joya

tasty tapas!. i dined at joya with a group of 5 colleagues during a trip to palo alto. still a little full from a late business lunch, we opted to share a variety of tapas rather than order entrees. being from miami, i'm picky about eating latin food outside of south florida (if you ordered chicken soup in a restaurant - you'd want it to be the best, wouldn't you?). joya was a good selection, though, serving small plates inspired from a number of latin cuisines.

we started with carafes of the white sangria, which were large and tasty, though not very strong - sangriaphiles may want the optional extra shot. we found the tapas to be delicious. the ceviche sampler was very good and a pleasant surprise to those who had never tried ceviche before - i believe that the "traditional" ceviche was everyone's favorite. the mixed vegetable chips that came with the ceviche were a nice accompaniment, however there were not enough for the group and many came broken. the second biggest hit of the evening. were the yucca fries, which we had to request additional orders of. the empanadas were just okay. the guacamole was creamy and flavorful, but i do not feel that you receive enough for the price of it (hass avacados are local - why be so stingy?!?). overall, i would recommend joya for a night out with friends or a fun date.

a nice combination of classy yet casual and tasty.
ordered a couple of appetizers that were all delicious. if you like raw fish, order their ceviche with mexican baby scallops. fresh dish cured in citrus. also tasted their "ahi tuna tartare" and "guacamole & new world chips".
my friends were also very happy with their dishes: mini burger, yuca fries and argentinian hanger steak.

service is pretty good and wine selection quite rich.
i'll definitely come back to it next time i'm in town

#bonappetit

please save yourself from a horrible dining experience. my husband and i have lived in the area for 20 years. we went to joya for a nightcap and unfortunately left our wallet at home so we were unable to pay the $18 tab. we explained the situation and would have been happy to go home and get wallet to rectify but were threatened with police action by the manager if we left the premisis. we walked outside to our car to look for any form of payment (which was parked right out front on university) and once again was accosted and threatened by the manager. not sure what the gentlemans background is but a management position at a restaurant where you want to make a good impression might be a stretch for his personality. good luck and my friends and i will never go here again!

a happy open marriage between a tapas bar, cocktail lounge and fine-dining establishment, joya is one of the region’s prime example of a nuevo latino eatery — a popular trend that has been cheerfully fermenting in recent years. the french-born chef has cherry-picked appealing dishes from all over the spanish-speaking world and elsewhere while giving them a freshness-focused, american vibe.

a good mix. while we had a reservation, we had to wait, which is a bit annoying. none the less, i liked the mix of traditional spanish tapas with newer fare like sliders. the sangria was a bit sweet, but the wine list was very complete. service was tops!

5 of us headed out to joya in palo alto on saturday. we ordered 6 tapas and 1 seafood paella and shared everything. 1st up – fried calamari w chile salt $10; was good but nothing special

loved it. despite the negative reviews from over a year ago on here, i felt like joya was an excellent restaurant.

we tried a few tapas - the coconut shrimp ceviche and the cheese plate - and they were delicious. the seafood was fresh with a strong lime taste, and the coconut was a subtle complementary flavor. the cheese plate was to die for with the different sauces (honey, cherry, etc) to use with each cheese. i personally loved the manchego with a little honey over the top.

the meals were also excellent. i split the kobe tacos with a friend. while our steak was a bit tougher than expected, it was still delicious. the homemade tortillas were a little on the greasy side - that was probably my biggest complaint.

my wife had the braised short rib tacos, and they were to die for. the meat was like butter with the perfect flavor. my friend's wife had the hangar steak with yucca fries and once again, to die for!

while joya is a bit on the "chic" side of the aisle, i must say that it was a very enjoyable experience. we had a good server, and the food was excellent.

i definitely recommend it.

good food, great wine list. i liked it!!!

i went there on halloween. the staff was in costume and i was alone so i sat at the bar.

i ordered the warm goat cheese and with roma tomato sauce appetizer and the flank steak entree. both were great and the staff met my every need. simple as that - and this was the first time i went there as i live in michigan.

i even met the owner who was very personable and made sure i was happy. i read the other reviews after i went there and i had the opposite experience - go figure... i would suggest giving them a try for sure.

i was excited when joya opened because appearance-wise it seemed very promising and i'm a bg fan of tapas. it's situated in a great spot on a corner in the middle of university ave and has an appealingly modern yet warm look. eating there could not have been more disappointing. the food was lukewarm and tasteless and we tried quite a variety of the plates. servers were inattentive and completely unaware. our waiter clearly had no knowledge of any of the food and seemed half asleep. months after this visit we returned to give joya another chance, hoping that the flaws just needed to be ironed out because the restaurant was new. this experience, however was even worse. after waiting for an hour for our drinks to come and to order our food we ended up leaving. although there were many servers standing around with seemingly nothing to do, no one had the common sense to check on the table that had not moved for an hour. truly an awful experience and restaurant.

another soon to be forgotten flop. where to begin? the "braised" sausages were cold, as was the pozole. the salad was edible but meager and ordinary. the empinadas and coquetas were barely pleasant.

although my wife and i were speaking spanish to each other when he arrived, the arrogant young waiter gave a canned lecture on tapas and how to order them. we told him which four tapas we wanted served together and he told us he would not serve four at once and announced which two he would serve first. etc. etc.

we usually try to cut folks a little slack, but there was nothing of merit here.

great venue, decor & ambiance, but!. what a poor dining experience. it is a bit out of place for the relaxed yet affluent university ave. there were a lot of staff, yet our starter plates were not cleared away until our main course arrived. our waiter was as expected, attentive. it was a poor tapas sampler for the price. the glass of wine was frugal. thank goodness we tried it out before we brought any guest over there. we would not bother again.