Jacksonville Review – February 2025

ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2020, many of us huddled together on California Street and watched Las Palmas Restaurant burn to the ground. Not only was the community devastated by the loss of a favored eatery, but we were also equally concerned about the fate of the beloved Rodriguez family, who’d given all of us so much more than tasty meals for so many years.

This January, more than two years after the fire, Las Palmas has reopened, and the community is thrilled. Luis Rodriguez, Jr. told the Review that most nights have been stellar, with large dinner crowds, eager to welcome back favorite servers and staff, many of whom are still with the restaurant. He delights at the crowded tables that have broken out in song together, singing “welcome back Las Palmas” themed songs and clapping exuberantly for the waitstaff and kitchen crew.

Luis is quick to thank the city, who granted permission for him to operate a food truck on the site of the burned-out shell of a restaurant—a move he says saved his family business. He’s grateful that the community showed up nightly and ordered favored dishes, held fundraisers, and got them through a terrible period. The food truck that enabled him to help his family continue working together also enabled him to purchase Los Arcos Mexican Restaurant on Sage Road in Medford. Today, many of the faces you’ll see in Jacksonville were recently trained at the Medford location and now join many familiar ones.

Luis sums it simply: “We feel the love of being back!”