Category Archives: Latin American

Chimiking Restaurant

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**** (4 stars)

Chimiking takes this space over form a previous tenant with somewhat similar cuisine, but the space and service is now vastly cheerier. The specialties are chimichurri burgers, Dominican sandwiches and mashed plantain mofongos.

I tried the garlic shrimp, which was served literally swimming in butter in a bowl lined with mashed plantains. Pretty rich, but tasty. My companion has the triple meat sandwich, which he liked.

In addition to an assortment of regional soft drinks, they also offer beer, wine and sangria.

The space is newly painted and clean and bright, and the highlight of the meal was our very friendly server. Although it looks like a counter service place, in fact it is pretty much full table service.

Chimiking Restaurant
6700 Conroy Windermere Rd
Ste 105
Orlando, FL 32835
(321) 732-3933
http://www.yelp.com/biz/chimiking-restaurant-orlando-2

Babalu Tacos & Tapas

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**** (4 stars)

This very popular spot offers a combination of Mexican inspired dishes and small tapas plates. As noted elsewhere, the table-side guacamole is extremely good, and I really liked the homemade tortilla strips served with it.

Ceviche is actually diced tuna with citrus and avocado. Shrimp and grits we classically prepared.

Service was very friendly and our server was obviously very proud of the quality of her restaurant.

Babalu Tacos & Tapas
622 Duling Ave
Jackson, MS 39216
(601) 366-5757
http://www.yelp.com/biz/babalu-tacos-and-tapas-jackson

Kelly’s Mexican Latin American Restaurant

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*** (3 stars)

This Ma and Pa Latin American restaurant offers Guatemalan and Mexican food such as Jocon and Fried Tacos.

Everything is prepared to order, so service can take a while.

We really like the complimentary guacamole we were served, with fresh homemade chips straight from the frier.

Service was friendly and the place is bright and clean.

Kelly’s Mexican Latin American Restaurant
6642 Old Winter Garden Rd
Orlando, FL 32835
(407) 435-2560
http://www.yelp.com/biz/kellys-mexican-latin-american-restaurant-orlando

Havana

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** (2 stars)

I loved the ambience of this place, which looks and feels exactly like a cafe in old Havana.

Unfortunately, that’s where the love stopped. As someone who lives much of the year in Florida, I’ve had a lot of Cuban food at many different restaurants, and I’ve never encountered anything like what is served here.

First off, the lunch menu has been taken over in part by Tex-Mex items such as quesadillas, not a good sign. Perhaps foolishly, I stuck with something that sounded authentically Cuban, and had the Pollo from the dinner menu, along with a cup of black bean soup.

Good black bean soup is smooth, with plenty of whole beans and crispy bits of onion. This gritty slurry had none of those characteristics.

Traditional Cuban chicken is roasted, with a crisp, garlic coated skin and moist interior, exactly as described on the menu. What showed up, though was a soggy mess covered in a weird salty white gravy that had almost no flavor.

It had more flavor than the “congri,” it was served with, though. That mixture of rice and black beans was dry and utterly flavorless. Fried yucca was similarly flavorless, but had a nice crisp exterior.

The saving grace on the plate were the ripe plantains, which were perfectly caramelized and still hot from the sauce pan. Sadly, one out of five is not enough to get me to ever return.

It’s a shame because the service was efficient, and the place looks great. They just need major adjustments in the kitchen.

Havana
412 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 644-1900
http://www.yelp.com/biz/havana-chicago-2

Vermilion

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***** (5 stars)

Vermillion offers very interesting food in a trendy, upscale atmosphere with a nice soundtrack.

They bill their food as a fusion of Indian and Latin, but it seemed to lean much more to Indian, although none of the items were traditional Indian, each had a unique and interesting spin.

We tried an extensive assortment of tapas, appetizers, and one entree, and enjoyed all of them. There is also an interesting wine list with about half the selections available by the glass.

Service was friendly and attentive.

Vermilion
10 W Hubbard St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 527-4060
http://www.yelp.com/biz/vermilion-chicago-2

Patacon Con Todo

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***** (5 stars)

This is a great Colombian place for some out of the ordinary food. The main dish is served on either crispy or sweet plantains with your choice of chicken, beef or chicharrones (crispy pork skin). The thing that makes it particularly delicious is the great assortment of sauces to put on them. Try the combination of garlic and pineapple.

There are also a lot of other selections, including arepas and empanadas, and even hot dogs. Even though eleven of us showed up for lunch and one guy was handling the order taking, food prep and serving, it was really quite fast.

The place has a fair amount of seating for a counter service restaurant, and is spotlessly clean. Definitely a great spot to try something different.

Patacon Con Todo
6700 Conroy Windermere Rd
Ste 105
Orlando, FL 32835
(321) 732-3933
http://www.yelp.com/biz/patacon-con-todo-orlando-2

Pig Floyd’s Urban Barbakoa

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**** (4 stars)

It’s not really fair to characterize Pig Floyd’s as a barbecue place, because they’re trying to do several different things, and succeeding pretty well. It’s not exactly a fusion of Asian and barbecue, either, although there are “tacos” on their menu.

The best way to sample the menu is to order the Big Floyd, a barbecue sandwich featuring a literal pile of brisket, pulled pork, sausage and fennel slaw. All the meats were tender and flavorful. I liked the strong smoked taste of the pulled pork, but the standout was the sausage, which was some of the best I’ve had. I’m really not a sausage fan, but that’s the meat I’d concentrate on for a return visit.

The fries that accompanied the sandwich were a bit sturdy, and the default barbecue sauce not quite the rich, spicy variety I’m looking for. The bun was good enough, but frankly the sandwich was so big I just ate the meat and slaw.

I also tried the shrimp and sausage taco, which was very saucy with a creamy mayo like mixture that seemed pretty rich. And I tried the butter chicken taco, which had a good flavor but was mostly rice sopping with the butter sauce, not my favorite ingredient in a taco.

You order at the counter and they bring the food to your table, inside or out. Beer and wine are available.

Pig Floyd’s Urban Barbakoa
1326 N Mills Ave
Orlando, FL 32803
(407) 203-0866
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pig-floyds-urban-barbakoa-orlando

Zapatista

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*** (3 stars)

This output of the Zapatista chain is a bit smaller and somewhat less convincingly themed than some of the others, but the food is pretty much the same.

The highlight is the made to order guacamole, with is served with coarse ground corn tortilla chips.

The conchinitas pibil is a savory entree choice, a large heap of slow cooked marinated pork with pickled onion slices.

Service is friendly and efficient.

Zapatista
1307 S Wabash Ave
Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 435-1307
http://www.yelp.com/biz/zapatista-chicago

Longitud315

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***** (5 stars)

Superb ceviche, perhaps the best I’ve had anywhere. The sampling of empanadas as interesting, the arepas less so. The drunken mushrooms were a standout, as was the coconut sorbet served with the chocolate cake.

Wonderfully welcoming atmosphere and superb service throughout our visit make this place a special treat.

Longitud315
315 Waukegan Ave
Highwood, IL 60040
(847) 926-7495
http://www.yelp.com/biz/longitud315-highwood-2

Libertad

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***** (5 stars)

From the outside, with its dark windows, this place looks like a questionable dive, but step inside and it’s a trendy, vibrant (i.e. loud) and wonderful restaurant.

The menu offers fewer than twenty dishes, but if what I sampled is any indication, there is plenty of variety, and a lot of amazing culinary skill behind it.

Yes, it’s Latin American influenced, but if I hadn’t been told that I’m not sure I would have guessed from the dishes I was served. I had an arugula, blue cheese and walnut salad that was superb. Then scallops on black rice that were equally superb; in fact, they were quite possibly the best scallops I’ve ever had.

They have positioned themselves as a tapas style sharing restaurant, but the servings are much larger than tapas, and two dishes was all I could manage, although I wanted to try more.

The beverage service is also noteworthy. I had a specialty margarita with a smoky character that was quite interesting, and then I tried the sangria. Wow. This was easily the best sangria I ever tasted. In addition to Burgundy, brandy, apple and berries, there was also “hum,” a botanical spirit that added an amazing complexity. It was so fantastic I found it online and sought out a place to buy a bottle on my way home (Binny’s on Dempster, if you want some).

Service was friendly and fast. The place was packed, but kitchen service was prompt and didn’t seem stressed at all.

The only downside is the noise level. On a Tuesday night there was no possibility of conversing with a tablemate in anything less than a shout. But if that doesn’t put you off, this is a truly impressive restaurant.

Libertad
7931 Lincoln Ave
Skokie, IL 60077
(847) 674-8100
http://www.yelp.com/biz/libertad-skokie