PALENQUE Grill

We found Palenque Grill quit by accident. We were actually on our way to a different restaurant and it was closed. A quick search on our fancy smart phone tether devices  and Palenque popped up. Palenque Grill has only been open a couple of months and it was time to give them a try.

Parking Karma was turned off today because they do have off street parking in their lot. We came in at the noon hour with a practically an empty house. Be prepared to practice your high school Spanish because the menus are not in English. Palenque Grill is located in San Pablo which has a predominately Hispanic population. Our waitress spoke English perfectly fine but apologized for her lack of confidence in speaking our language. This was not a problem and we proceeded.

Freshly fried tortilla chips with salsa with a oh so very slight pepper bite was brought to the table to whet our appetite for the meal to come. Ms. Goofy informed me they were pressing fresh tortillas in the kitchen for our meal. This will add bonus points immediately to our critique. Our meal was delivered promptly.

The carnitas plate was fit for a food magazine photo cover. It was stunning. The salsa were fresh, The carnitas were crisp on the outside with fried goodness and soft on the inside with pork love. Ms. Goofy had a burrito made with the same carnitas and really liked it too. The beans and rice were okay but the carnitas with fresh house made tortillas and salsa just made me plain swoon with Mexican delight.

I have to mention an appetizer we ordered called 'Cowboy's Ball" They were fried dough with a center of jalapeno, cream cheese, fresh corn and bacon served with sour cream, spicy ketchup and french fries. These were hot off the fryer and were delicious. To be honest, we could not tell there was any bacon in them. They still were addicting with the cream cheese, jalapeno and fresh corn.

We felt very lucky today to find Palenque Grill. This restaurant definitly deserves a return trip to explore other menu options. I was too full to experience the Jamaican Cheesecake listed on the menu and will report back later.

Palenque Grill
1439 23rd Av.
San Pablo Ca.