A I really love getting into the off beat neighborhoods and trying the little neighborhood places like today. I stumbled on this Puerto Rican place and I wanted to try it because I don't really see true Puerto Rican places at all come to think of it. I have not had Puerto Rican food since I was a boy eating at my friends house and I can only remember that rice was always on the dish. The place is across from the El Ray food store on 13th St with plenty of street parking. The neighborhood looks a little worse for wear but that is where you can find some of the best ethnic/real food. If there is such a thing as Puerto Rican dive than this place is it with all the artificial trees and roosters all over the place. There is plenty of old green booths and tables on old linoleum floors. Up front is a hot table with empanadas, blood sausage, pork, plantains etc. The older man and woman were very helpful in assisting me with picking out a dish that would be a good representation of Puerto Rican food. The menu has so much that I really don't know what it all was but I probably would have liked all of it no matter what I chose. I chose the Bistec enpanado which is thin breaded steak, Puerto Rican rice and fried plantains with a side of ground beef and cheese empanada. When the plate hit the table it smelled amazing and was plentiful so there would be left overs to relive my lunch again. For the first time I liked the plantains because they were not hard but fried with the texture of a thick slice of cheese. The rice had great texture/flavor and was fluffy with individual grains, no sticky mushy rice here. The breaded steak was very tasty but I can't nail down the flavor profile which bugged me. The empanadas was crispy/golden tasty but they were skimpy on the ground beef and cheese filling because 3/4 of the inside was air, see my pictures. I really liked all the flavors from the dish but I think the nicely seasoned ground beef and cheese empanada was my favorite with the crispy golden she'll. Overall for my first real adult experience with authentic Puerto Rican food I liked it even though the style is not super flavorful with bold tastes or flavors/spices. I would definitely like to get back and try some more of the menu, maybe the roast pork or the cubano sandwich. read more