Paloma

Addendum to prior review: Paloma recently underwent a renovation and change to their dining scheme. They have changed to ‘fine dining’ and now only serve their taco menu at their bar. My husband and I recently went to check out their change in menu for happy hour/dinner and sat at the bar. The food is still their normal standard of delicious. However, service is very slow and took about 20 minutes for us to receive menus, and we never actually did receive the happy hour menu. I will qualify this by saying they are short staffed as they only have one bartender staffing for about 12 guests. The main complaint though, was that in the end our bill for 6 tacos, two cocktails, and two side dishes came out to be $108 for two people. It was surprising for us because as we were going to sign the check we almost missed the 20% automatic gratuity that was applied. We feel that this should not have be automatically included as we were a party of two and seated at the bar. Prior review: We went for dinner and brunch recently and had some really amazing tacos! Some of our favorites and the pig face and birria tacos! Definitely recommend doing a mix and match with the tacos so you can try several different ones.

The food here at Paloma was absolutely out of the world! Our server Cheryl was an absolute treat and made us feel so welcome. She recommended the short ribs to be and informed me that they weren’t very short, well boy was she right! These were THE most tender, Smokey, flavorful fall off the bone short ribs I’ve ever had! The flavors were immaculate, service was a 100/10, and atmosphere was lively but cozy. Definitely will be back!

4th visit. Great place for family dinner, offers non-alcoholic fun drinks. This time I ordered the nachos and walleye tacos. Nachos were filling enough to be an entree. Walleye tacos had really great flavor, fish was on the dry side, will reorder tho. Update: 2025. New decor, new menu, went for happy hour, tacos were amazing. I ordered a second round! Service was ok. Happy hour wasn't a big discount, but food was worth it. Shrimp taco was perfect !

We visited for happy hour and enjoyed the signature Paloma cocktail - grapefruit and tequila - yum! They had specials for appetizers, tacos and drinks. Though it wasn’t crowded it took a while to be served. There was only one person behind the bar. The cauliflower taco was SO good! Lots of fresh ingredients. The avacado hummus was great - beautiful presentation! We enjoyed ourselves.

One of my favorite places. The quality of the food is high, the service is excellent and the price is a steal. They make excellent guacamole and a fantastic Paloma. And sitting outside is so fun as you’re surrounded by the sights and sounds of Van Aiken. This is one of my favorite places in Cleveland.

Visited after the debut of a new menu. Generous portions, delicious food and sexy ambience. Skirt steak was cooked perfectly; tenderloin was like butter. Every accompaniment was well thought out from the perfect red salsa to the warm, soft housemade flour tortillas. We ate fresh guac, corn, Ceasars salad, and warm cinnamon bread pudding. Lovely margaritas. I hope to return soon!

Sad that I hadn’t ventured here sooner. The atmosphere was calm and exciting at the same time. The guac was impressive, and the chips were perfect…and then the food came. I was not at all expecting to have a steak this good. I can normally pick apart a steak but literally nothing on the plate was anything short of perfect. The potatoes were next level. What an amazing meal.

I feel like the portions of the Entrees were small, and The Ceviche was Awful, But the rest of the food that was ordered was Delicious!! 😋😋😋 Our server was very nice and tentive 🙂 And the obetall atmosphere was nice. I rate this place a 7 out of 10 and I would definitely return.

Normally 5 Star Unfortunately skirts steak was not up To their usual standards Still best value in van Aken area Most menu items are over the top

Great happy hour with good prices and a variety of food and drinks. Located in a really cute outdoor shopping area, attached to a food court if you need additional options. Enjoyed the nachos and guacamole. The place also had a really nice smoky smell that really set the ambiance.

Ate here for the first time for dinner. Great location and feel to the place. Everyone was super friendly, especially Mariam, our waitress, who was fantastic. We had the Alaska black cod and crispy shrimp and el pastor tacos which were all fantastic. Finished with salted caramel brownie for dessert which was fun and tasty. Looking forward to coming back!

I ordered the tacos, which were tasty. My husband ordered the pork carnitas which he said had no flavor. Very bland. So good gets a 3 stars. The service however was terrible. Our waitress took forever to come to our table the first time. Then once she took our order, never came back again to check on us. Another person brought out or salad, which came fairly fast after ordering but then it was 45 mins to get our main entre. Never once did waitress come to say sorry kitchen is backed up or offer us chips and salsa while we wait, nothing. I hate to say bad things about a neighborhood restaurant because I want places to stay in business, but the service needs major improvement.

Sat at a high top table in the bar area. My friend and i made it in time for happy hour so we had good margaritas on the rocks with salt. For our second ones we tried the hibiscus margaritas. My friend liked her hibiscus more, I preferred the house marg more, both great. Lakeisha was our server, she gave us space and had the perfect balance of attentive as well. Never felt ignored but not rushed. She was great and funny We started with the nachos. They were delicious, the cheese was so good but it did make them sort of a challenge to rip out of the nacho pile. I had the mushroom taco and cauliflower burnt ends. Loved my taco but I wouldn't have known it had mushrooms on it tbh. The cauliflower burnt ends were good and so interesting the way they smelled exactly like smoked meat. Cool interiors, neat little spot. This is not a cheap place. A happy hour marg was $9. Nachos without meat were $15. Location of course to be considered.

Not a great experience overall. Our table was very dirty when we sat down, it seemed like they didn't wipe it down beforehand so we had to ask our server twice to clean it. The music in the dining room is to loud to have a normal conversation. The food is so so. The guacamole bar with Smoked Cauliflower is excellent, however the Alaskan Black Cod is terrible, it was so fishy that we barely touched it. We mentioned it to our server and all we got is a shrug. Friends of ours ordered couple things - grilled octopus (they indicated it was excellent) but shrimp ceviche was not good. Not sure if it was an off night but this was definitely off. Not a place I could recommend.

Pamela happy hour is a bit unfair. On the menus it says 20% tip is already included. Service at the bar isn't great as there is just one bartender all night. So service is not very fast and things come out not as hot as they should. On the bill they give you it gives you additional suggestions of what you should give as gratuity. So it comes off confusing as I'm sure many people end up tipping 40%!! maybe it's different if you're just getting table service but it's still feels very unfair

Small menu but everything was delicious! Definitely get the dip sampler! We went with a sample of tacos and they were all delicious. The service was particularly good, our server was friendly and attentive and we never wanted for anything.

Drinks were great. Our server (bartender) since we were sitting at the bar...was fantastic, attentive, honest. Food had some good hits and some slight misses. Hits: guacamole, chips, tortillas, sirloin steak, bacon side (i mean, how can you go wrong),the brown sauce, the corn side Miss: beef tartar was slightly lacking in flavor. The salsa was a bit too tart...borderline saucy ketchup...i love a smooth salsa: but this needed maybe a little more depth of flavor, the chimichurri (wasn't a miss, but not the best one i've had...or the brown sauce was just THAT good). and the potatoes: the sauce was great but could use more of it, but some of the larger pieces of potato could have been fried or cooked longer... I Didnt try dessert but would have appreciated a chocolate dessert of some sort...mexican hot chocolate or something like that? Overall it would be more of a 3.5 star review...but i think if i tried other things on the menu...it could possibly top it to 4...

Finally popped in to try Paloma. Happy hour was still running in the bar, which was a win. They have a solid happy hour menu including $3 tacos which you can mix and match. Service was quick and friendly.

I've been to Paloma a couple of times before but I only had the tacos during my previous visits, which were satisfying. During this visit, I had the shrimp enchiladas and they were okay. I wasn't expecting for the enchiladas to be served in a bowl and I think that is what contributed to a lot of liquid being at the bottom of the bowl. It seems as if the liquid caused the ingredients inside of the enchiladas to fall apart and the entree ended up being more soupy than solid. My friends had the Paloma salad and a variety of the tacos and overall, they enjoyed their food. The service was great and the server was nice and attentive. I would visit again but I personally would not order the enchiladas again.

Heard they had good tacos, and had been wanting to check the place out, so we made a reservation for Friday. Almost immediately we learn that tacos are only available at the bar (which was full) and couldn't be ordered at a table. I guess the one saving grace is that we learned this before sitting down and ordering drinks. Can't speak to the food or the service, because we just turned around and walked out. If there's one thing I can't stand it's arbitrary and asinine rules.

This was our first time here since the management change and new menu. It was fantasitc. The drinks, food and service were all great and a manager stopped by to check on the table. We can't wait to go back.

Beautiful decor and ambiance for date night. Excellent service by our waiter all night. We ordered two appetizers, chicken tortilla soup and traditional guacamole. The guacamole was muddled and served in a traditional molcajete which I thought was a nice added flair to the Latin inspired vibe. For our entree we split the Churrasco di Waygu with Papas Bravas and Crispy Brussels. Everything was seasoned and cooked perfectly, and enough to share between two of us. Can't wait to go back and try more items.

The service was kind of slow and there were not many people in the restaurant. The food was ok but was not authentic Mexican food. The staff was not attentive and helpful when we voiced our concerns.

Great Tacos, good drinks. The service was decent but they appear to be short staffed.

We had some extra time before dinner and decided to grab a drink. The bar was a super fun circle bar with TVs and a view of the outside area. My husband tried the Brew Dogs Elvis Juice and then a Pulpo Beer. He said both were great! I had a non alcoholic Agua de Jamaica with lime. It was so different and the bartender was so friendly, helpful, and happy. We might even stop back tomorrow. We did stop back for brunch on Sunday and our meal was sooo tasty! We had the chip and dip appetizer...wonderful gauc. We then got two meals and split both. My husband got the steak and egg tacos and I got huevos rancheros. Both were great. They had a "board of the week" where the chef just picks the food and if we would have been paying attention we might have tried that...such a fun idea!

Me and some coworkers visited Paloma for lunch. The location was not very busy.... correction we were the only people there. Generally I would enjoy that but it was a beautiful day and added some suspicion to my experience. I enjoyed the food and the appetizers but the place was nothing to rave about. I would recommend trying the restaurant as the location and patio was wonderful.

Finally found a place in Shaker for happy hour - and this was top notch! Gorgeous decor and atmosphere and the food/drinks were amazing. Can't wait to go back!

Fresh goodness made to order and you will love every bite! Greeted by the hostess in front of the beautiful living wall was a pleasant entrance. The place was bustling and noisy which is an automatic good sign of happy and busy! We sat at the humongous horseshoe bar and were able to view the busy kitchen, restaurant, tv screens and VAD walkbys. Perfect! Let me start with I am a Queso Fundido snob, by all means. So I simply must order it everywhere its on the menu. This QF came out in a skillet with a lil side of lovely salsa, slivered onions and cilantro. The only thing I would have loved was if it was bubbling upon arrival. It's okay, the flavors were spectacular! We ordered the chicken tacos which were full of flavor and taste! The chorizo tacos were laden with a spicy Morita BBQ sauce that had an amazing kick of flavors. Alex, the manager and Allysa, the owner's wife stopped over to say hello and explain the operations. Thank you ladies! You are a pleasure and a joy and we will order the michelada (???) Bloodymary beer and hot sauce drink next visit!!?

It took me a minute to find the entrance as the door seemed to blend in with the building, but once I entered, there was a cute ambience. I asked the hostess if I could get a booth instead and her tone was kinda rude as she said "sure" and gave me a bad first impression. Although, our waitress was kind and helpful. I noticed the cups were face down on the table so I wasn't comfortable drinking out of them due to sanitary concerns since I'm a clean freak. Although, they had a nice concept of the water and cups on the table ahead of time. Most taco places usually have nearly empty tacos and lack flavor, although I was pleasantly surprised. I ordered the lamb tacos which were packed and bursting in flavor. I really couldn't believe it. Each bite was better than the next. Unfortunately I did see a small piece of hair on the platter underneath one of my tacos. But outside of that, the ambience, service from the waitress, and taste of the flood was great. Once improved in the areas I noted above, I would change this over to five stars.

I thought this was a great experience - great service for a Saturday night, with a table of 4 adults and two kids. I was seated right away thanks to our reservation, and the waitress was helpful and kind throughout the night. The tacos themselves were very unique and flavorful - maybe the best I've had in Cleveland. The margarita (I sprung for the house-made sour for $3 more - worth it) was great. My friends had some other items like wings, corn, and hummus that looked great, and we shared the queso fundido (good, but sorry, it doesn't compare to what I've had at restaurants in Texas... that's a high bar though). It was quiet enough to hear each other speak, and a really nice, clean-looking space. Easy to park in the garage around the corner, and the parking is free.

Food is delicious!!! Service is great.. I really loved the energy from the staff. They really seemed to love working there. I really enjoy the happy hour deals and drinks were great. I absolutely LOVE the oysters. A must try!!!!

My friend and I went to Paloma for "brunch" the place looked cleaned and they had a moxi atmosphere. We sat at the bar and Kamelah was our server, lovely lady. Few constructive criticism notes... chips and salsa are not complementary, the lime in my margarita was an old lime, the side portion of guacamole was a kids size portion with no flavor. The thing I was most disappointed with, is that their tacos are served with flour or gluten free flour, tortillas. It would've been nice if they can offer a corn tortilla, like the tacos should be made of. Also- the receptionist was drinking tea/coffee while greeting guests... maybe she could out her cup down were people can't see it, a bit unprofessional if you ask me. 6/10. Maru

Came here for lunch and tried a few of their tacos. Each taco dish comes with 3 tacos. The birria, lamb and the duck carnitas tacos were pretty good. Service was a bit slow but it seemed like she was the only one working the lunch shift.

Great patio in the heart of Van Aken district. Had the fundido and tacos which were excellent. Drinks were good. Our service was fantastic and manager came over to make sure we were having a good experience. If service was an issue in the past they've clearly taken steps to rectify it.

Beautiful setting Happy hour in lovely round bar Elegant intimate dining area behind book case Incredible service Outstanding food Unbelievable steaks augmented by phenomenal sauces

Rude manager. We accidentally sat ourselves after the host said we could sit at a booth or table and walked away. The manager then came over and made us feel incredibly unwelcome and extremely awkward as she spoke with a thick attitude about how now she has to clear off the rest of the place settings and since we only had two people she could not get over the fact that we wanted to sit there. We offered to move but she didn't answer back...awful first ten minutes! The place was almost empty as it was a Monday night! The food was good but nothing great- oysters were good, Paloma salad was forgettable with a total of two small slices of grapefruit on it and a decent amount of pretty darn greasy chicken added for a few bucks extra. The cocktail was good as it had mezcal and passionfruit in it, but the incredibly unwelcoming manager still left a huge stain on our time there. Won't be back!

These folks don't know how to cook a steak, as in they're doing it from fridge temp. Cold steaks get a grey banding, present on their rarer steaks. First they overcooked to medium verging on medium well, and then over corrected to make not quite rare version. The manager did admit the chef doesn't consider how the customer orders it, but rather cooks it to how they think it should be done. Why ask us then? Why bring out evenly cooked steaks for the others at my table, then continue to screw up mine? It's not worth it to wait for this food, just go somewhere they'll actually correct mistakes instead of shoving a free drink at me and making me wait for my table mates to finish their meals before getting my plate out.

Search the reviews for "rude" and that should explain why this place is more than half empty on a Saturday night when the rest of Van Aken has lines out the door. I assume people change their mind after they meet the hostess like we did.

Ok. Nothing special to bring us back. Low headcount for service. Good tacos. Filled us up.

This review is to indicate the winner of the east-side steak competition. After attending The Last Page, Red, Capital Grill, Klim, and Paloma. Red and Last Page is over priced, good. Klim had good execution but no wow factor same for Capital Grill. The service at Paloma not number one in this group but a high second. New Ambiance of Paloma is interesting the main dinning room is quite romantic. Now let's get to the steaks, this may not be for everyone as this chef inspired Latin style cuisine adds Tallow to the steak, which is arguably actually healthier. The Ribeye is an amazing steak for the price pure grass fed steak sourced from one the best natural sources of New Zealand. The crust on this steak was perfect it is apparent this cook and preparation is from a highly skilled chef! The aromatic style of plate of roasted garlic, jalapeño peppers and rosemary & Thyme and served with fresh Chimichurri! Brussel sprouts and corn are great sides. I have been back 4 times have had the ribeye, wagyu sirloin, and the bone in Fillet! All in my opinion are better steaks and easily would be twice as much at the other's restaurant mentioned above! Un matched value for the quality of steak and overall meal execution!!! Didn't even get to mention how amazing the Tacos are!

Boohoo. They used to have two vegan tacos on their menu which is part of why my spouse and I frequented the restaurant. Now there is only one. Last night we each had their salad and the arugula was old and yellow in color. Hard to believe they would serve it. The salad had so much dressing. Somehow the quality of the food has decreased since the last time we went last fall. We are vegan so we won't be back. Used to like coming there. Drinks are still great.

Easily the best tacos I've had in Cleveland. Tortillas were so soft and fresh. Made to order! We had the beef short rib tacos (the best), the cauliflower tacos, and the maitake mushroom tacos. The beef short ribs were truly delicious--can't remember the last time I had short rib tacos so juicy and flavorful outside. The drinks were also fantastic. Not too sweet. The poppy drink was the best -- great cucumber flavor. Nachos were really tasty though I'd probably go for a different one next time. I will definitely be back

I've been here at least 7 times. Food Is delicious but..... Less food for more money? Portions have decreased Oysters were $15/4 now $14/3???? Ummmm, why?. And then Happy Hour, yay! Calm down, don't get too happy. 20% gratuity added to the entire bill if you order 1 happy hour item. So your $2off just because $ .20-$.40 off, if you started ordering before happy hour then.... yikes. And maybe that wouldn't be so bad if the service was exceptional but how did I get mediocre service while sitting at the bar? The service seems to be getting worse. The woman I believe is a manager has resting B face and she never even tries to crack a smile. I thought maybe she was having a rough day of a few of my other visits but nope, that's just her apparently. Social anxiety maybe.... working front of the house isn't the best idea.

Enjoyed the street corn and chorizo tacos. Chips and brussels sprouts could use some salt. Service was adequate, but not enthusiastic. It was a fairly quiet Monday evening and I was surprised that the chef or hostess didn't talk to diners. I don't expect them to be my BFF but this is a new restaurant and a tough economic climate. Asking patrons about their food, informing diners about what makes them special, and socializing a bit could go a long way to repeat business. Lots of variety on the menu and I am interested in trying other dishes.

Happy hour at the bar... Alex makes a terrific Margarita that looks good and tastes as you would expect for $6. The HH avocado hummus and grilled oysters were very tasty too. Happy Hour is at the bar Monday-Friday 4:30-6:00.

This taco joint is a great addition to the Van Aken district! Perfect for a girls get together, date night, or progressive dinner because it is in walking distance to so many other fun local spots. Free parking in the VA Garage makes getting in and out smooth. I came here on a very warm night in mid-April. The doors were open so there was a light breeze but they had yet to put out chairs for patio seating. This was disappointing because the weather was so nice - I'm sure this will be a great spot in the warmer months. The patio is next to a big playground though, so depending on what time you go, there may be a lot of noise from kids nearby. If you have small children, this may be another draw for you. My friends and I ordered margaritas and Paloma's. The drinks were good - I wouldn't say the best I've ever had, but on par for the restaurant. My friends ordered the taco week specials - one taco with some chips and salsa. I ordered the crispy walleye tacos. These came as a trio and were delicious. I'd say one taco isn't enough to fill you up here - luckily all tacos typically come in 3s. The menu also includes apps and salads and some sides. Not much else. They do have a brunch menu as well. The walleye tacos came with a sweet mango pineapple tartar sauce which really complimented the fish. I would definitely order these again. We also shared a trio of dips - salsa, guacamole and queso. The queso was good - a tad spicy. The salsa and guacamole came in really small Condiment-size cups. This is not one of those Mexican places where chips and salsa are bottomless or free. Overall, we had a good experience. It was clean, not too busy on a Wednesday and the food was tasty. Our server split our checks for us but mixed up every single check. We ended up just figuring out who owed what on our own. I wish she could have done a better job there, but other than that, she was attentive and friendly. Check it out if you're looking for a fun new taco place - Mitchell's ice cream is right next door and makes for a great after-dinner dessert too!

Such a cute, fun taco restaurant with very fresh food. I enjoyed that the restaurant had higher-end choices with unique cocktail options. The dip trio was absolutely amazing, I just wish chips/salsa were included with your meal like at other Mexican restaurants. The cocktail was strong and I enjoyed the presentation as well. As for the tacos, very fresh and made to order, could use more sauce/flavor.

The new menu is excellent. Would love for them to do taco Tuesdays, but the guacamole bar and the entrées are a huge improvement.

Went there for some taco, they had us sitting there and no one took care of us I finally said something and they said ohh someone's coming! I must say it was pretty there but not sure if I'll go back

Great food and service! I've gone for brunch, dinner and happy hour and enjoyed it every time. I think Happy Hour was the best deal, so highly recommend that!

Very pretty interior design, you can see the fresh tortillas being made in a little conveyor belt, which was really cool! The duck carnitas were great tacos, the duck was very savory and rich, the pico was bright and fresh, the greens and radish's added a nice texture to the taco, and the salsa macha added another level of flavor and spice. But the best part of the meal was the dessert! The vegan bunuelos had two tortillas fried and coated in some kind of cinnamon sugar, the pistachio ice cream was very creamy and was starting to melt on the warm tortillas, and the coffee date sauce was sweet and had a strong coffee flavor.

This is a great new addition to the Van Aken District dining options. The space is fresh and well decorated. Service was great as well, friendly and efficient. The highlight though really is the food - the dip sampler gave us a good idea of the quality of all the options and the grilled octopus was well cooked, beautiful plated, and was a creative way of serving it, with some chorizo mixed in. My wife had a very good salad and I had three wonderfully tasting slow roasting lamb tacos, another creative find at Paloma, with a delicious mint creme sauce and really tasty meat. The cocktails were also really good and creative and the tres leches cake for dessert was, once again, creative in terms of presentation, due to a mango/pineapple mix, and really good as a tres leches itself. Please go try this new Shaker Heights gem!

We decided to try the Happy Hour again this weekend. The food and the Happy Hour are very good. The problem is the bartender. Never says hello or thank you, no eye contact and really bad people skills. Note to the owner " Don't hire an introvert to be your bartender!" On top of the bad service they add a 20% tip wow!

The tacos were very unique. We had the short rib and the walleye and both were great. They only use flour tortillas which are made fresh in house daily. If you need a substitute they can do lettuce wraps. Our server was attentive. There is a mix of bar, high top and traditional seating, the bar and high top chairs are not very comfortable. The drink menu was a little smaller than I expected but the margarita was delicious. Overall it was a fun place to meet friends but I'm not sure I would come out of my way to go here if we hadn't been in the area.

I've been here twice since they've opened. I loved the chicken tacos! I had them with a side of potatoes. They were crisp and a good add with the tacos. When I returned I had the shrimp tacos. The shrimp were fried with a cabbage slaw on top. I didn't love them as they weren't as tasty as the chicken. Will return and try something else! Saw a few folks order the chicken wings. Hope to try them next tome.

Avocado hummus was a delicious refreshing app. The chicken wings were some of the best I've ever eaten. We also enjoyed the short rib tacos.

Jamaica was an excellent server yesterday during our holiday lunch. She was delightful and very knowledgeable of the menu. The crispy shrimp tacos were amazing. Will come back again!