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Central American Restaurants

Restaurant Reviews

Eating Your Way From Mexico To Panama

While many families with roots in Central America live in New Orleans, our city has never been especially strong with the cuisines of those countries. We seem to be able to support only one from each country at a time. The long-running Salvadoran restaurant Pupuseria Divino Corazon closed not long after a couple of new pupuserias clear across town opened. The food of Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua have similarly come to town and then left. A good trend is that a lot of this food has been featured in restaurants that cover the entire region, and the Caribbean too. (See the Caribbean section for those.)

Click on any of the restaurants listed below for a detailed, updated review.

1 Fiesta Latina. Kenner: 1924 Airline Hwy.. 504-469-5792. ¤ ¤
2 Fiesta Latina. Mid-City: 133 N Carrollton Ave. 504-484-0999. ¤ ¤ ¤
3 Mayas. Garden District: 2027 Magazine. 504-309-3401. ¤ ¤ ¤
4 Pupuseria Divino Corazon. Gretna: 2300 Belle Chasse Hwy.. 504-368-5724. ¤ ¤ ¤
5 Pupuseria La Macarena. Riverbend: 8120 Hampson. 504-862-5252. ¤ ¤ ¤

Inside NOMenu's Restaurant Reviews

Click on any restaurant in the list at left to go to a full, detailed review. Although over 450 restaurants have current reviews here, almost 1200 restaurants are open in the New Orleans area. It's impossible to cover all of them. I've tried for 38 years, but I keep falling farther behind as the pace of new restaurant openings increases, and the rate at which the old ones change does too. My review strategy is to go into great depth about the restaurants I believe are most essential to the dining scene, and to keep my eyes open for rising stars .

The ¤ symbols in the right-hand column of the restaurant lists show the ratings. The ratings primarily depict the degree to which the food is exciting. Environment, service, and other considerations are included in the calculation, but have a smaller impact on the rating than the food does. We rate restaurants relative to all other restaurants in the New Orleans area. (Not "for what it is.") Here's what the stars mean:

starstarstarstarstar
Among the best locally.

starstarstarstar
Excellent and ambitious.

starstarstar
Recommended.

starstar
Acceptable.

*
Marginal or less.

No Rating
Not Reviewed.

Cost Ratings. The price bar under the star ratings on the reviews gives an estimate of the cost of a typical meal for the restaurant. The range is plus or minus five dollars from the spot marked on the graphic. This is based on dinner in most places. It includes a typical beverage service, but not tax or tip. Eating habits vary so much from one diner to another that this should not be considered as having mathematical precision.

Review Method. I research and write all the reviews myself, based entirely on meals I personally took in the restaurants. I pay for all review meals from my own pocket. I don't accept free review meals, nor am I reimbursed by anybody for my restaurant expenditures.

Recommended Dishes.The "Essential Menu" section of the review is a selection of the restaurant's menu. Dishes marked with the "»" symbol are especially recommended. I am in the process of expanding this section to include nearly the entire menu, but that's a very large, ongoing project.

I May Be Wrong. I invite you to agree, disagree, or question any of my reviews. This is just my opinion here, and although my reviews are carefully considered and informed by decades of information gathering, I don't pretend that mine is the only possible viewpoint. If you have a different point of view, write me: tom@nomenu.com. Let me know if I may publish your thoughts in the newsletter.

Tastefully yours,
Tom Fitzmorris

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