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El Paraiso Restaurant Review

4690 Harlan St. Send to Phone
Denver, CO 80212
303-480-0479 | Menu
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Mexican mariachi music accompanies the behemoth plates of food at this convivial West Denver casa.

Cuisine

Open

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner daily

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Those who bemoan the lack of real, honest-to-masa Mexican restaurants in Denver haven't been to El Paraiso, an always-crowded, super-size space that parades an eight-page menu, much of it written in Spanish. It proffers everything from shrimp cocktail and oyster ceviche to molcajetes and parilladas, charcoal-fired metal trays that tumble with grilled meats, seafood and fish, spring onions with bulbs bigger than a ping pong ball, queso blanco, white onions and tongue-singeing peppers. An order for one feeds an orchestra; an order for two satiates a symphony. The house-made corn tortillas, flattened on an antiquated wooden tortilla press, are first-rate; the salsa, fiery and fresh; and the aguas frescas (Mexican fruit water) might even make you swear off Corona. Be forewarned that weekends command long waits and you'll need to navigate your way through the swarms of kids practicing their dance steps to the mariachi band, which, by the way, is quite good.

User Ratings & Reviews for El Paraiso
Average rating    1
Reviews 1 - 1 of 11
El Paraiso
by cjells on 05/11/2009
 
Terrible, incompetent service- we waited for almost 2 hours and never got seated. We were forced to stand the entire time, while being pressed against the wall and jostled by other people. They only had one small bench that three people could sit on, while there were at least one hundred people waiting for tables. They not only could not tell us how long the wait would be, they continued to allow people to enter after the police had advised them not to. Some people walked in and got tables right away, even though they were not on the list or were put on the list after our party of eight. They apparently knew someone at the restaurant, as no reservations were being taken. We were told at one time that they would be able to seat us in half an hour, but after another hour had passed, they still didn't have an idea as to when we would be seated. At another point, they told us that there were three parties ahead of us then 10 minutes later they told us there were five parties ahead of us. Even after a party of 22 and another party of 16 cancelled, they could not find room to seat us or anyone else. If they were this busy, they should have turned people away politely and not continued to allow people to enter the restaurant waiting area and to sign up.
At no time during the almost two hours that we waited did a manager ever make an appearanceWhen we realized that we might have to wait another hour to be seated, we left for another restaurant where we were promptly seated and served. My first clue for the bad service and bad management at El Paraiso should have been when I called them and they hung up on me- twice! I was only asking the for the restaurant hours and if they had a Mariachi band. We will never go there again and recommend that you spare yourself the pain also.
:evil:
 
Reviews 1 - 1 of 11



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