el porton cafe

i lived in colombia for a year and i liked eating at a place with good latin music and food. however, the service is really poor. our server wrote nothing down and then messed up our order twice. then eachtimewe 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.

exceptional latin comfort food, exceptional price. i dined here for the firsttimetoday with my boyfriend, and i can easily say that we will be returning soon! the prices for the menu as a whole are very reasonable. we shared the bollitos de papa rellenos to start. they were so tasty! for being a deep fried appetizer, it wasn't too heavy. the sauce that accompanied it was fantastic. for lunch, we both got arepas and split a side of rice. he got the ceviche & i had the de pabellon. the combination of tender pulled beef, sweet plantain, black beans & aged cheese was out of this world!! they also have excellent freshly squeezed juices (we had the mango).
my only complaint about the place was a slight language barrier between us & our server. it was slight enough to not impede ordering our meals; everything came out correctly. the ambience was lacking, but i did enjoy the pieces displayed on the walls. the servers were friendly & efficient. i am looking forward to returning soon.

best south american food in kc hands down. this restaurant is awesome. the staff are extremely helpful and welcoming. the food is delicious and authentic. i would recommend this restaurant to anyone. make sure to try their empanadas, they are hands down the best empanadas i have had outside of buenos aires. nexttimeyou are thinking about your local tex mex chain, try this place instead!

thank you jose for bringing this food to kc!

one of the best restaurants in kc. we love it! lasttimewe dined here i had the tamales which were wrapped in banana leaf! a special that i'll be requesting again.

outstanding. we thought the food was delicious and the service was 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 dinnertimeand 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.

the inner door cafe of leawood. what el porton lacks in ambiance it makes up for in flavor and service.

after snacking on a sweet potato fries small plate, i ordered the empanada lunch combo for $9.

a beef and chicken empanada came with a bright vinegrette dipping sauce, black beans, rice and sweet plantains.

this is latin inspired cuisine for those possibly needing a break from the "dime a dozen" mexican joints out there.

nexttimei woud like to splurge on one their dinner entrees... i'm sure they do it well.

the only problem i had is that i had to tip a dollar more than my work associate that accompanied me.

2 thumbs up.

great lunch option. fantastic food for a good price. a friend and i went here on our lunch hour, as our company had just moved we are looking for new favorite places to eat. we came across the reviews on here about el porton cafe and decided since it was close we should try it. now i can only speak for myself, but we were greeted in a timely manner, our orders were taken quickly, and our food arrived fast. i ordered the ceviche combo. very good! i only ate 1/2 of the arepa as there was alot of food on the plate. i think nexttimei will do just an arepa and then a cup of soup so i am not overly stuffed and can still be producticve at work. this will most likely become one of my go to options in the area.

excellent lunch!. my wife and i went there for the firsttimetoday. i had the pollo adobado, and she had the lechon asado. both were very tasty and the meats were tender. we split a flan afterwards. not overly sweet at all - just right. we'll definitely be back. lots of other items on the menu we want to try.

very good. looking forward to returning often!. i went to el porton for the firsttimewith my friend today. we were actually looking for a pupuseria that used to be in the same location, but when we saw it was venezuelan instead we were happy to go along with that.

i had the reina pepiada (arepa with chicken & avocado salad, $5) with the platanos maduros (sweet fried plantains $2) on the side and i thought they were outstanding. the arepas are a little softer and bigger than the ones i make at home, and i loved them. i think they are the griddled/baked kind rather than straight up fried kind.

i thought the plantains had great texture and flavor and i really liked the place. it's not so close to my house, but i know i will be back many times. i am really looking forward to taking out of town guests here for something special. the prices are reasonable and i had a filling lunch for only $7.60 (after tax, before tip).

i'm looking forward to trying some of the other arepas varieties, as well as the lechon, in future visits.

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 onetimei 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 the service and atmosphere. i think the atmosphere is "comfortable" and the service is 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! everytimei go back it gets better! the yucca fritas are just phenomenal everytime(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. the service was 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. the service was 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 nexttimewe 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 firsttimei 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.
the service was 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 firsttimefor dinner. for lunch, the service unexpectedly 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 longtimewhen 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,