Restaurant Review: Taberna El Guaro Colombian Cuisine
November 10th, 2009 by Brian Ries in Food and Drink, Sarasota-Manatee
Taberna El Guaro
3 stars
3626 Webber St., Sarasota, 957-0000 or tabernaelguaro.com
Colombian cuisine has yet to receive widespread appeal. On the whole, that’s a good thing. It means that restaurants like El Guaro are more interested in appealing to the homesick taste buds of Sarasota’s ex-pat Colombians than the expectations of a populace jaded by neutered and sanitized ethnic foods.
The food at El Guaro is so simple, and so evocative of hearty home-cooking, that dining there feels like eating in someone’s old-fashioned dining room, albeit with beer on tap. That house atmosphere is heightened by the remnants of the previous occupants — first a Barnacle Bill’s outpost, then the local chain’s aborted attempt at a new concept with Chef D’s Italian Fisherman. The ceilings are too low, there’s grainy wood everywhere and the tables and chairs seem like remnants from an early ’80s Dinettes R’ Us.
Like the décor, El Guaro’s food is refreshingly uncomplicated. Beans and rice, arepa or tostone, and meat, lots of it, at prices — almost all below $10 — that belie the sheer caloric value of what’s on the plate.
Take, for instance, the bandeja paisa (pictured). It’s a sort of sampler platter, featuring a wide range of El Guaro’s offerings crammed onto one plate. There’s a mound of plain white rice; a cup of bland, soupy red beans; a silver dollar-sized arepa (a griddled white corn cake); chunks of bright green avocado; crispy chicharrone, with chewy bits of deep-fried pork and fat poking out; a link of rustic Colombian chorizo glistening with grease and studded inside with marble-sized chunks of fat; and a wafer-thin steak marked by a caramelized crust that’s seasoned just with salt. Topped by a simple, over-easy egg, I suspect it could feed a family of four, but it’s meant as both sustenance and reward for hard-working men fresh from their toil. There’s no artifice to this dish — or to any of the food at El Guaro. Just straightforward meat and starch, seasoned properly and cooked the way mama and grandma did.
In Argentina, you might find arepas like those at El Guaro covered in a variety of herbacious, saucy toppings. Here, though, simplicity reigns. One is topped with deep-fried pork ribs, the crisp meat pulling away from the bones. Order an arepa con chorizo and you’ll get a plate-seized corn cake with a link of sausage, looking like a odd interpretation of an American hot dog. Nope, the Colombian version of a dog comes sliced lengthwise, sauteed, and dropped on top of a pile of hot French fries, something akin to what your mom might do if you complained about another weiner in a bun for lunch.
Besides arepas, the other classic Colombian starter is empanadas. Instead of the pastry crust common to Carribbean versions, El Guaro’s is almost more tamale, the beef and cheese wrapped inside a thick cornmeal batter and, again, deep-fried. They come with a basic salsa with just enough flavor to accent the dish without becoming the star, like all the sauces at El Guaro.
There are more complex dishes here, but even those smack of home-cooking: traditional soups like ajiaco — with chicken, corn, potatoes and avocado — that are a meal by themselves; whole, deep-fried fish that come intentionally overcooked, the steamy flesh inside contrasted with a chewy, crackling exterior; and arroz con pollo that’s drizzled with a too-sweet sauce and surrounded by French fries.
In other dishes you can see the way that other cultures have influenced the Colombian menu, like a hamburguesa topped by ham and a fried egg, or beef stir-fried in soy sauce. El Guaro also serves a wide variety of the fruit-derived shakes and drinks popular across the Carribbean basin.
Thanks to the changing make-up of immigrant populations in Florida, and across the country, we’ve been lucky to see restaurants like El Guapo pop up in Sarasota. A few years back it was a Peruvian invasion. Then it was Boricua cuisine at Bacalao. Now El Guaro adds to our Colombian repertoire, making it easy for locals to eat like we’re on a cultural exchange tour, without ever leaving our hometown.
Photo by Cooper Levey-Baker
olombian cuisine has yet to receive widespread appeal. On the whole, that’s a good thing. It means that restaurants like El Guaro are more interested in appealing to the homesick taste buds of Sarasota’s ex-pat Colombians than the expectations of a populace jaded by neutered and sanitized ethnic foods.
The food at El Guaro is so simple, and so evocative of hearty home-cooking, that dining there feels like eating in someone’s old-fashioned dining room, albeit with beer on tap. That house atmosphere is heightened by the remnants of the previous occupants — first a Barnacle Bill’s outpost, then the local chain’s aborted attempt at a new concept with Chef D’s Italian Fisherman. The ceilings are too low, there’s grainy wood everywhere and the tables and chairs seem like remnants from an early ’80s Dinettes R’ Us.
Like the décor, El Guaro’s food is refreshingly uncomplicated. Beans and rice, arepa or tostone, and meat, lots of it, at prices — almost all below $10 — that bely the sheer caloric value of what’s on the plate.
Take, for instance, the bandeja paisa. It’s a sort of sampler platter, featuring a wide range of El Guaro’s offerings crammed onto one plate. There’s a mound of plain white rice; a cup of bland, soupy red beans; a silver dollar-sized arepa (a griddled white corn cake); chunks of bright green avocado; crispy chicharrone, with chewy bits of deep-fried pork and fat poking out; a link of rustic Colombian chorizo glistening with grease and studded inside with marble-sized chunks of fat; and a wafer-thin steak marked by a caramelized crust that’s seasoned just with salt. Topped by a simple, over-easy egg, I suspect it could feed a family of four, but it’s meant as both sustenance and reward for hard-working men fresh from their toil. There’s no artifice to this dish — or to any of the food at El Guaro. Just straightforward meat and starch, seasoned properly and cooked the way mama and grandma did.
In Argentina, you might find arepas like those at El Guaro covered in a variety of herbacious, saucy toppings. Here, though, simplicity reigns. One is topped with deep-fried pork ribs, the crisp meat pulling away from the bones. Order an arepa con chorizo and you’ll get a plate-seized corn cake with a link of sausage, looking like a odd interpretation of an American hot dog. Nope, the Colombian version of a dog comes sliced lengthwise, sauteed, and dropped on top of a pile of hot French fries, something akin to what your mom might do if you complained about another weiner in a bun for lunch.
Besides arepas, the other classic Colombian starter is empanadas. Instead of the pastry crust common to Carribbean versions, El Guaro’s is almost more tamale, the beef and cheese wrapped inside a thick cornmeal batter and, again, deep-fried. They come with a basic salsa with just enough flavor to accent the dish without becoming the star, like all the sauces at El Guaro.
There are more complex dishes here, but even those smack of home-cooking: traditional soups like ajiaco — with chicken, corn, potatoes and avocado — that are a meal by themselves; whole, deep-fried fish that come intentionally overcooked, the steamy flesh inside contrasted with a chewy, crackling exterior; and arroz con pollo that’s drizzled with a too-sweet sauce and surrounded by French fries.
In other dishes you can see the way that other cultures have influenced the Colombian menu, like a hamburguesa topped by ham and a fried egg, or beef stir-fried in soy sauce. El Guaro also serves a wide variety of the fruit-derived shakes and drinks popular across the Carribbean basin.
Thanks to the changing make-up of immigrant populations in Florida, and across the country, we’ve been lucky to see restaurants like El Guapo pop up in Sarasota. A few years back it was a Peruvian invasion. Then it was Boricua cuisine at Bacalao. Now El Guaro adds to our Colombian repertoire, making it easy for locals to eat like we’re on a cultural exchange tour, without ever leaving our hometown.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:32 am
So glad you got to try this place. I’ve eaten there several times and really enjoy it. Hope they do well!
November 11th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
until “ajiaco” appeared in this review, I was not tempted. But….this soup, prepared by necessity I imagine without the butter yellow quarter sized potatoes. one of three varieties in the recipe, is a NATIONAL TREASURE DE COLOMBIA
I cannot wait to try it…….Suzi K