Holy food coma I am in right now! Tonight a group of us came here in hopes of having some awesome Puerto-Rican food. Half of our group was Puerto-Rican. I had to laugh when we pulled up to the front and saw various Puerto-Rican flags showing through the window. The sure sign of proud Puerto-Ricans.
This place just opened a couple of months ago and looks to be family run. I could see them hard at work making the food from scratch. Along those lines, be prepared for a wait awhile for your food for that reason. I had some pork pastelillos which was ground pork in a fried empanada shell ($2) and pernil with arroz con gondules (pork with yellow rice and pigeon peas, $10) with pink kidney beans. I also tried some of the fried porkchop and mofongo. Everything I tried was delicious and the pernil was just like my mom makes. I realize now why I rarely eat rice and beans because I have no inner gauge telling me to stop eating! The rice was moist and when I added the kidney beans over it, I had a bottomless pit for it.
A couple of cute things I noticed: 1) they brought my daughter's water and food in pink plastic cups/plates that were similar to what she uses at home. I found that to be approachable and endearing. 2) The salsa/merengue music they were playing was from a boombox playing CDs (being manned by a guy dressed head-to-toe in Puerto-Rico clothes). I just loved that.
For a new place, this restaurant has fantastic things going for it. I gave it 4 stars because I think there are still some bugs to work out. If you go, know that you get your check and pay up front. We waited at our table FOREVER after eating because we were waiting for our checks. It would be nice if the server dropped off the check at the table and then you go up to the front and pay. The owner told us he rents out the facility for free for large groups over 35. Pretty cool.
Since this place is around the corner from my neck of the woods, I forsee food coma take-outs in the future...