Papagayo Mexican Grill

Papagayo has been closed for a while now. The space is being renovated for the coffee shop that will open in its place. I hope it’ll have enough business — I’m not sure how much traffic there is in the area.

This place freaking rules. My coworkers and I come here for lunch pretty much every week. The tacos are delicious and cheap. They have Mexicoke. And the carnitas fajita, which I always order well done, is gigantic and ABSURDLY tasty. (It’s also rather pricy, I admit, but IMO worth it. Anyway the taco price makes up for it.) Their various salsas are also tasty. Oh, and the owner is personable and nice.
There are some negatives. They have a strangely inconsistent/​mismatched set of furniture (chairs, tables). Sometimes there is plenty of room in the place, but not enough chairs for everyone. The location is convenient but not exactly scenic for outside seating. Umm… that’s about it. Highly recommended for lunch.
Are they closed? What is going on? One day there was a note about how the owner has «gone fishin’,» and nothing since. That was a few weeks ago.

Papagayo is now closed. A New Breakfast place is slated to open in this location soon.

I have lived in the Crystal Springs area of San Mateo since 1997. I was a huge fan of the big Papa when it opened in late 1900’s and the menu was awesome. Fast forward to now and the menu is bad.
The original owner sold out and the new owner cuts corners. Fortunately for him Safeway is just a short walk away and he buys his frozen vegetables and fish there and thaws them out and serves them to you.
Also the space is available for lease. Check it out on loopnet. Obviously has already thrown in the towel.

I don’t know why I stopped coming to Papagayo over the past few years for a quick local burrito. The owner is extremely nice as well as the other staff. I’ll always remember when I was a little 1 and was short $ 2.50 cents for my meal and the manager let it slide. It’s things like that about customer service that make me show a lot of love for a business.
I always get a burrito and can’t complain. I know rice is usually very generic in taste but Papagayo must put a special ingredient in their rice considering it’s honestly some of the best I’ve ever had.
I’ll probably be making a trip back to Big Papa very soon, thanks to Unilocal for the reminder.

The staff is really friendly and the atmosphere is great, but the burritos are not that great. The burritos are a bit cold, the cheese on the inside is not melted, it was supposed to come with guacamole but I think it came with the other green sauce instead. The mild sauce with the chips was not great either, it tasted very plastic in a way. If the owner of the restaurant take a stroll down Mission st in San Francisco I am sure he will be able to triple his clients in no time.

I simply love this place. Jim, the owner, is simply amazing when it comes to customer service. I really don’t see this in other places I go to. I typically get their cheese, spinach, chicken quesadilla which is really good. My friend who hates spinach will eat spinach if it’s ordered here. Yeah, that’s how much we like it.
The salsa is like no other. Spicy is the way to go. I can’t even explain, just try it.
The juice they have is delicious. My favorite is still their pineapple juice but recently they added a cantaloupe which is just as good. I haven’t tried their other drinks but I wouldn’t be surprised if it tasted just as good.
Back to customer service, this has happened countless amount of times and I am still stunned every time I go. Regardless of what he is doing, when my order is ready he takes my order walks to back (where you can enter to the kitchen) and walks the order to me and hands it over. It is definitely a good 20 – 30 steps in order to do something like this. The thing is, the counter is easy enough to just hand it over the counter especially when he is busy. For example, if a call comes in he asks the customers to hold (instead of multitasking) gets my food and still walks around the counter just to hand it over personally. You tell me where to go to find good customer service like this without spending a fortune.
By the way, he probably has taken speech and communication classes because he is definitely sociable and if it wasn’t due to it only being lunch hours I could chat with him for a while. Very knowledgeable.

Not the best Mexican food I’ve ever had. I grew up on Mexican food and have tried many restaurants. This is honestly the first restaurant that gets 2 thumbs down from me.
The food was just really bland. I found that really unusual and even though I’ve had not so great Mexican before, I’ve never had bland food.
The salsa is perhaps the defining dish that summarizes what the restaurant is about. Each place I’ve been to is always unique. The mild salsa tasted like canned tomatoes. There was no spice, texture, nor aroma. We asked for the hot salsa instead. It was ridiculously hot! So hot that whatever they put into it masked everything else. It was like sucking on a jalapeño. Again, no aroma, the tomatoes had no flavor nor any other spices. Bad salsa is a first for me!
I went to this place because I had a Certificate for it.
btw is a joke! My
certificate required that I buy $ 35+ worth of food AND tack on a mandatory 18% tip. We ordered a burrito, huevos rancheros, and steak nachos. It was over $ 40 in the end. Doing the math, I figured out that the $ 20 cert I bought from
for $ 10 gave me about a $ 3 discount in the end after they got me on the mandatory tip. anyways back to the food:
The burrito was a decent size but the inside wasn’t very tasty. The steak on the nachos and in the burrito had a beef jerky like consistency and had no flavor. The sour cream was fluid-​like and so was the guacamole. I was very disappointed that the guacamole was watery and neon green colored… a big sign that they are using prepackaged ingredients rather than fresh produce. My huevos rancheros was the biggest disappointment and I felt absolutely ripped off. Imagine a plate with 2 eggs, a big helping of beans, and a big helping of dry rice for $ 8. I have had huevos rancheros many times before and don’t think I’ve ever NOT been excited about it. I could’ve sworn there should be more goodies on the plate. Sauce maybe?
The service is superb and location is great. That’s why it gets 2 stars. As far as the food goes, Mexican food lovers may find this place a disappointment and dull. I have also come to the conclusion that they might not be using the freshest ingredients which explains the flat flavors, blah textures, and unappetizing presentations.

This place has great service with the best prices. Food is always fresh and more than enough to share or take home.

Gave this place a shot a couple of times… Friendly service, okay prices, but the food is really just «ehhhh.» I’m always extra-​disappointed to find just so-​so Mexican food in the Bay — with so many amazing Mexican places around, I can’t waste my time on the not-​so-​great ones.

This place has delicious burrito’s and tacos!
I always order the prawns burrito and its always amazing!
this is a family run business so I like supporting them!
def. check it out if your in the neighborhood.
just a tad bit pricey for mexican though.
cute atmosphere with outdoor seating

I have only eaten here twice — first time was about 2 years ago (or maybe even longer) and the second time was just the other night. And now I sit and think to myself «Why did it take so long to come back here?» The food is great and so was the service.
When we walked in we got a greeting from the owner who made it feel like he already knew us. And the boyfriend was so quick to pick something out but it was taking me a while to figure out what I wanted and the owner was very patient with me as I tried to figure it out.
I ended up getting the prawn burrito and the boyfriend got the super nachos with carne asada. You can either sit inside or outside, we sat outside because it was such a nice night out. We got complementary chips and salsa, one salsa was mild (it actually tasted sweet) and one was spicy. My burrito came out and it was HUGE — it was enough to feed the both of us, then his nachos came out and those were HUGE — they were also enough to feed the both of us. And the best thing is — both were delicious.
I’ll be back, soon :)

This is a solid, no fuss place to get a good mexican food. I used to frequent this place quite frequently, when I lived a mere minute drive away. It was a standby place I could order my two carne asada tacos and be happy while i watched tv after a long day of work. Like the review before me, the nachos are HUGE.
Jim the owner is a good dude and they are very friendly to regulars, like you are at home for a meal. The complimentary extra chips and salsa is always a plus. What more can you ask for?
Here’s a tip, if you plan on ordering around closing time (8:30pm), call ahead with your order.
Only downer is they are closed on Sundays.

soggy peas and carrots in my veggie burrito, bland tasting too, no thanks.
service was nice
but i won’t be going back

This place has a really nice atmosphere. I ordered the nachos and the portions were way too much for one person to handle. The food was good. The piece tastes kind of plain but other than that it was good. Really good service also. Their spicy salsa is not that spicy.

I enjoy eating here and do so at least twice a month. The food is fresh and of high quality for a very fair price. The owner, Jim, is a genuinely nice guy and takes good care of you while you are there. The restaurant is casual, bright and airy, with large windows and an outdoor patio. It’s a pleasant place to dine any time of year.
I usually order a custom-​made veggie burrito or the salmon taco (yummy), although lately I’ve been ordering the full dinner plates such as the tamales or enchiladas, which are well-​prepared and not drowned in cheese. In addition to the high quality of the main food items, their spicy salsa is excellent, as are the agua frescas which are made fresh daily. Try the Strawberry, Mango or even Tamarind for a change of pace.
All in all an excellent choice for quality Mexican food at a reasonable price.

We have had many dinners here, nice folks, food is just okay. They do not have alot of imagination when it comes to asking for «ligther» menu items.
Not sure it’s the cleanest place in Crystal Springs either. Like I said the staff is great, but food is stale.

It’s good to know there’s a quality Mexican Grill in the suburbs of San Mateo. The prices are totally fair and the food quality is top notch. The cuts of chicken are a little denser than most, not stringy like other taquerias. Their verde sauce is also very tangy, which is why I get the wet pork burrito almost every time. Good house salsa and superb nachos as well. The atmosphere tops it off. There’s a jungle mural spanning all walls of the restaurant, complete with a jaguar for your protection. The owner is very friendly and the service is always sharp.
CSM students, take note.

This place has a tropical interior, and an outside patio, if you want to eat outside. Nice staff as well. Ordered burritos from this place many times. They’re pretty good, especially the carnitas. I agree with earlier reviewers, the crab enchildas are good.

One of the best secrets in San Mateo — I swear if they moved downtown they would make a killing.
This is no ordinary taqueria — marble tables, glass (not plastic) cups, real silverware, cool jungle-​style murals on the walls.
It has a family-​owned feel, and they are very friendly.
If it’s crowded, expect a slight wait. But some stuff is worth waiting for, like their Cuban Burger or perfect quesadillas.