el porton cafe

i lived in colombia for a year and i liked eating at a place with good latin music and food. however, theserviceis really poor. our server wrote nothing down and then messed up our order twice. then each time we told her she argued and told us we'd made the mistake. she actually asked my wife to scrape the meat out of her arepa and they'd fill it with another kind of meat. then the manager brought out the replacement arepa and gave us more attitude. we won't go back.  the food is good, but not worth the awkwardness of the service.

excellent food...probably the best empanadas ever. the staff is very friendly andserviceis prompt. jose, the owner, came by the table and welcomed us. outstanding flan!

delicious pabellon. i went to eat there last night with my best friend!! theservicewas excellent and so was the food. very comparable to the pabellon that i ate when i travelled to venezuela. i cannot wait for jose to have cachapas on the menu!!

ate here twice this week. i came with my neighbor on wedneday and had the lunch special chicken sandwich. marvelous! my wife was jealous so i took her there saturday. she wheat intolerant so she likes white corn "pitas". i had a cubano sandwich with sweet potato fries. consistently good food.


-----17 may, 2012-----

my wife and i had a late lunch here. the food was excellent. very unique for a midwesterner.servicewas friendly and quick. we will be back.

outstanding. we thought the food was delicious and theservicewas excellent. the ambiance needs work though. when we arrived at 8:00 the lights were turned up to full bright. we asked if they would dim the lights and after they did, it helped although they only dimmed one section. if they would dim the lights at dinner time and maybe put a simple candle on the table this place would have a better feel. we may have trouble getting our friends to go unless or until they do. the byob concept is a plus.

my favorite restaurant. this is my favorite restaurant!!! i would rather eat here than anywhere else. the chicken empanadas are delicious and the citrus salsa is wonderful. i almost passed out when i first tasted the tres leches dessert, it was so delicious!!! this food is very delicious and i enjoy eating there. theserviceis also very good and there is a server there that looks american but speaks fluent spanish, anyways, she is an excellent asset to the restaurant.

husband and i would recommend. latin american/caribbean food offered here. we enjoyed our first visit and sort of tried a few things all around the menu. we started with a beef empanada and a queso fresco arepas. loved the empanada and thought it stood up to others we had had in the past. the arepas we were not too crazy about however there were a half dozen to select from and maybe we just made a bad choice. it was a griddle-warmed masa patty with thick slices of cold, white cheese inside. my husband can not pass up a cuban sandwich which is what his entree was and he enjoyed it, i had chicken in adobo sauce which was served with some fried plantain, rice, black beans and green salad. i thought it was all delicious. at one time i had had fried plantain and didn't think i liked it until i had "g" insist i try some of his at "g's jamaican" on troost and he was right-i love them done right. the plantains served here were like "g's"-yummy! there have been several reviews saying that the food was bland. i find latin american food to be full of choice ingredients which the cooks allow the fresh flavors to speak for itself. i found it all vibrant and rich with the flavors of the food and not salt and pepper. as for theserviceand atmosphere. i think the atmosphere is "comfortable" and theserviceis somewhat "laid back". come to dine and engage with your friends and the flavors of latin america.

update. i have been there twice since my last review, and i am so pleased to say that i am close to adding this restaurant to my favorites! every time i go back it gets better! the yucca fritas are just phenomenal every time (ask for their aioli for a dipping sauce) and the pernil (pork sandwich) and the pan con bistec (steak sandwich) were deeee-licious! great great value for the price! i will definitely be working my way through the menu at this place!


-----23 jan, 2011-----

tentative recommendation.. i will give it a tentative "like" because while my meal was just so-so, i really liked the atmosphere and there are other things on the menu i know i will like better. i had "the works" with the chorizo arepa, a chicken empinada, shrimp and scallop ceviche, beans and rice. they really packed the arepa full of chorizo, and it was very drippy and messy to eat. i literally ended up with bits of chorizo all over the table. it tasted good, but i don't think i would order it again. same with the chicken empinada, though i tasted my husband's beef empinada and it was delicious. the ceviche was good, but definitely lacked salt. once i added salt, it was much better. the yucca fritas we ordered on the side were hot and very crispy and tasted very nice, but the plantains on my plate came out luke-warm and strangely rubbery. the somehow tasted like they were not very fresh. my friend's tostones were much better. the rice was superb. i wish i knew how to cook white rice like this...makes it slightly sticky and sooo flavorful. the beans were so bland i hardly even touched them, but then i have had food from this region before and that seems to be par for the course. finally, the tres leches cake was just ok. i have definitely had much better and for a small piece of cake, i think it is a little nervy to charge $5.50. theservicewas awesome, we got our food very quickly and the lady, maybe the manager (?), was attentive and helpful with recommendations. i will definitely be back to try some of the other dishes that i know i have liked elsewhere to see how they measure up.

it was off the beaten path for us we are headed back to texas from iowa and i'm glad we took a chance. the cafe is small but has some very interesting art pieces on the walls. theservicewas great and the food was very good. it was the best south american good we have had in quite awhile. the food in austin or dallas can not compare. the next time we are in the area we will stop in to enjoy a good meal.

el porton good, not great. i went with a couple of friends from work to el porton for lunch and had "the works" special, with the ecarne mechada arepa and a chicken empanada.
although the empanadas are small for how much they cost ($2.50), this empanada was probably the best i've ever had!
the arepa is basically a patty that is like a really thick tortilla that is fried in a skillet and then split open and served with shredded beef in it. the end result looks like a sandwich. it was very good.
the ceviche tasted fresh and light, and to be honest it was the first time i have ever had ceviche so i really have no frame of reference. i liked it, it's not going to be one of my favorite dishes.
the black beans and the rice were good, but neither was seasoned much. the plantains were seasoned to be sweeter than i am used to and were not crisped up like i like, but that could just be the way this culture cooks them. they were good, not great, which really sums up the overall experience. the menu said this platter comes with avocado, but none came on my plate.
theservicewas pretty good, not great, and the overall price with tax and tip was $15. that is steep for what i got. i may go back, because the different flavors were good, but not often, because the price was not.

good food!. my husband and i have eaten here on 2 occassions. we went for dinner and liked it so much went back the following week for lunch.

service and food was great the first time for dinner. for lunch, theserviceunexpectedly bad. when we walked in the server didn't acknowledge our presence and we were left standing while he finished his conversation with someone in the kitchen. after a couple of minutes, which seems like a long time when you are being ignored he sat us down at a table with lots of crumbs underneath it. all of the tables had crumbs underneath them and it was early in the day. we asked him questions about the food and he gave answers that were not helpful or descriptive. it was such a difference from our experience the week before. the steak sandwich however was wonderful,