Sabor Latino Restaurant

Place is not very appealing to the eye with the very few tables, mixed matched uncomfortable seats, sticky floor and walls that look like they’re about to cave in. The jibarito tasted just okay and the price was decent. Definitely a call ahead and pick up kinda place.

Horrible service!!! The lady was on her phone the whole time. Horrible sandwhich!!! Go to the one on North Ave!!! Great service and great food at North Ave restaurant.

Jibaritos and rellenos de papa are good. The décor and overall look of the restaurant is to be desired. The place is quite run down. They need to spend money in the actual restaurant space.
My advice: order to go, do not eat at the restaurant.

Make the extra trip and go to the PR joint by fullerton and Western.
Was not impressed with the quality of the food, the flavor, the cleanliness, nor the service.

Wow so I went here for my first time earlier today and was satisfied. I didn’t wait very long and people seemed ok. I ordered a tray of Puerto Rican rice. It was about 3 o’clock. I serve my family dinner at about 7 o’clock and my boy is chewing a wire! I called in and had to bring them the wire. I brought the rest of my rice too and got a full refund. No compensation for my wasted time. I will NEVER be back! I wish I could give 0 stars!

We order the lechon dinner and an order of mofungo to go frequently. One order or lechon feeds two of us, two lechon dinners and mofungo feeds my two teenage sons and me with leftovers. Jibarito is good two.
Occasionally the Fullerton store runs out of roast pork so we drive to the Sabor mother ship on North Ave.
This place isn’t a squeaky clean corporate restaurant like chipolte, but it’s as close to being in P.R. with out the plane flight as I’ve found.

STAY AWAY! Awful owners, filthy place, and disgusting food. I wish I could give it zero stars. It should be closed down.

The only reason this place has a star is because I have to put one I just went here with my friend and from the moment we entered we had no acknowledgement no greeting not even a smile in our direction. It was not busy there was a table of two ladies and another of an older gentleman so I don’t know why the lady that was attending the front was being so rude. Finally we sat ourselves and the lady who’s usually there always with black hair in low ponytail came over and threw the menus at us mind you she hasn’t even said a word. I asked her are you mad? She said no and walked away I mean are you kidding me so then add soon ad we open our menus she walks over and asked what do we want Yes just like that. I don’t know why I didn’t leave at that instant. I finally felt pressured and I ordered an alcapuria, a papa and a maduro. Well she went to serve us and also threw our plates at us and I just couldn’t beleive this was happening I was freaking starving so I cut into my food and there was a huge nastysuper curly black hair in the mixture of the alcapuria I had that was it oh and she brought me a drink I didn’t even order. Ridiculous this was by far the worst experience I’ve ever had here which is sad because I’ve lived across the street for24 years this place has always been my favorite I use to go when it was amazingall the way around which was the time the pictures posted on here were taken. Now it doesn’t even look that way. This place really sucks, needs to be closed and have a food and beverage inspector come in because I know it doesn’t meet the requirements. Anyway Café bella which is close by it’s definitely way worth going to than here.

It was really dirty. I wouldn’t suggest you risk eating here. I didn’t even get to order after I saw into the kitchen.

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!!! Found 2 hairs approximately 6 inches long (see picture) at the bottom of my food. Unfortunately, I ordered to go so I didn’t see it until i got home and had eaten all of the food. I also ordered a Pollo Guisado and the chicken was raw (see picture. Id rather starve than return.

A delicious hole in the wall. Old menus, old décor, and only one server for the whole place. It didnt matter because the Jibarito steak sandwich with arroz con gandules was fantastic. Basically a steak sandwich with fried plantains instead of bread. Garbanzo beans also rocked. They serve this delicious bread to start with. Its tough not to eat the whole basket. Will be back :-)

I used to eat here all the time ever since they opened! The food was fantastic and service was prompt! For some reason, service and quality has died down within the past 9 months… I came here for lunch one day and ordered a carne guisada (beef stew) dinner. I was starvin’! I started to chow down! It was at the point where my meal was almost completed when I found a dead cockroach on my plate! I WAS DISGUSTED!!! In closing, F*** THAT PLACE!!! I WILL NEVER STEP FOOT IN THAT ROACH-​INFESTED SHITHOLE EVER AGAIN!!!

Puerto Rican grub at its best. The service was good and the selection not only authentic but enjoyable.

The flavor and taste I remember from Puerto Rico. The food is fresh and delicious.

I should have finished this when it was fresh in my mind… I will not forget the the fact that the food was not ready and no apology was maid. I will never go back to this place. It’s a shame because the food is great but the service is terrible.

JIBARITO!
Delicious. Steak, chicken, doesn’t matter, it’s all delicious.
They use two plantains, one for each side of the sandwich, and they smash it and fry it. If you haven’t heard/​had a Jibarito, they’re a Puerto-​Rican-​Chicagoan delicacy that you’d be hard pressed to forget. They spread the fried plantain with garlic mayo, add lettuce, tomatoes, onions, meat, and call it a day. It is so good, and so tasty, and so ridiculously filling. With rice and beans you can easily make 2 meals out of it. And the fresh veggies balance out the meat, mayo, and fried plaintains well.
The atmosphere is like your typical hole in the wall dive, but just sit yourself down and they’ll bring you water and a menu. Personally I love the chicken jibarito, and I use a little of the homemade hot sauce on the table.
If you just give it a try, I promise you the happiest food coma you’ve ever had. To be honest, I’ve tried to force myself to try their other food, but I can’t pass up the chance to eat a jibarito. Delicious.

I don’t get how this place stays in business. It’s filthy, it smells. The food stays under heat lamps and tastes like it. Yeah, it’s cheap, but you get what you pay for. With so many other places to go to just on Fullerton alone, there’s no reason to go here.

THIS IS REAL PUERTO RICAN FOOD.
As the Whitest Puerto Rican Ever, I still know the basics about food. It’s one of my favorite aspects about my culture and the time where I know the right words to say without fumbling in my half-​assed Spanglish.
Garlic is a condiment as basic as salt and pepper in Puerto Rican food, so if you can’t handle that, you will not like what Sabor Latino has to offer. The put dollops of minced garlic on the tostones of their jibaritos, for example.
Arroz con gandules: salty, greasy, huge portions accompanying every meal. The quality is the same as my aunt’s or grandmother’s when it’s Christmas time and they have to make a huge batch.
Jibaritos: had the lechon and skirt steak version. Both were amazing (but I preferred the first).
Pasteles: Good (not as good as my aunts), and you can buy them by the frozen dozen! Finally I have found a place that I can actually do this. It’s common practice in Buffalo, NY and Orlando, FL to find women cooking pasteles and pastelillos out of their homes and to buy them in bulk.
Garlic + Butter Yuca: The only thing I feel like I can confidently make better, so I probably won’t order this again.
The tostones are huge, the prices are c-​h-​e-​a-​p. I had food for two meals for $ 7.
My white boyfriend, who I am slowly converting to my side, had no complaints.
On cleanliness: go to your Puerto Rican friend’s grandmother’s house. It’s akin to that.

Went here with my sister because she recommended it. I will say that we were those people who show up 30min before closing… I felt horrible :-(
We both had the Jibarito, my sister LOVED her sandwich but I did not. Personally I have had better in the city but for the time and location, it was for convenience. I gave it an ok review because I am sure if we went during dinner hours it would be better.

These ain’t your momma’s porkchops. Or a lame version of arroz con gandules. This place is not some bastardized version of authentic borinquen flavor. It’s the real deal. You know there’s plenty of Goya back there, not some imitation!
My boyfriend and I were on the prowl for some good, authentic Puerto Rican fare, and not the fancy kind they dish out at Coco. The kind your mom would have ready for dinner when you got home from school if your mom were a badass Puerto Rican lady.
Enter Sabor Latino.
Say what you will, but what they do, they do well. You’d have to have a screw or ten loose to come in here expecting a fine dining experience. Is there a sommelier on staff? Can I see the wine cellar? The tines on my fork don’t appear to be even! Give. Me. A. Break. If you take one look at Sabor Latino from the corner, you can tell it’s going to be authentic, delicious, greasy and likely packed in a styrofoam container. Check your pretension at the door.
The relleno de papa was so ridiculously good I was half tempted to order 6 to go for a bed time snack. What is a relleno de papa? Let’s pretend it is an atom. The nucleus of said atom is savory meat. And the electrons padding the nucleus are mounds of heavenly, dense mashed potatoes. And then it’s FRIED. Your life has absolutely no meaning if you have yet to try one.
I ordered the chuleta frita, which was always my favorite when I’d eat at my friend’s house (whose mom happens to be one of those aforementioned badass Puerto Rican women) and my gentleman friend opted to throw down on the pollo guisado, both accompanied by arroz con gandules.
HOT. DAMN.
The portions are HUGE! The food was amazing, and still just as good, if not better, as a leftover lunch today. Is it wrong that I want to go back for dinner tonight? And again tomorrow?
Sure, the tables are coated in clear vinyl. And maybe the person who’s taking your order isn’t to big on the whole let’s-speak-English thing, but don’t let that limit you. Even for those reluctant to venture west of Western, this is a place you have to visit at least once to round out your Chicago experience — an authentic taste of one of the many cultural flavors that make this city worth living in, despite our crappy meter boxes.