Las Palmas Reopens After Paying Taxes

The popular Mexican restaurant in downtown Maplewood opened for dinner and drinks on Friday.

Margarita lovers in Maplewood will be happy to know that Las Palmas has reopened. The popular Mexican restaurant in downtown Maplewood had closed its doors after failing to pay its taxes on time. Las Palmas reopened for business on Friday night.  The business was cleared to serve food and alcohol after paying its late taxes, Ward 3 Councilman Barry Greenberg confirmed on Friday afternoon.  You can follow Ryan Martin on Twitter at @ryanmartin87 and Maplewood-Brentwood Patch at@MBPatch. For more Maplewood business news on Patch, please see the following articles:

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Police: Man Arrested After Trying to Steal Las Palmas Safe

Maplewood police said a man tried to steal the safe, containing $1,500 in cash, from Las Palmas at about 3 a.m. on July 15.

A Maplewood restaurant owner caught a man carrying his safe out of his business at 3:07 a.m. on July 15, fought with him and recovered the safe. The safe contained about $1,500, according to a Maplewood police report. Edgar Solis-Antunez, 22, of the 8800 block of Balson Avenue in St. Louis, was charged Monday in St. Louis County Circuit Court with first-degree burglary and stealing. Maplewood police said Solis-Antunez entered Las Palmas restaurant at 7356 Manchester Road and stole the safe, which contained cash. The business owner was in the building and confronted him, the police report noted. Bond was set at $25,000. For more crime stories on Maplewood-Brentwood Patch, see the following articles:

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Las Palmas, Advanced Automotive Behind on State Taxes, Testified at Revocation Hearing

Maplewood city council gave the two Maplewood businesses until Monday, July 2, to settle with the state.

Three Maplewood business owners received notices to be at a revocation hearing at Maplewood City Hall Tuesday night. One was Jim Callahan of Jumpin' Jupiter, the others were Las Palmas and Advanced Automotive. The city had received notices from the state that the three businesses were behind in sales tax payments, and not in good standing with the state. Jumpin' Jupiter is behind in state sales taxes and could close Friday, read about it in Patch. Owners of Las Palmas and Advanced Automotive were individually sworn in, and testified before the city council about their financial conditions and how they will take care of the state complaint. Edwin Suarez, part owner of Las Palmas, was at the hearing with attorney Jane Hogan as his legal …

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Food Fight

Poll: Vote for Best Margarita in Mid-County

You have until 5 p.m. Friday to vote in our Readers' Choice poll.

The votes are in! We asked Patch readers for your favorite Mid-County margarita and got some great spots for our favorite weekend meal. We read your comments on Patch, as well as comments posted to our Patch Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. Here are your choices: Thank you to all those who nominated your favorite local establishments in Part 1 of this Food Fight. Now it's time to pick a winner. Readers have until 5 p.m. Friday to vote for their favorite spot, and we'll announce the winner Saturday morning. Be sure to cast your vote below, and as always, happy eating and drinking!

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Food Fight

Mid-County Readers Say Hacienda has the Best Mexican Food

The burritos and enchiladas are the best in the business!

Hacienda Mexican Restaurant in Rock Hill is the winner of this week's Food Fight, in which we asked readers for their choice for the best Mid-County Mexican restaurants. Hacienda won with 25 percent of the vote among the eight finalists. (See our 5 p.m. attached screenshot of the poll.) The results among the other finalists were: Voting in our Mexican Fight poll started Thursday morning and ended at 5 p.m. Friday afternoon. Congratulations to Hacienda for winning this week's Mid-County Food Fight battle. We look forward to hearing from you again in next week's edition of Food Fight.

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Poll: Where's the Best Place to go for Mexican Food in Mid-County?

Vote for your favorite Mexican food from this pool of reader-nominated choices.

Grab your sombrero and join in the fun. This is just a warm up to Cinco de Mayo in a month. A total of seven restaurants were nominated in the Mid-County Food Fight. And Fuzzy's Taco Shop was nominated in the South County Food Fight, so we are including it in our Mid-County Food Fight since it is located in Webster Groves. There are many fine authentic Mexican restaurants within our communities. Voting will remain open until 5 p.m. on Friday. Then on Saturday morning, we will announce the winner. Leave a comment on why you voted, or share your choice on Facebook and Twitter. You can also leave a review of these restaurants on Patch. Just click the links below.   For the best of home Mexican cooking, check out this site.

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James Baer

5:22 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012

Tomorrow, we will reveal the Readers' Choice for best Mexican food in Mid-County. It was a spirited race to say the least.   more ›

Patch Picks: Ole! Five Cinco de Mayo Party Ideas

At your house or out and about.

People in America love the Cinco de Mayo holiday. And why wouldn't they? It's the perfect excuse to throw a pre-weekend party (it falls on a Thursday this year) with delicious food and drink, plus lively music and colorful decorations. This week, Patch brings you Cinco de Mayo party ideas for your house or out on the town, along with all the places you need to get your party necessities. Patch Picks: Ole! Five Cinco de Mayo Party Ideas

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Michelle Blodget

9:58 pm on Monday, May 2, 2011

Great link, thank you Carol!   more ›

Yelp Group Joins the Christmas Tree Walk

Well-known for providing an online platform for local reviews, Yelp also encourages online friends to get out for face-to-face fun.

Among the shoppers at the Maplewood Christmas Tree Walk on Friday was a group of friends from the online community Yelp. The group met at Schlafly Bottleworks for a few drinks before checking out the shops in downtown Maplewood. Yelp is a national website that gives local users the opportunity to review businesses they frequent. Abby Schwarz, the community manager for Yelp in St. Louis, said that friends who met through Yelp online are beginning to become friends offline as well. They like to get together for face-to-face fun. "Most people who write reviews on the site are very passionate about St. Louis," Schwarz said. "So why not go out and actually experience cool events going on in the area?" Schwarz organizes restaurant and shopping …

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