Albert T.
Yelp
After having Mexican and Argentinian empanadas and Honduran Pastelitos, we were looking around for other kinds of stuffed meat pies to try and came across Rosita's Treats. We decided to go on a Saturday afternoon and arrived a bit past 1PM. This small restaurant, with only around 20 seats, was completely full at that point. Thankfully, one party was just finishing up as we arrived so there wasn't much of a wait for us. I guess the reviews saying to make reservations are right, especially if you want to visit during the lunch or dinner rush.
Lunch Special ($10) - This comes with rice, pulled pork, red beans, and yellow plantains. The rice was cooked perfectly with a nice fluffiness. They add a bit of oil and salt to enhance the flavor, but it's not overly done. The pulled pork is dried out and mixed with peppers and herbs, with an overall texture almost like a Sonoran-style carne seca. It's well spiced with a fantastic flavor profile and the texture is on point. While the meat seems to be dried out, it's shredded finely and is actually quite moist in mouthfeel. It's not stringy at all and doesn't get caught in your teeth. The red beans are served in a nice thick, savory and slightly sweet soup flavored with onions and spices. The beans are cooked until tender and are delicious by themselves. Finally, the plantains here are cooked perfectly. They have a slight crisp on the exterior and the inside is toothsome, but perfectly tender with a a slight plantain sweetness. They aren't oily at all, nor are they soggy. (5/5)
Empanada & Yucca Fritter Variety Pack ($25) - We started selecting empanada varieties before we were told that the variety pack was chef's choice! I'm not usually a gambling man, but I did want variety, so I went ahead with the order. The empanadas turned out to be 1x shredded beef, 1x ground beef, 1x pizza and 1x chicken and mushroom. Both carimañolas were ground beef.
Starting with the empanadas - the exterior is a very nice fried yellow corn meal based dough. Perfectly fried with a fantastic exterior crisp. The shredded beef, as with the shredded pork in the lunch special, is very similar to a carne seca. Again, perfectly spiced and delicious, with diced bell peppers and potatoes (5/5). The ground beef has a nice herbal, bay-leaf quality to it and is mixed with potatoes, giving additional tenderness (5/5). The chicken and mushroom is moist, mixed with gooey cheese, with only a slight mushroom aroma. On visual inspection there were a lot of mushrooms added but the flavor is mild and not overpowering (5/5). The pizza is kind of generic tomato sauce, pepperoni, and cheese and reminded me of the taste of a Totino's pizza roll. The cheese is previously melted, but after cooling down before serving, it reforms so it's not stretchy or gooey (3/5).
The carimañolas are pretty interesting. The exterior has a very thin layer of light crunch. The entire yucca layer is much thicker than the empanadas, so there's more yucca and less filling. The interior yucca is almost mushy and slimy, reminding me a bit of nagaimo or Chinese yam. There's a bit of a bitterness in the yucca and overall the fritter retains noticeably more oil than the empanadas. The filling is the same as the ground beef in the empanadas. Maybe if the yucca layer were thinner, I would like them more? It was still good to try. (3/5)
The variety pack comes with aji and salsa rosada as condiments on the side. The aji tastes pretty fresh and herbal, isn't overly oily, and isn't spicy at all. It adds a great bright, vegetal note to the food. The salsa rosada has a mayo/ketchup base and packs a smoky and spicy punch from chili peppers blended in. It's pretty heavy and can easily overwhelm the flavors of the empanadas and carimañolas if applied too heavily.
Bathrooms - One unisex room in the back.
I would definitely return to try more of the food next time I'm in the area. During our meal, there were many take out orders, and the kitchen ran out of some empanada flavors. If you are particularly set on trying a certain filling, be sure to call to ask for the daily flavors and get there early!