CATALUNA JAX

Catalino’s Guatemalan Restaurant Opens on Maple Street | Eater New Orleans

"On Maple Street I noted that Catalino’s has opened with a menu of Guatemalan specialties, including jocon — lightly fried chicken with potatoes and mirliton in a green sauce made with tomatillos, green peppers, cilantro, and onions. Owners Hugo (from Guatemala City) and Addie Vasquez, who met while working at El Gato Negro and named the restaurant for Hugo Vasquez’s grandfather, renovated the interior with refinished floors and new murals. The traditional menu offers appetizers such as elote loco (boiled corn with condiments and cotija cheese), guacamole with plantain chips, enchiladas, and tostadas; entrees include chicken in a stew of mirliton, beans, and pumpkin seeds and churrasco (skirt steak with green onions, black beans, guacamole, and fried green plantains); desserts include rellenitos (fried sweet plantains stuffed with sweet bean paste). All tortillas are made at the restaurant, it is BYO with a $5 corkage fee, and it occupies the longtime home of Babylon Cafe (which closed after 15 years) — a hummus restaurant briefly occupied the space afterward. Opening hours are Tuesday–Thursday 11 a.m.–9 p.m., Friday–Saturday 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.–8 p.m., and it is closed on Mondays." - Stephanie Carter