I recently had the pleasure of eating at El New Yorican, a local Puerto Rican restaurant here in Phoenix. Puerto Rican food is something that has become very close to my heart in the last 11 years (since I met my wonderful husband, Xavier). It is an amazing combination of Mediterranean and “island food” with some influences from Africa and yes, China. These influences stem from way back in history when trade ships from far away places would come to the island with their native food and cooking methods.
Good Puerto Rican food is hard to come by unless you can either cook it, or are part of a Puerto Rican Family. If you don’t have your own family of Puerto Ricans to turn to for some of this delicious food, El New Yorican is the next best thing. It’s like eating at Grandma’s house on the island!
My father- in- law, Carlos, was the person who introduced us to this wonderful restaurant. He had eaten there a few times before and couldn’t stop raving about it. Upon entering El New Yorican with him, Carlos was greeted with a hug and a hand shake from the owner, and from behind the glass kitchen wall, came a wave and a smile from the chef. 
We sat down and took a look at the menu. As it turns out, they serve all of our favorite dishes, making it impossible to decide. So, we went with one of every appetizer and one main dish. Everything we ate was perfectly prepared and an absolute delight to eat.
Pasteles
Part way through our lunch, the band showed up and started playing. It wasn’t long before half of the guests were up and dancing. The music is as hard to resist as the food! They were soon joined by some women in beautiful long skirts performing some of the traditional island dancing. We had such a great time!
If you are in the Phoenix area, I highly recommend stopping in at El New Yorican. It is casual, and homey, and it is down home Puerto Rican food, at its finest!
El New Yorican
2714 W. Thomas Rd.
Phoenix, AZ 85017
602-314-4330
open Thursday – Sunday 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Hi :), my name's Alicia!
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