Si Señor

Si Señor is the latest Latin sandwich stop to open up in the Central Business District. Much like El Arepazo, Si Señor features food from a couple of different countries in Latin America, and the specialty of the house is sandwiches.

The business model for Si Señor is geared toward take-out diners and a limited clintele for fast-casual dining. There are 10 seats in the restaurant.

Si Señor has a fairly small menu. Vegetarians have only one option with a choice of side dishes: a roasted portabella sandwich with red onions and chimichurri sauce.

My rule for restaurants goes something like this: if you have only one vegetarian sandwich on your menu, it had better be damned good. Si Señor passes this test with flying colors.

The condiments on the portabella sandwich are lip-smackingly good. Chimichurri, the omnipresent garlic-and-parsley-based condiment of South America, is slathered atop the sandwich roll, and a rocoto mayo is on the bottom. Rocoto is a South American pepper that looks like a red bell pepper but tastes more like a hot wax pepper. Both sauces add a great flavor to the roasted mushrooms.

The avocado salad was also delightful. The fat flavor of ripe avocado is augmented by vegetal notes in the greens and a bright, fresh flavor from cilantro and lemon juice. The red pepper vinaigrette sweetens the taste enough to add another layer to a dish that is already bursting with luscious, unctuous flavor.

Other vegetarian side dishes are the cilantro cream pasta salad and the mixed green salad. I will have to sample those on a future visit.

Most items at Si Señor are prepared fresh in-house. They have a limited dessert selection that includes Latin favorites like tres leches cake and flan. Owner Guillermo Perez was an excellent host, checking with everybody to make sure that their meals made the grade. My total price was about $10 for a sandwich, chips, salad and a drink.

Si Señor has moved down the block from the Pearl Street Market. They are testing the waters to see if weekend hours would be feasible. For now, they are open Monday through Friday for lunch.

Si Senor

El Arepazo

I finally succeeded and took pictures while I was eating lunch at El Arepazo. They prepare Pan-Latin food that is made fresh and cheap with enough vegetarian options to keep you from repeating an item during the working week.

I have eaten here a number of times. Unfortunately, I kept forgetting to take my camera. The store is small, and both the inside and outside walls feature interesting art work. El Arepazo is located in the Pearl Alley by Gay and High Streets.

Carlos Gutierrez, the owner, does a virtual tour of food from the Spanish speaking New World. There are vegetarian burritos and empanadas on the menu, as well my personal favorites, the arepa and the patacon from Venezuela.

An arepa (pictured above), is a sandwich on grilled corn meal disks. The vegetarian arepa is made with lettuce, tomato, cheese, black beans, banana peppers and a pinch of the cilantro sauce. It also costs less than $5, tax included.

The patacon is a boat made of deep fried plantain stuffed with lettuce, tomato, black beans, avocado and cheese. It is delicious and enormous.

There are some great sides, including deep fried plantains, the delicious Cuban cousin of the banana that gets a caramel sweetness when cooked in oil. El Arepazo also has free delivery for lunch orders of greater than $10.

They are open Monday through Saturday, and it seems like their hours can be a little bit flexible (as in they open when they get around to it, not by the exact hours on the door). But the service is fast and the fare is affordable and well made.

El Arepazo has been featured in a number of other blogs (here, here and here), and rumors are swirling that Carlos and the owners of Due Amici are planning on collaborating on an upscale Latin venture. If it's half as good as El Arepazo, I'm there with bells on for opening night. Check out the pictures below.

El Arepazo