Lechonera Latina

I know there's grease on it but try not to eat the plastic fork.

Living in Florida comes with a set of perks pretty much everyone would expect--one of them being a steady supply of solid Latin food. Wherever you are though, I feel everyone should have a favorite place to get ropa vieja. There is something so pure in a mound of drippy ass shredded beef and the primal need to floss your teeth with it that I hope all have felt the impulse.

I will never let go, Jack.

It is to the benefit of all then that the intersection of Colonial and Dean has blessed us with one such Latin joint. Lechonera Latina offers the tried and true of Puerto Rican and Cuban cuisine to find its way over the Caribbean including the aforementioned ropa vieja, [...]. Their hours begin at [...]. Be aware however that they only prepare such an amount of each dish every day so come with a second option in mind to fall back on.

Everything about Lechonera Latina exudes a Bruce Springstein, working-class vibe. The restaurant itself was obviously once a gas station, though ironically there are far more cars being forced in and out of parking spaces beneath the remaining pump deck now that it peddles food instead of guzzoline. The sterile interior and winding line of famished laborers scanning the bilingual menu above the vats of food behind panes of glass and a counter leading to the register bring a Vietnam flashback of eons spent reflex gagging on public school lunches. But now everyone in line is drooling in anticipation of what this cafeteria has to offer.