La Parilla! 
La Parilla is one of the newest Mexican restaurants to open in McDonough, Georgia. Of course, there is a Mexican restaurant on every major thoroughfare, each vying to become the favorite of each new patron. True Mexican coinsurers tend to pledge allegiance for a particular restaurant and not be tempted to try a new place. However, this customer, a die hard Los Toribios Mexican restaurant fan, decided to venture out from the norm and experience something new.
I do not typically like restaurants that are housed in strip malls because I like my food establishments to resemble a restaurant and not a “once upon a time” mattress store or a failed consignment shop. However, I chose this Mexican eatery, strategically positioned between a mattress store and a fast food Chinese restaurant, based on its reputation as being “a fun place to hang out” while eating “authentic” south of the border cuisine. Ignoring the recent media frenzy involving debit card theft in this particular restaurant, I invited five of my closest friends to join me on this excursion.
The weekend crowd at this facility was in party mode when my group approached the entrance. Situated in front of the restaurant is a rather large enclosed patio area with many table and chairs. The tables were draped with bright colors of red, green, and yellow tablecloths with burning candles placed in the center. Hanging from the awning were colored lights, long streamers, and potted plants. The aura was exhilarating and fun as, from this area, music could be heard and tantalizing smells filled the air. The people stood around waiting for an available table as if they were participating in a party with no host. Before long, strangers were no longer strangers but comrades in the battle of hunger. This made the forty five minute wait tolerable as people watching is one of my favorite activities.
After attending the party outside, we were hurriedly escorted inside by a fluent English speaking Hispanic gentleman dressed in red and black. All of the workers inside wore bright red shirts with black pants which were only differentiated by the wearing of aprons, which seemed to be the only ones that could not speak English (we learned this by asking for more chips and received napkins), and those that did not. We were taken to a table that was situated in the dead center of all this chaos. The party was in full swing inside the restaurant as well. On each wall, there was a game of soccer, football, or baseball playing. The volume of chatter and occasion cheering was much louder than the audio on the sets. This led to yelling across the table to your party members. Conversation was almost impossible as there was a continuous “Happy Birthday” song, of course, sung in Spanish, at every other table. If this was not enough, four men walking around playing guitars serenaded the customers with Beach Boy songs. You have not lived until you have heard “California Girls” sung with a heavy accent.
An apron wearing individual distributed our chips and salsa and quickly walked away before I was able to ask for the directions to the restroom. Seconds later, our waitress was asking for our drink selections and wanting to know if we were ready to order. She seemed a little miffed by my asking for more time to look over the menu and directions to the restroom. The restroom was clean and complete with an adequate supply of paper products. Immediately upon returning to my seat, she was upon us asking for our order. It is fair to say we felt rushed as it was evident that many were waiting in the wings to eat.
Our waitress was obviously accustomed to waiting on “regular” customers as opposed to “first timers” such as ourselves as she shifted from foot to foot during our deliberations. It was not difficult to make a selection from the menu as most all Mexican restaurants use the same format with numbers and letters and food categories. The food was moderately and fairly priced for its quality. The appetizers were the customary guacamole, cheese dip, or wings with pricing from $1.95 to $5.95. The main menu consisted of various combination dinners of burritos, tacos, enchiladas, fajitas, etc. for $7.95 to $12.95. For those that do not enjoy the spices and sauces of Mexican food, the menu does offer hamburger and chicken plates with various side items such as French fries or onion rings for $7.95. The menu did have a child section that was basically the adult menu in smaller portions for $3.95. Drinks were not included in the meal prices but priced right at $1.95 for any soft drink, sweet tea, or lemonade. I am not a consumer of alcohol, therefore, I relied on the opinions of my dinner companions who found the drink selections and pricing acceptable.
Because of my need to taste test various foods, each person in my group ordered something different. I ordered my usual bean burrito. One might think that this is playing it safe, however, this enables me to fairly compare a dish that I have eaten in many establishments. The wait time for the food was minimal which was also satisfying, as I was working on a headache from all the noise. However, one of my favorite pastimes at a Mexican restaurant is munching on nachos for a while before dinner arrives. There was not much of this tonight.
With the crowd of people, I was surprised when our food arrived only moments after ordering. Unexpectedly, the food was very hot and exceptionally delicious. The sauce on my burrito was thick and full of onions. The cheese was melted to perfection, not crusted from being over heated. My fellow companions were also pleased with their selections of tender steak and crispy nachos smothered in perfect amounts of toppings. The waitress was great about refilling our drinks but was no where to be found when more chips were needed.
At the end of the meal, the waitress brought us a tray of sample desserts for temptation purposes. There was an assortment of chocolate covered floured tortillas, brownie-like cookies, and ice cream. We declined. Each of us had sampled over six different dishes before our meal was over and had each declared at some point during the feasting, “I cannot eat another bite”. I am not so sure that were full from eating large amounts of food or that we were full from having eaten so fast.
Although the food was delicious, one could not savor the moment due to the feeling of being hurried by the waiting staff. Seemingly excided by the fact that our evening was coming to a close, the waitress presented us with our check that had not been divided as requested. With a fake smile, she excused herself to correct the mistake.
The evening ended with each of us standing, stretching, and moaning in unison. The party outside was still in full swing as we exited. The only thing different were the new faces and the hour. Unbelievably, the ordering, eating, fellowshipping, and check correcting took less time than the waiting for a table just an hour earlier. If there was a negative mark on the evening it was the rush to get our dinner on the table and the push to clean our table to make way for the next patrons. Leaving, we joked that our seats were probably still warm for the next bodies.
REVIEW
**½ out of five stars
La Parilla
Location: 5424 Jonesboro Road, McDonough, Georgia, 678-442-7567
Hours: Sunday - Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Atmosphere: Informal, unpretentious, loud
Service: Friendly, informal, hurried on busy nights
Pepper Picture: www.faqs.org/.../581/
So, this is really weird but I've definitely eaten at that same La Parilla! It's so good. The service isn't too bad. However, the good there is so delicious that I wouldn't care if the service was awful. There's actually a La Parilla over on Howell Mill... it's equally as tasty.
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