Qui Qui DC

A Puerto Rican Hit Crushing 500 Pounds of Plantains a Week Has a New Home | Eater DC

"From food truck to catering company to pandemic pop-up to a cozy Shaw brick-and-mortar, this Puerto Rican hit has settled into a breezy, flag-flying, Bad-Bunny-playing corner in Park View, with wraparound windows, a leafy patio, and a garage-style wall that stays open to let alluring aromas, chef-owner Ismael Mendez’s soundtrack, and occasional live music spill onto the street. Mendez—a former coder who cooked at D.C. spots like Michelin-starred Masseria—channels Old San Juan in a bigger space with staples such as arroz con pollo (long-simmered stewed chicken with rice), lechon (slow-roast pork), and pernil (traditional roast pork shoulder), plus a vegan jackfruit pernil. The fan-favorite Chuleta Kan Kan (a fried tomahawk pork chop with tostones) remains, and mofongo arrives in a traditional vessel—garlicky smashed green plantains that can be topped with shrimp, fried pork, or stewed beans; tostones are such big business the kitchen goes through more than 500 pounds of plantains each week. A larger kitchen and bar make room for local oysters with aji dulce mignonette, octopus and other ceviche, aguacate salad, beef-stuffed pastelitos, salt cod fritters, and chicken skewers doused in a deep, fruity guava barbecue sauce. Flavors and spices come from the Caribbean, but sourcing leans local (Virginia beef from Long Stone Farm and plenty of area produce), house hot sauces change with whatever peppers arrive, and beans and mofongo swap vegetable oil for pork lard to suit local tastes. Puerto Rican flags like the Grito de Lares banner frame the space, and the bar program run by D.C. vet Starla Newman partners with Frederick-based Clandestino on pitorro (including an exclusive guava–pineapple flavor) that mixes with Don Q Cristal, more guava, and lime into the piñeta, alongside fresh juices, nonalcoholic drinks, beers, Mexican Coke, sangria, and a beer-and-shot combo. Breakfast is coming soon, promising Cuban-style cafecito from a stovetop Greca, plus more pasteles, French toast, and eggs with Caribbean twists." - Evan Caplan