a quest for spanish food
my fiance frank is half-puerto rican, half-cuban. he is a spanish/caribbean/south american food aficianado, and had been missing his plato montanero and arroz con pollo pretty badly since we moved. cleveland's culinary scene seems to be lacking in this one area. we like ohio city's very cute and delicious puerto rican lelolai bakery, but he was looking for more of restaurant. so a nice man working at lelolai a couple of months ago came to the rescue and tipped us off to rincon restaurant. rincon is in detroit shoreway, and has weird hours (don't bother showing up after 7 p.m. or on sundays) and no web site, but the food and atmosphere are just what we were looking for. so are the prices. most of the entrees cost $5-10, and side dishes are super cheap, $1-2. though there isn't much for a vegetarian like me, i love plantains and rice and beans and am content ordering just those. when frank found rincon, it was like obama just offered him the vp slot.
someone mentioned to me that some good spanish places might just be hiding...possibly in lorain. anyone have any ideas?
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I second La Tortilla Feliz...I've never been there but I've heard it's good and I've also heard enough stories of people walking in there and being surprised that it's not Mexican, a la Luchita's.
They might have some Puerto Rican fare at the Villa y Zapata on West 25th, too - although it's technically a Mexican restaurant, I think the family that runs this location is Puerto Rican. I never get anything there other than enchiladas, so I've never really looked at the rest of the menu....
thanks for reminding me about the cleveland ethnic eats book. i've been meaning to buy a copy.i googled el manantial and found this so maybe it is still open. frank would rejoice. still gotta try el taino, though from the outside, rincon looks nicer.
this is far from from the topic of spanish food, but yesterday i saw a somalian restaurant on rocky river dr. that i've passed a million times but never noticed till yesterday. wonder what that's like! (maybe similar to ethiopian).
I didn't realize your fiance is half Puerto Rican! We have that in common, b/c Jose is also a half breed (although, his other half is Irish. . .making him one of the whitest Latinos ever, haha).
So, we have been brainstorming on good recommendations for you guys and thought you might enjoy this Dominican restaurant on 4616 Clark Ave (right across the street from the local Nazi headquarters no less!) called Quisquella La Villa. They don't have a website, but they can be reached at: (216) 651-3410.
Let us know if you have the opportunity to check it out*
ps - We definitely second El Taino!
kelly & jose,
awesome, thankyou so much!
nazi headquarters-what ?! details.
P.S. I miss Lozada's on 25th Street. *sniff sniff* They had the best accapurra's de yucca.