Panama Joe’s in Belmont Shores California

Panama Joe's (also known as Sharkees) has been a favorite hang-out for the wife and I for some time. Located in Belmont Shore, PJ's is centralized right down in the hub of the area. On weekends (and evenings), you can find a whole slew of interesting people here. Thankfully, Tuesday nights is NOT one of those hardcore party nights.

The Establishment
PJ's is lucky enough to be on a corner lot. There is a lot of room inside the bar and restaurant area but only a few table located outside. If you can get one of these, I would suggest it. The locals walking by (heck, even the not-so-locals) do provide something for your eyes to do. Be prepared though...the outside tables are small! You'll soon be moving unused items on to the ground. On the inside, there are plenty of TV's, most tuned to some kinds of sports. Great if you and your Taco Tuesday partner(s) are into that...bad if they're not. Your eyes will be drawn to them alot!

Chips, Salsa and the Coveted Guacamole
Our usual chips/salsa/quac combo was ordered and brought to the table. The chips are large, thick and very crunchy; beware if you have soft gums. The salsa has a bit of a kick to it but, as usual, Capsaicin Head and I typically devour the first bowl in mere seconds. The guac is nice and smooth and contains lots of big chunks of avacado. While Capsaicin Head loves it, I thought there was quite a bit of cilantro in it. The flavor is all cilantro and, to me, overpowered the rest of the flavors. But that's just me. CH had no trouble powering it down.

The Main Course - TACOS!
For the first course, I ordered a Mahi Fish Taco and a Blackened Shrimp Taco. Both were delivered in a nice, sturdy bowl. That bowal needed to be sturdy since it also supported 4 small bowls - one with rice, one with beans, one with sour cream and one with guacamole. Before diving into the tacos, I gave the rice and beans a quick taste. The rice was good; nice, tender grains with a little bit of tomato stirred in. The beans, on the other hand, were off the hook! I told the wife to give them a go and after dipping her fork for the sample run almost emptied the cup on scoop two!

I started the taco tasting with the Mahi Fish. Light, tender pieces of breaded fish were scattered in the taco. While good, I couldn't help but feel the fish was REALLY fishy. Ya, I get it, it's fish. But I've had fish tacos that tasted like fish but weren't fishy (go ahead, chew on that statement for a sec). I know some of you know what I'm talking about. Not my favorite, but still some good tacos. The Blackened Shrimp Taco, however, was the redeemer! The shrimp was uber-juicy and, paired with the sauce, made this easily one of my top 3 favorite shrimp tacos! Each bite was like sinking my teeth into a shrimp-flavored water balloon. Definitely a must try (and for me, a must try again!).

Final Thoughts
We love Panama Joe's. We've been there quite a few times. Unfortunately when we decide on a location for Taco Tuesday we make sure that we make that our 'test' day; we don't let other visits or other experiences hinder our judgements. That being said, we experienced some not-so-great service from our waitress. I'm sure she was busy, however at the time we were there we didn't see many people in the restaurant. Both Capsaicin Head and I have worked in the food prep/delivery field at one time and know what it takes to be a waiter/waitress, but we both agreed that the wait times were a bit excessive. Other than that, we had a great time will go back again.

Taco Tuesday Tip: Go early. Parking can suck if you get there too late.

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