Another One Bit(es) the Dust
Today I mapped the address of a restaurant to meet a few clients at in Santa Clara and wondered, "Hey, that's right across the street from an old favorite, La Paloma.... Why isn't it showing on the map?" A bit of web searching confirmed my fear: La Paloma isn't showing on the map because it's closed, permanently. And this didn't just happen; it closed more than 24 months ago!
La Paloma was an early-on favorite of Hawk's and mine when we moved to Silicon Valley years ago. We found it when we were in our exploring phase, routinely doing things like searching "Mexican restaurant" in a local restaurant reviews site or even just driving around town, spotting places on the side of the road, and adding them to our mental bookmarks lists to try.
La Paloma vaulted immediately from "Here's a Mexican restaurant" to "This is one of our favorite Mexican restaurants." We loved the flavors, the wide enough variety on the menu (plenty of choices without verging into "Here's literally fifty numbered combos" like some Mexican restaurants do), and the old-timey decor. The restaurant was popular, too... at least back in the late 1990s through mid 00s. Back then there'd often be a wait to get a table on a Friday or Saturday night. I recall at least two times we heard "It'll be 45 minutes for a table for 2" and opted to try elsewhere instead.
Over the years we fell out of love with La Paloma. Part of that was on us. For a while we had a lot of Mexican restaurants in our rotation of local Mexican restaurants we enjoyed eating at. La Paloma was less convenient to our home and jobs than the others. With so many other great options it wasn't worth going out of our way for. And then La Paloma started slipping.
Among the news articles I found when I searched today was one from 2017 about new ownership. That was an "Aha!" moment for me because it aligns to when Hawk and I noticed that La Paloma was no longer as good as it used to be. In the article the new owners pledged to keep everything the same- the name, the decor, the menu, the recipes, the staff- but ultimately, as often happens in such situations, things changed. The food lost its special edge and started to taste like just another basic Mexican restaurant. The new owners freshened the decor- the old, vinyl booths from the late 1970s sure were looking out of date- but they cheaped out on the renovation. The left it looking like a 1970s/80s restaurant just with its 1970s/80s vintage carpet replaced with Millennial style fake wood floor tiles.
The restaurant also fell victim to a few problems not of its own making. The Covid 19 pandemic was tough on all restaurants. La Paloma fought its way through but lost a lot of regular customers. Those of us who'd lost interest in them by 2019 weren't rushing back in 2021. And its location was a big strike against it.
By the 2010s all the energy in retail in the area was going to newly rebuilt strip malls. All the trendy stores and restaurants were in newly constructed plazas (those built by bulldozing plazas that had been there since at least the 1980s) with garish colors, bright lights, and too little parking. Okay, La Paloma always had too little parking. But shitty parking alone wasn't enough for them to attract the trendy crowds to a dated commercial zone full of equally dated businesses.
It's exactly that sense of "Everything here looks dated" that struck me when arrived at a restaurant across the street for lunch today. The whole area, a blocks on each side, looks like a holdover from 40 years ago. The restaurant I ate at today looked like it hasn't changed in 40 years. At least they had a good lunch crowd. Across the street, La Paloma is now a kids' education business of some kind. It's the same building on the outside though with a fresh coat of paint. With everything around it looking like relics from 40 years ago, though, who knows how long they will last.
La Paloma was an early-on favorite of Hawk's and mine when we moved to Silicon Valley years ago. We found it when we were in our exploring phase, routinely doing things like searching "Mexican restaurant" in a local restaurant reviews site or even just driving around town, spotting places on the side of the road, and adding them to our mental bookmarks lists to try.
La Paloma vaulted immediately from "Here's a Mexican restaurant" to "This is one of our favorite Mexican restaurants." We loved the flavors, the wide enough variety on the menu (plenty of choices without verging into "Here's literally fifty numbered combos" like some Mexican restaurants do), and the old-timey decor. The restaurant was popular, too... at least back in the late 1990s through mid 00s. Back then there'd often be a wait to get a table on a Friday or Saturday night. I recall at least two times we heard "It'll be 45 minutes for a table for 2" and opted to try elsewhere instead.
Over the years we fell out of love with La Paloma. Part of that was on us. For a while we had a lot of Mexican restaurants in our rotation of local Mexican restaurants we enjoyed eating at. La Paloma was less convenient to our home and jobs than the others. With so many other great options it wasn't worth going out of our way for. And then La Paloma started slipping.
Among the news articles I found when I searched today was one from 2017 about new ownership. That was an "Aha!" moment for me because it aligns to when Hawk and I noticed that La Paloma was no longer as good as it used to be. In the article the new owners pledged to keep everything the same- the name, the decor, the menu, the recipes, the staff- but ultimately, as often happens in such situations, things changed. The food lost its special edge and started to taste like just another basic Mexican restaurant. The new owners freshened the decor- the old, vinyl booths from the late 1970s sure were looking out of date- but they cheaped out on the renovation. The left it looking like a 1970s/80s restaurant just with its 1970s/80s vintage carpet replaced with Millennial style fake wood floor tiles.
The restaurant also fell victim to a few problems not of its own making. The Covid 19 pandemic was tough on all restaurants. La Paloma fought its way through but lost a lot of regular customers. Those of us who'd lost interest in them by 2019 weren't rushing back in 2021. And its location was a big strike against it.
By the 2010s all the energy in retail in the area was going to newly rebuilt strip malls. All the trendy stores and restaurants were in newly constructed plazas (those built by bulldozing plazas that had been there since at least the 1980s) with garish colors, bright lights, and too little parking. Okay, La Paloma always had too little parking. But shitty parking alone wasn't enough for them to attract the trendy crowds to a dated commercial zone full of equally dated businesses.
It's exactly that sense of "Everything here looks dated" that struck me when arrived at a restaurant across the street for lunch today. The whole area, a blocks on each side, looks like a holdover from 40 years ago. The restaurant I ate at today looked like it hasn't changed in 40 years. At least they had a good lunch crowd. Across the street, La Paloma is now a kids' education business of some kind. It's the same building on the outside though with a fresh coat of paint. With everything around it looking like relics from 40 years ago, though, who knows how long they will last.