Canon Restaurant Review: La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant (Flowery Branch, GA)

In any aspect of life, there are certain things that are so overhyped by people around you or on television or whatever that you think there is no way it could possibly be as good as they say it is. Sometimes, the hype is actually worth it, and other times you end up disappointed, like how many people were disappointed with Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy, or how I was disappointed by The Matrix Reloaded. Now, you're probably wondering why I am bringing all of this up during a restaurant review. Well, I have a very good reason, because everything I have heard about La Parrilla is that it is the best by golly Mexican restaurant in the stratosphere. A lot of that talk has come from my good friend and Canon Review reader Dickson S., who is quite fond of the place. But he doesn't seem to be the only one. Go ahead and Google La Parrilla, and you will see a lot more positive reviews than negative reviews. Anyway, today Dickson, my sister Maggie and myself made the trek to Flowery Branch and I finally got to experience the majestically of La Parrilla for myself. Will it live up to the hype, or will it make me feel as if I had once again seen that crappy Matrix film?


We get there, and the place is packed, so we have to wait a few minutes for a table. Although it's a bit annoying, it's also a very good sign because the place wouldn't be so crowded if the food was terrible. There was an open bench outside the restaurant, so I decided to sit my butt down. We waited for about a couple of minutes, not too long, and were seated at a booth not too far away from the bar. The place is decorated like, well, a typical Mexican Restaurant, I suppose. They had a couple of big-screen televisions on the wall, and I was fortunate to sit near one of those TVs, so that was nice. Of course, I couldn't hear anything because they didn't have the sound on, but whatever. There was also a mariachi band in the restaurant, and while it may had added some authenticity, there loud playing also annoyed the heck out of me. The band plays different standard songs and even played a couple of mariachi versions of popular mainstream songs, like "Margaritaville" and Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child of Mine". I wanted to request a Nickelback song, but neither one of my dining companions liked that idea at all.

Like a lot of Mexican restaurant, La Parrilla provided a free bowl of tortilla chips and some salsa. The chips were good and fresh, and the salsa was decent, although I wouldn't have minded a bit more spice, to be honest. The menu at La Parrilla was at least 10 pages long, and there was quite a wide variety of Mexican flavored foods available. If one were so inclined, they could try the Mexican Cheeseburger or Mexican Chicken Sandwich, or they could order a steak or different seafood or chicken dishes. They also have a selection of vegetarian dishes as well. Well, since this was my first time here, I decided to order something simple, so I went with combination number 2: one taco, one enchilada, and one chalupa. Meanwhile, Dickson ordered his favorite dish, a Burrito a La Parrilla with steak, while Maggie opted for the Seafood Burrito.

To my surprise, the wait for our food wasn't too long at all, especially considering that the place was packed. Actually, the service was very good overall, although I have a feeling that our waiter may have been a bit flustered, as he forgot what drink I had ordered at first and later seemed to forget a refill of Maggie's drink. But he tried hard and was attentive, so overall I have no problem with the service. As for the food, I wasn't all that crazy about the taco, as it tasted no different than a taco you might get at Taco Bell or something. The chalupa was pretty decent, as the beans were good, but there wasn't a lot of cheese on it, which was disappointing. I will say that the enchilada was very good, and if I ever eat here again, I'll probably end up ordering one of their enchilada specials. That was by far the best part of my meal, as the sauce was just right and the meat was cooked very well. Plus, unlike the other two dishes, they loaded up the cheese on the enchilada. Of course, Dickson liked his dish a whole lot, and Maggie seemed to like hers as well, although I found it odd that her rice looked as if it were dumped out of a can and served on the plate. I can't attest to how it tasted, because I didn't have any and I never did ask Maggie how it tasted either, so chalk that up as a mistake on my part.

Even though I probably shouldn't have, I ended up ordering some dessert. I thought about ordering some churros, but instead I went with the fried ice cream dish, which was served with bits of granola and honey and came in a flour tortilla shell, and the whole thing was topped with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and had a cherry on top. The dessert tasted very good, but it was quite rich and even though I ate it all, I kind of felt sick to my stomach for a few minutes after eating it. That's not the fault of La Parrilla, but still I feel as if you should know these things. It was quite a sizeable portion as well, so if you ever want to order a dessert from La Parrilla, make sure you are able to eat it first, or just do what I did and share it with someone (in this case Maggie).

Overall, did La Parrilla live up to the hype? Well, not really, but then again it was hyped so much that I was led to expect the greatest meal of all-time or something from there. La Parrilla was a very good Mexican restaurant, though, and I certainly wouldn't mind if I had to go there again. I'll probably order something different though. My final score for La Parrilla of Flowery Branch, GA is a 7.43 out of 10.

Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas for future reviews, or thoughts about this and previous reviews, than feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com. Now, for no good reason, here's a music video from Savage Garden: