Palomino {Happy Hour}

Did you know "palomino" is a color and not a type of horse? 
Did you know, Palomino, Restaurant & Bar, has a pretty stellar happy hour?
I didn't. Until a week ago.

Palomino is a chain restaurant with locations in Seattle, Bellevue, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Dallas, Cincinaati, and randomly enough, Westwood.  Evidently, the Westwood location has been around for over three years.  (Goes to show you how much I know the area).  Fellow food-lover Wulala and I decided to explore this "uncharted territory" and get our grub on over small dishes and bigger talk. Done and done.

Dungeness Crab Artichoke Dip - $8

Our first pick was the Dungeness Crab Artichoke Dip, and at the end of the night, it remained #1 in our books.  Rich, but not too creamy.  Fresh and not overdone.  The dish would have been tastier if it was accompanied by less burnt flatbread chips.  But that didn't stop us from wiping the dish clean. (Fattiesforlyfe?)

Crisp Calamari - $8

Sadly, we couldn't say the same for the fried calamari.  Fried it was but crisp it was not.  In fact it was... borderline soggy. (?!)  The marinara sauce was also sub-par, but the smoked pepper aioli was decent.

Wild Mushroom, Cured Ham, Goat Cheese Flatbread - $8

Wulala took on the deed to scope out the scene before we ordered our food and decided that the pizzas were way too thin-crusted to be worth our noshin' so we decided on the flatbread instead.  The mushroom, ham, and goat cheese was very rich - maybe a bit too rich.  I recommend something lighter like the Proscuitto or Rotisserie Chicken flatbread because they are topped with more leaves and other veggies.  In any case, still tasty!

Service is excellent and atmosphere is classy.  If you're in the area, check Palomino out!


Suggestions: Crab Artichoke Dip, Potatoes Gorgonzola (criss-cut fries drenched in gorgonzola cheese), and Proscuitto Flatbread.  If you're there for lunch or dinner, I hear the Chop Chop Salad is one of their bests!



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cuisine:  American 
location: West L.A./ Westwood
website: { menu | yelp }
attire: Casual
parking: street or valet ($6)
notes: The address is listed as Wilshire, but the actual entrance is located on Glendon and Lindbrook. If paying $6 for valet parking is not your cup of tea, you can try meter spots on Glendon (on either side of Wilshire).