I drive past this place every day and always tell myself that I will try it. So, with very low…read moreexpectations, I decided to pop in there for some dinner yesterday. This tiny Dominican restaurant has the feel of your basic Chinese takeout place - very small, with some tables available if you wish to eat on the premises. It's located a couple of short blocks away from the Lakeview train station inside of a strip mall next to a car service station. It doesn't look like much from the outside and the inside doesn't impress much either. As I walked in and took a quick look around, I could tell that this place might have an issue with cleanliness, as the walls and floors looked like they needed a good scrubbing. As I said, definitely a Chinese takeout vibe going on here. However, unlike Chinese food, this food is not prepared fresh - it sits behind a glass counter in a buffet style setup. You simply point at what food you want and the woman behind the counter scoops it up for you right out of the hot metal dishes. I don't know how long some of this food sits out like this, but my guess is that it would be more than a few hours. I inquired about some unidentifiable food that looked pretty good and was promptly warned that it "might not be good anymore" and was kindly advised to try something else. I asked about another dish, some kind of potato looking thing, and the woman behind the counter was instantly perplexed. After some back and forth with the other women working in the kitchen, who were hard at work with their tenderizers flattening out some delicious looking meat, the woman behind the counter took a fork and proceeded to cut the potato looking thing to see exactly what was in it. "It's sweet," she said, as the sound of the tenderizers filled the room. Her response was good enough for me. "I'll take one of those, too," I replied. Along with the sweet potato thing, I also got some rice, beans, and chicken. My friend ordered the same thing and we got in the car and took the food home. Despite my initial apprehension, the food was actually pretty good, and cheap. Two orders of rice, beans and chicken, and the sweet potato, cost us $13. We got a ton of good food for a great price.
The previous business that occupied this address was a soul food restaurant that went out of business a while back. I don't recall when this place opened but it has to be a few months now, I guess. Hopefully it can do some good business and stick around for a while. Next time, if I'm ever in the mood again, I will come earlier in the day - maybe all of the food will be fresh!
