June 30, 2025
La Palma Mexican Grill Celebrates Three Years of Flavor and Family in Leesburg
By Gina Horan
La Palma Mexican Grill Celebrates Three Years of Flavor and Family in Leesburg
When Ildefonso Hernandez took over La Palma Mexican Grill three years ago, he brought a successful background in construction, a clear sense of what he liked and a strong work ethic to an already established team willing to show him the ropes.
“I didn’t know anything about running a restaurant, but I knew what I wanted and I was lucky enough to have very talented people who were already there to guide me through,” he says. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Now, after juicing thousands of limes, making hundreds of gallons of salsa and serving enough tortillas to wrap the state of Florida, La Palma continues to be a neighborhood fixture with a future as big as its burrito Tejano.
Since day one, Ildefonso has been supported by his wife Annette, sister Sylvette and mom Esperanza. Together, they’ve built something that feels like home: fresh, authentic food served in a laid-back, family-friendly space where regulars become friends and friends become family.
Like the restaurant, the Hernandez family is growing with the neighborhood. Three-year-old Rodrigo now has two little sisters: Camilla, who is two, and baby Paloma, just seven months.
The menu has its stars, including sizzling mojarra fried fish, siete mares soup and classics like enchiladas, fajitas and arroz con pollo. Their signature Molcajete is great for sharing.
The bar is always lively, anchored by Ildefonso’s signature margaritas served in glass Patron bottles with flavors like passion fruit, peach and banana strawberry. They plan to remodel the bar area this year.
On Mondays, margaritas are $5 and on Taco Tuesday, they serve three-for-one tacos in various styles. There are also lunch specials and a kid’s menu.
This year’s Cinco de Mayo celebration brought out a full house with standing-room only on the patio, live music from Mariachi de Tampa and plenty of margaritas to keep the party going.
From holiday events to family dinners, La Palma has become the go-to Mexican restaurant in Leesburg and the kind of place you remember.
La Palma’s catering business is thriving too, feeding teams at Walmart, ROMAC, T&D Construction, Premier Pools and more. With room for 250 and themed events throughout the year, including last year when the Grinch showed up at Christmas, the space easily handles big crowds and special celebrations.
The tropical forest behind the restaurant came with the property and over time, friends and family have helped clear the dense acre, uncovering a mini produce aisle in the process with two kinds of mangoes, banana trees, limes, Florida avocado, figs and mini red peppers.
So, if the kitchen ever runs low on fresh supplies, they just have to step outside and find some.
La Palma Mexican Grill
1690 Citrus Blvd., Leesburg
352.323.1444
lapalmagrill.com
Gina moved to central Florida in August of 2021 from the San Francisco Bay Area. She has a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics and spent 10 years as a fashion editor, columnist and food writer for The Knight Ridder Newspaper group. She was also a photo stylist and covered concerts, fashion shows and festivals all over Northern California. In 2000, she joined KSAN radio as a morning show co-host and produced the news and sports content there for 4 years. She also covered travel, events and the restaurant scene for KRON-Bay TV. She is a veteran bartender and has worked in hospitality on and off since high school. Her passions include travel, road trips, history books, baseball, tasting menus and most of all, landing in a new city with no map or guidebook. Gina lives in Oxford with her mom, cats and baby hamster.
