El Pio Pio Cafe
El Pio Pio Cafe
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Under $10
2 reviews
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This review is for a DELIVERY scenario… can't speak to the dine-in situation!
So, it was a rainy, crappy January evening. A Friday, to be exact. I looked at the Mister and proclaimed, "I'm feeling carnivorous."
I needed meat. Red meat. The more I pondered, the more I knew – a churrasco was in order. But, alas, as I said, the weather was craptacular, and I was NOT about to hunt for parking after going out for food. Delivery was the name of the game tonight… but from where?!
Las Palmas? No – I didn't feel like paying the few dollars in service charges that Aguacates to Go was going to impose for the delivery, and it was a Friday, so there would likely be a wait. I could have walked to Centro Latino… but rain. So, no. Then, shining like a beacon of hope on the horizon, there was the number for the Pio Pio. Just a few blocks away, inexpensive, and free delivery? Done.
I called in the order – I placed it in Spanish, but it was clear that the person taking the call was fluent in English as well (an important nugget of information for some of you fine readers, I'm sure).
– 1 small churrasco, med rare w/ white rice & red beans
– 1 small churrasco, med well w/ white rice & black beans
– 1 camarones alajillo w/ steamed yuca and platanos maduros*
– 1 tres leches
– 1 flan
*The shrimp were a strategic maneuver – we both wanted an app, but the appetizer sized camarones was $7.95… whereas the entree version was $11.95 and offered two sides as well… so, splitsies. Leftovers. Yay.
I put the order on my card and was told that we'd be chowing down in 30 minutes…
34 minutes later, the doorbell rings. The gentleman delivering our order even apologized for having been a few minutes late (good on him for that, though I really wasn't going to quibble over 4 minutes on a rainy Friday night). The food was still hot, and everything was packed well – the rice separate from the beans, so that nothing would get soggy, etc.
We dug in.
The steaks were great – each was to the desired degree of done-ness, topped with the requisite raw onions, and with some fresh cilantro (nice touch). The beans were tasty, and the rice portions more than plentiful. The yuca was good – not mushy, and not stringy, and the mojo was garlicky and delicious. The maduros were good – not greasy, and while a couple of them verged on being too charred, overall they were enjoyable.
Our only point of contention was the shrimp. Camarones alajillo, in my experience, are best when simple — I should see the diced garlic, and taste good quality olive oil. Instead, what we received were some admittedly nice looking shrimp (good sized, cooked properly) in a pretty bland reddish sauce – red as in sazon, or a little bit of tomato in the base. It wasn't offensive or "bad" per se, but a little bland for our taste, and not at all what we had in mind.
Dessert was as expected – the tres leches was rich, and the flan tasty (although if you don't like a heavy, eggy version of your flan, I'd stay away).
All in all, we were pleased with the meal, and the price was right. Pio Pio has officially been added to our delivery go-to list.
No surprise, I like Cuban food. This place delivers good Cuban dishes. I've had their Sandwiche Cubano and found it to be pretty good. Also tried their Ropa Vieja (shredded beef) and thought it was tasty along with yuca con mojo and white rice.