Patacon Pisao

VENEZUELA 🇻🇪

As anyone that knows me already knows, I am in love with the Patacon Pisao truck up in Inwood. It took me a while to get to their new bricks and mortar location in Elmhurst, but it was definitely worth the wait.

It doesn't come with quite the experience afforded at the truck, I must admit, but the food here is just as delicious. The place is tiny and fairly non-descript, a couple counters offer eating space like a Chinese takeout. It still has a warm and friendly feeling though, with little reminders of Venezuela on the walls.

I decided to come on the day after a blizzard, perfect timing in my estimation to eat some food from the tropics. Since my love for the truck is so strong, I wanted dearly to come and find the food here to not be up to par so that I could write this location off and continue my trips to Inwood. But it isn't even remotely possible to do so, the patacón I ate was freaking delicious. Again I went for the full ($6, below), which like the other sandwiches is 50 cents more expensive here than the truck, but still worth every penny.

I pretty much knew that the quality here was going to be the same even before I started eating, as like the truck, you are given a moist napkin and small mint with every purchase. It's a small detail, but one that is so important when eating such messy food. I was even corrected when I unwrapped my patacón to get a better view for the photo. The concerned employee warned me to keep it inside the foil so I wouldn't go dripping everywhere.

Shredded chicken, beef, and roasted pork are joined by fried cheese in the "full"

Patacon Pisao also has a full menu of cachapas, arepas, and tacuchos, I suppose it just depends on what kind of wrapper you are in the mood for upon arrival. The place was so warm inside that I decided to waste more time by getting a coffee and enjoying these tropical temperatures, watching freezing New Yorkers walking down Grand Avenue on my balmy perch.

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ELMHURST Queens

85-22 Grand Avenue