Los Arrieros Restaurant & Nightclub
Enjoy dishes from Caribbean surf and South American turf

By Patricia B. Grossman
Photos by Julie Wiatt

A lively mural evokes the cuisine's Colombian roots.

Yearning for the authentic tastes of the Dominican Republic? Save your airfare. Spectacular Latin flavors await you at Los Arrieros, just a car-ride away along Georgia Avenue above the DC line.

Los Arrieros translated means "Cattle Drivers" and if you are a meat eater you will absolutely love this place. Previously a Colombian and Mexican restaurant, Los Arrieros is now under new management, adding the flavors of the Dominican Republic to the previous menu.

A section of the menu titled "Typical Mexican Dishes" offers Fajitas, (chicken, beef or shrimp or a combination thereof served with rice, beans, sour cream, guacamole and tortilla $10.95-12.95), Taco, Enchilada, Burrito, Chimichanga Combos or Taco salads.

Vegetarians are not overlooked with vegetable taco salads, pepper and bean burritos and vegetable Mexican pizza ($6.50).

Seafood selections consisted basically of fried fish and two shrimp dishes. The fried red snapper caught my eye ($14.95). All of the dishes came with ample sides: rice, salad and either fried cassava (yuca) or green plantains.

My dining companion opted for a Colombian Style eafood and shellfish soup, "Sopa de Mariscos" for $12.95.

She was told lobster could be added to the soup for an extra $2.00 so she splurged. My dining partner's soup came to the table first along with a cheese arepa--a corn flour patty served either plain or with cheese or meat--which she had ordered as a side.

The soup had a white broth, but not too thick, loaded with scallops, shrimp, chunks of tender white fish and clams in their shells. A large Maine lobster tail emerged from the top looking like a whale coming up for air. Not one shellfish was chewy or overcooked. Pieces of onion and green pepper helped flavor the fish-based broth. The soup will long be remembered. (I hope mentioning $2.00 for a generous sized lobster tail doesn't ruin the bargain.)

I opted for Dominican Republic fare, as I had never experienced it before.

New to Los Arrieros' menu is a nice selection of dishes from the Dominican Republic: many stewed chicken and beef dishes, including beef tongue and oxtails, which I love because of the texture and meatiness. Another section, strictly meat, is called the "Picadera". Four different meats— pork, chicken, salami, and beef— are offered: two meats with plantains for $18.95, three for $25, and the works for $35. Per our waitress's suggestion I ordered pork and chicken from the Picadera which included plantains.

My Picadera meat dish surprised me a little. I had envisioned it as prepared by stewing because the other meat dishes in the long list of Dominican entrees were. But no, these meats weren't stewed; they were deep fried to a crisp without a hint of oiliness.

The platter was huge, really huge, made for Arrieros, those cattle drivers, after a long day of work. Alongside the meats were plantains but to my dismay they were fried green plantains not the sweet kind. While it might be different during dinner, there was only one waitress during lunch and she spoke little English so I became confused and ordered the wrong plaintains.

Banana-like plantains are starchy when the skin is green or yellow, but become sweet as the skin turns black. I particularly like sweet plantains as they are soft and savory like bananas flambé when fried. If I want something more like French fries then I go for the fried yuca instead of the fried green plantains because I find the plantains a little too dry and dense. At Los Arrieros fried green plantains are called "Patacones", fried sweet plantains "Maduros" or "Platano Frito." Habanero pepper hot sauce in a bottle was then brought to the table. The habanero is the hottest pepper of them all. I actually tried some on a piece of chicken and I survived.

None of the chicken pieces were identifiable, since the chicken was cut, bone and all, into small tidbits that invited using your hands to eat them. The chicken was mild, crisp on the outside and moist on the inside, like "broasted" chicken that is becoming popular. But what really impressed me was the fried, crunchy chicken skin. It was deliciously crisp with not a bit of fat or grease biting into it. If I hadn't felt the skin was so high in cholesterol I probably would have sat there eating the skin like potato chips off of every piece of chicken it was so tasty.

The fried pork, again the meat crispy on the outside yet moist and meaty on the inside, also had a layer of skin. This skin was much tougher, the kind of pork skin reminiscent of authentic Chinese BBQ pork. It was scrumptious yet different from what I had expected. Other Colombian Style Soups (Sancochos) worth mentioning are made from chicken, fish or tripe at $9.50 each.

"Typical Colombia Dishes" on the menu include a variety of grilled steak, top flank steak, chicken with rice, and grilled pork chop selections. Rice, fried yuca and salad accompany each entrée. The "Bandeja Colombiana": Carne asada, arroz, frijoles, chicharron, maduros, aguacate y arepa for $12.95 consisted of grilled steak, rice, beans, fried pork, sweet plantain, avocado and corn patty. My companion and I split a dessert: Platano Frito con Queso y Guayaba (fried plantain with cheese and guava).

By this point I wasn't sure what to expect but the plantain was soft and sweet with melted cheese and guava paste, like a sweet seedless raspberry jelly, on top. Homemade and down to earth, the dessert was real comfort food.

During my next visit the $2.00 lobster tail will be on my mind to order, but even more so a chance to experience some real Latin flair at Los Arrieros Nightclub during the weekends. I bet the dancing will be hotter than those Habanero Peppers.

Los Arrieros Restaurant & Nightclub 7926 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring 301-585-8813 Hours: Mon — Sun, 12 noon - 10 p.m.; Fri & Sat, 12 noon - 3:00 a.m.— kitchen closes at 1:30 a.m..

Check out the Voice calendar for upcoming events at Los Arrieros:
Afro-funk band Chopteeth on March 9, and
New Orleans-style jazz with the Junkyard Saints on March 23.