% of the time they come through too.

Palomino is a nice place with a great atmosphere. The staff is very friendly, know the menu and are attentive. However, we only ordered three items (salad, appetizer and Chicken Marsala) and the serve time was an hour. The food was delicious, just wish it hadn't taken so lond.

The food here wasn't great.  This place is probably best for drinks and apps.  We had an office dinner to celebrate a special occasion, and I wish we had gone elsewhere.  

Scampi was refrigerated like salsa (huh?) and the tiramisu was tiramisu cake. Pistachio covered cod turned out to be like fish sticks.

Stay at home and order LaRosa's if you want better food.

Service was great and the space was lovely.  Free coat check was a thoughtful touch.