cold meal today. i have never had a bad meal at paula's--that is until today. every time i go there, my friend and i order the bean and chorizo breakfast tacos. they are outstanding. i changed my tactics today and ordered the huevos a la mexicana. i shouldn't have. as quickly as i ordered them, they came out. the potato was cooked but it was less than room temperature. the eggs and refried beans were just a little warmer than that. my friend said i should have sent them back. i seldom do that. i seldom have problems, but this was pretty bad. the food was fresh and my friend liked her breakfast tacos. i assumed anything i order at paula's would be spectacular. i was wrong.
service was very good as usual. i just was so disappointed with my meal. i had this as a favorite and as you know i am constantly touting paula's. while i still like them, it is only for the breakfast tacos. i cannot recommend ordering anything else that needs to be cooked , as it appears that everything is cooked in advance and plated immediately after you order. i've changed a long-time "favorite" to a "like" on this one. this one hurts.
-----23 aug, 2014-----
return trip. paula's is open on the weekend. just updated the hours on here. the place was quite full at 0815 and i had my usual chorizo and bean breakfast tacos with pico de gallo. it is as good as it ever was. my friend had the same order and the the first thing she said was "this is so good!" so it's just not me. i have been cutting back on salt so the tortilla chips seemed really salty this time around, so i didn't eat as many of them as i normally do. hot salsa is really good. it is smooth and semi-thick but has pizzazz. order, eat and pay at the counter. they hold your check up there. whatever you do, don't miss this place!
-----27 feb, 2014-----
i like paula's. after daddy buelos opened down the street, this restaurant, previously known as estella's turned over to a new management team. the sign for estella's remained for a little while, and later was taken down. i never saw anything that had actually changed. in fact there still is one sign that says estella's above a trio of other shop signs in front of this place. i must add that there is a new lighted sign that faces the street above the cafe that reads "paula's mexican restaurant." i've added that to the photographs.
the food here and the setup is very similar to estella's but with a few differences. first thing is that there is no longer dinner service. they close daily at 3:00 p.m. they are now closed on mondays instead of tuesdays. i can't tell you how many times i used to come here on tuesdays and have to leave disappointed.
they still have lunch specials from 11 a.m. to 2:30: $6.95 fajitas during the week along with carne guisada tacos on tuesdays, calavacita on wednesday, chicken mole or picadillo on thursdays, and a carne guisada or barbacoa plate on fridays. on the weekends they have a choice of a guisado de puerco plate, tortilla soup, green chile stew with pork or a barbacoa plate.
service was a little slow to start today. the place was fairly full for an eight-thirty thursday breakfast call. i waited about five minutes to get my menu. there was only one worker today not including the kitchen staff, so the person taking and serving the orders, refiling the drinks and cashiering, answering the phone and putting together to-go orders was done by one person. it wasn't too bad once i placed my order. my four chorizo and bean tacos were served to me in a matter of minutes. the tacos were very good. these breakfast tacos have always been good here. i would say that this time the tacos were a little more heavy on the beans than chorizo. they still were better than any other fast food or privately owned mexican restaurant. even better was the extremely fresh pico de gallo that i ordered to accompany the tacos. the rawness of the chopped tomatoes, jalapenos, onions and cilantro was really a nice foil to the smooth, creaminess of the chorizo bean combo. it really reminded me of my days when i worked in laredo.
before i forget, i was brought a basket of spicy seasoned tortilla chips and a smooth picante salsa. this was familiar from estella's and was a welcomed sight. crisp and spicy but not over-the-top, i ate with relish these chips alongside the tacos. service continued to be great throughout the rest of the meal as my server/order taker/table clearer/drink refreshener/cashier returned a couple of times to check on me.
to say this place is casual is an understatement. there is no pretentiousness whatsoever. it's really a great place to bring your entire family. they do have a child's menu.
i hope those of you who like estella's come back and try paula's. a lot of it is the same with some subtle differences. i will certainly return.