Joya Restaurant and Lounge Reviews

Really average food. Drinks selection is good, bit don't come here looking for good food.

Sangria good. Food ok. Nice menu/selection. Service much worse than expected for the price point/ratings. Go somewhere else.

Delicious food, creative and unusual preparations that still adhere to traditional flavor combinations, with a diversity of tapas options. A little pricey, but very tasty.

Great food, little pricey and service slow when busy but good nonetheless

I was a little hesitant about a restaurant that painted with a brush as broad as "Spanish and Latin American". It seemed like going to a restaurant claiming to serve "Asian" food.

The paella was good and takes 40 minutes. However, the "dog" in the chorizo corndogs seemed a little bit dry. My favorites were the Kobe Beef mini burgers and the Yucca fries (you can just taste the Yucca!).

Well, we just walked by. It looked inviting. The host was most accommodating. We sat in the lounge and ordered tapas and drinks. Man, everything was on the mark. They didn't miss a beat. It's comfortable and the food is on point. We'll be back. And thank you all for the smiles.

Food is good. The tapas is pretty awesome. I recommend the chorizo corn dogs and the short rib tacos. The new world chips are worth ordering too. Good drinks (try the kiwi strawberry julep).

A little louder than what I remembered from last time I visited. This time I had the Argentinian style steak and it had a very not Argentinian pesto on top...

Great cocktail try Jorges Beer, kinda like a mule with orange juice yum

Good food. Don't go in between lunch/dinner. You'll be seated and forgotten.

Meh. Looks nice, menu is interesting, service was just okay. Arrived at 9pm, was told kitchen would close in 20 minutes, so no table, sit in the bar for tapas and drinks only. Seating in bar is couches and low tables. Short rib tacos were good, veg empanadas were fine. Churros dessert wasn't good. Cold, missing cinnamon and chocolate sauce was bland. We may try again for dinner but want impressed tonight.

Get the yuca fries, the bacon wrapped dates and the cheese platter. Skip the paella (no flavor) and the ceviche (bland). Sangria was just ok.

Terrible experience here. Mediocre food, bout of food poisoning, and when I tried to call them the day after to tell them about it, they said they'd call me back. Never got a call back. Won't be eating here again.

The most amazing tapas, loved the scallops and delicious sangria!

Despite the swish decor, the service at Joya was a bit haphazard in comparison to other Paulo Alto restaurants I've visited - the staff were slow and insisted on pouring our sangria themselves rather than just letting us do it. Foodwise, the mushroom paella was far too spicy for the groups liking - we ended up having to order other dishes to replace it.

Menu looks great, but the food is pretty mediocre. Pricey for what you get.

Decent food. Place was not the most accommodating for a group of 15 people. Mint in mojito was fresh, which a big plus for me.

Good atmosphere, closes late which is rare. Good tapas and solid cocktails. The service here is ok but sometimes you'll need to wave to get proper attention. The atmosphere is very hip and you should definitely try the tuna tartar.

Their food is not great. I don't drink so I don't know how their alcohol taste like. It's a nice place to sit and chill tho.

Not good value. Empanadas too doughy and tasted like they were a microwaved frozen dinner

Stay away from the tacos! Churros with the dark chocolate are perfect!

A bit pricey (it's Palo Alto after all), but pretty good food and drinks. Recently it felt a little worse though. It used to be my favorite place, but since some time it doesn't taste as well as it used to.

I'm pretty stingy on giving out 5 stars but this place is about a four and a half great service good selection wine

Great atmosphere quick service strong drinks good food

Good service and food. One star less given the service can sometimes be a bit variable. One piece of advice: the paella says it serves two-- it can serve four!

Great Spanish food with great ambience. We were assigned a 2 person seating at the corner but The couch flipped over when you sit too far to the edge and causing uncomfortable thru out the dinner. Ordered seafood chipotle and it was good . Wide selection of meat and seafood as well as wine selection. Attentive waitress and will come again to try other food in order for me yo make fair comments especially the food quality. 3 stars rated due to safety if the seat !

Sangria and dessert was great. Food was decent, service was not the best.

Nice selection of Tapas and drinks. Busy, so early reservation is highly recommended.

Awesome vibe and a great alternative to all the Italian and Asian food in Palo Alto. Tapas are the way to go and they're generously sized.

Loved their Yucca fries! A must have. Moist inside but crispy outside. Amazing. It might have been the best Yucca fries I've had for years.
We also ordered the pork sandwich and the chicken sandwich. My partner liked the chicken sandwich more. In his own words "the best chicken sandwich ever". I have to admit, the chicken was very tender. The entire sandwich has a simple taste, the sauce wasnt over powering the meat. You can truly enjoy the taste of the chicken.
But my favorite was the pork sandwich. This is really a personal choice. For me, I always enjoy the explosion of different, bold flavors in my mouth. And the pork sandwich managed to do just that. There were definitely a lot going on in that sandwich.
Highly recommend. I would love to visit again.

We had a group of four and stopped in on a weekend evening around 8:30pm for a round of cocktails. I can't speak to the food, but the cocktails are overpriced and were okay, mediocre service (no one addressed us when we walked in nor asked if we needed a table), and pretentious atmosphere. There are plenty of amazing local restaurants with more character and better service.

Absolutely delicious tapas. Never thought brussel sprouts could be so tasty. Get the pineapple dessert.

Dont do entrees. Quality declines with larger preparations

The kids love to eat here, food and service are both great!

Had the best table in the restaurant for streetviewing.Sangria and tapas were great.

I think I will come here again, the Cuban was good. I would recommend coming here and having the octopus.

Usually swing in for appetizers and drinks. The staff is friendly and professional, the food never disappoints and the drinks are always spot on whether it is a Manhattan or a Chocolate Martini.

Great and different food. Good selection of drinks. Inside and outside dining.

*Our visit was pre-COVID-closures*

Great spot for classic tapas (crispy Patatas Bravas and refreshing Ceviche were perfection!) and a delicious paella for two! Service was excellent! Definitely a Downtown Palo Alto gem that I highly recommend! We will be revisiting whenever it reopens.

We enjoyed the tapas sampler a lot, as well as the steak. The chimichurri sauce was very good.

Nice food and great cava. Consistent good service and food. Great place for a date night :)

Service was pretty good. Green salad was good. Tuna in the tartar wasn't fresh and the chips were stale. Hanger steak was pretty good too. Overall I wont be back. There are much better restaurants in the area.

Service was a little peculiar, checking in with is a number of times when we were right in the middle of eating, not being comfortable with us ordering multiple rounds of tapas, bringing dishes we had not ordered, but it is a nice space and nice food.

The classic paella was excellent! Much better than in Spain. The heirloom tomato salad was also delicious.

It's irresponsible to not change your hours on Google. I came to the restaurant, and you were closed .. a big inconvenience.

Service was adequate but nothing special. Steak was very fatty, cold, and not seasoned well. Tapas were just mostly deep fried apps. For the price, not worth it really.

The food had an odd taste and when I complained to the waiter he said it was an exotic spice in the sauce with my prawns. The prawns tasted off but I decided to try it anyway. I spent the night throwing up and was sick for two days. On top of that they charged me $35 cork fee for a bottle of wine that I was given. It turns out the charge was $25 and the waiter added $10 to his tip. Horrible experience, stay away....

Food was just OK. Service at the end of meal was awful.

Everything was delicious, especially blood sausage.

I tried their paella which they cook from scratch, it was tasty. Good job!

Great tapas & cocktails! Perfect lounge & table seating.

I stopped in here after dinner for drinks with friend. The lounge is posh with casual cushioned bench seating. Service was friendly and helpful. This was a great place to sit and have a long chat with friend.

Love the place especially the lounge area.
My usual is Tuna tartar and Dirty Vodka Martini. Not cheap.

great tapas; beautiful people and that includes the hostesses

Love this place! Our third time there and we know our favorites - the sangria is good and goes well with the tapas, the fries are excellent and a change from tortilla chips with guacamole. Most of the tapas are good. The place is always full, weekend or not, so reservations are recommended. The chocolate lava cake with passionfruit ice cream was a deeply satisfying finish to a good meal.

Excellent food and cocktails. Mash-up of several South/Central American cuisines (Caiparinhas, Yucca Fries, Ceviche, Argentinian Steak, Bacon-wrapped Dates). Definitely try the tapas route as your whole meal--the diversity of flavors, meats, and textures makes for a very interesting meal. The Argentine Hanger Steak MELTS in your mouth.

This restaurant has gone downhill. Had dinner here Wednesday night and the food was not impressive. Bland, luke warm, flavorless. The table service was slow. I would not recommend this restaurant. There are so many better options close by. Disappointing experience.

Casual laid back place with good food. Nice place to hang out after work.

A good destination for Latin tapas. The place is very nice. Modern decide. The food is very decent, if just a little overpriced. Good place to have a lunch or dinner meeting.