Papi's Family Restaurant
Papi's has one of the best sandwiches in all of Buffalo - The Cubano (pork with Swiss cheese, mustard and pickles). It is also known for its mofongo. From a fan:
I adore Puerto Rico: the food, the people, the historic castles, and the nightlife (not to mention no need for a passport or currency conversion) have made this one of my favorite tropical vacation destinations.
And every vacation to Puerto Rico included almost daily lunches at Hacienda Don Jose' on Ashford Avenue in San Juan. The open air windows with ocean view is reason enough to visit, but the Pork Mofongo, Seafood Mofongo, or Shrimp Monfongo often with a side of Mofongo (with a liberal addition of table side vinegar).
I returned from my last San Juan trip to a leaking sink - happenstance, the plumber was Puerto Rican and told me that Papi's Family Restaurant on Hertel had the best Mofongo (period).
I have driven by Papi's a few hundred times since arriving in Buffalo three years ago. It looks like a converted Denny's and while the Puerto Rican flags fly proudly and prominently, the restaurant does not quite appear alluring. The inside is standard diner - stools at the counter and a few tables - but any other parallels to Buffalo diners or dives ends there. The staff will greet you warmly and present you with a bilingual menu (a great sign).
Coincidentally / Unintentionally, I ordered the same meal that the BR reviewer did in 2007...
www.archives.buffalorising.com/story/papis_family_restaurant: a beef pastelillo and the shrimp mofongo. No disrespect to the folks at Mighty Taco and Jim Steak-out, but one bite of the beef pastelillo and anything else in town is simply Taco Bell. The chef delivered my mofongo personally and told me that I was about to enjoy the best mofongo on earth. While I wanted to defend Hacienda Don Jose' - there was no argument. The plantains contained more flavor and the sauce so trumped the standard vinegar that I'll no longer need to board a plane to get my mofongo fix - only to enjoy open air windows and ocean view in February.
Papi's Family Restaurant
690 Hertel Avenue,
Buffalo, 14207
716.874.7274
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