We visited Barroco Grill on Tuesday, December 23rd by accident. Steve’ Mom Barbara and partner Ray were in town visiting, and the five of us (including my Mom Graciela) ventured out to see the Cleveland sites. At some point close to lunch, we decided we wanted to see the shores of Lake Erie. Since Steve’s Mom hurt her knee, we thought having lunch where you could view the lake would be a good compromise to walking the shoreline. According to Yelp and Urbanspoon, a good place for a lake viewing lunch is the Lake House Restaurant. So, we all piled in the car and headed to Lakewood. The reviews are correct in that Lake House Restaurant looks like a great lake viewing lunch, but alas the restaurant was closed for the holidays, so we weren’t able to try the food.
Turns out their loss was our gain.
We quickly asked Urbanspoon for a recommendation nearby in Lakewood, and up popped Barroco. Barroco specializes in Central and South American cuisine and boasts handmade arrepas (think homemade “Hotpockets” made from white hominy corn). The restaurant also makes by hand sauces (not really “salsas”) you can squirt on your chips, entrees, and pretty much anything. I would list them here, but I forgot all the flavors and their website does not list them (Figure). For appetizers, we had the guacamole served with homemade tortilla chips and fried plantains. We also had the condado cheese dip. My Mom is lactose intolerant, so she couldn’t have the cheese dip (more for us!). For our main meal, four of us had the reina pepiada with red bean chili on the side. I am not sure what my Mom had because 1) she ordered in Spanish and 2) she had the order altered because of her lactose intolerance. I think she had the steak patacon without cheese, but who knows. Overall, we all raved about the food, especially the cheese dip and guacamole. We also ordered ceviche, but it never made it to our table. Service was attentive, despite the ceviche misunderstanding. The only negatives we could list are 1) no beer (no liquor license) and 2) the small dining space. The server told us we could do BYOB next time, which solves #1. For those local to Lakewood, take-out solves #2. For the rest of us, we’re just jelly because we don’t have a Barroco near our house. Oh, but we will be back!
