Puerto Rico’s culinary pathways are rich and curvy. It’s a beautiful amalgam of influences from Indigenous to European to African. Plantains figure prominently, as does pork, rice and pigeon peas (known as gandules). It used to take some searching to find these creations in Milwaukee, but not any longer. The island of enchantment is right at your fingertips. Dig in at these spots:
1. Las Virellas
636 S. SIXTH ST.
Making a tripleta sandwich (with three kinds of meat) and a Boricua Box (including roast pork, fried plantains called tostones, rice and salad) is a labor of love for the owners of Las Virellas food truck, which will continue its residency at Zócalo Food Park until the end of the year. Las Virellas doles out “grandma”-quality comfort in a carryout container.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
2. Santurce Sport Bar & Grill
3010 S. 10TH ST.
Named after owner Brenda Caraballo’s home district of San Juan, Santurce goes for glory with its jibarito (a sandwich that features plantains in place of bread), roast pork or the plate of the day, which might include rice and beans, tostones, steak or fried pork.
3. Sabor Tropical
2258 S. KINNICKINNIC AVE.
Sabor’s large menu covers a lot of delicious ground, from amarillos (fried sweet plantains) and tropical wings to slow-roasted pork with guajillo chile sauce to a veg dish with three kinds of legumes, sofrito (a chunky herbal sauce) and rice.
4. Johanna’s Café
1239 S. 11TH ST.
As bakery-forward as this little business co-owned by sweets maker Johanna Ortiz is, it still offers delicious lunch dishes such as jibaritos, Puerto Rican rice, fried pork and alcapurrias – root vegetable fritters stuffed with meat. It can’t end here, though. Pick up some coconut flan or guava and cheese quesitos pastries for later.
