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| - I haven't been to La Paz since I moved to Charlotte in 2004 and it was located over on South Blvd. Why? It was just okay, and I discovered Cantina 1511 soon after.
Since La Paz moved to Midtown, we decided to give it another shot. After making reservations on OpenTable, my first impression of the restaurant was giving my name and time of reservation to the apathetic host and having him bluntly reply, "I can't hear you." Not "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over the noise" or "Sorry, I wasn't listening because I was staring at someone over at the bar." The host walked us through the restaurant, past the bar area, through one dining room, and into the 2nd one with floor to ceiling glass windows. For the noise level and it being a Saturday night at dinnertime, I was surprised the restaurant wasn't more full.
We immediately noticed that the restaurant didn't have much atmosphere. There was very little decor and even less to indicate it was a Mexican restaurant. Luckily, we were seated in a booth in this second dining room, because my partner said the table section covering most of the room looked and felt like a cafeteria.
Our server quickly greeted us, took our drink orders, and brought us chips and salsa. I was surprised that the salsa was actually very fresh and delicious. It looked like it was made with pureed chargrilled tomatoes, my favorite. I ordered one of their specialty margaritas -- a vampiro. It was like a cross between a margarita and sangria. It came in a little tumbler glass instead of a margarita glass. It tasted good, but for $10 and being a Mexican restaurant, I guess I expected a bit more presentation. My partner ordered the Mexican Mojito, made with cilantro in place of the traditional mint. This tasted pretty good (and sweet!) and came in a tall glass.
Our server came by after we depleted our salsa, but still had some more chips remaining. He asked if he could bring us more. I asked him for just salsa; no more chips.
Our dinners took quite awhile to be delivered from the time we ordered. Usually, Mexican meals are brought out so quickly that you don't have enough time to rest a bit after snacking on the chips and salsa. Soon after the entrees were delivered by someone else, our server immediately appeared with our salsa. He didn't forget; it just took 15-20 minutes.
I tried the Chicken Street Tacos. They came with two sides of my choice. I appreciated the option of getting something different other than the starch-heavy rice and beans. I opted for the guacamole and a salad, two "healthier" options. It was a lot of food, though, and I couldn't finish the salad. The food all tasted really good.
After finishing, it took too long to get our check and then even longer to complete the payment process. All in all, we were in the restaurant for an hour and a half, and not by our own doing.
Would we come back? Not with other, much better Mexican restaurant options in Charlotte (did I mention Cantina 1511?). The food was good, but the service and atmosphere really bring the place down.
Atmosphere - 2 stars
Service - 3 stars
Food - 4 stars
Lastly, the room we were seated in happened to be the large party room. There were a few large-sized tables in there with groups partying. We were the only couple seated there. I noticed that the (young) manager on duty was seated at one of them with his buddies the entire time, only getting up once in a while when one of the servers needed him. Way to go, manager guy. You working or partying? No wonder the service isn't great when the manager can't even get his act together.
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