A second Colombian restaurant has arrived in Tucson mere months after Sabor Tropical set up shop in Midtown.
Ruby and Rodrigo Tenorio opened Cilantro's Colombian Grill three weeks ago in what used to be the Daybreak Café in Rita Ranch.
The location could be better. The spot on South Houghton Road did well as a breakfast joint, but the food at Cilantro's is unique. It probably would have been better off opening closer to the university.
Still, those looking for a unique culinary experience will want to make the trip at least once.
Unless Colombia is like walking through a Tres Amigos furniture store, we weren't sold on the restaurant's authentic atmosphere.
The walls seemed to be the same dusty brown hue they were during the space's Daybreak days, and the decorations, from the oversized hanging utensils to the green plants, were fairly generic.
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Take "Colombia" out of the restaurant name and from the large, touristy-looking poster on the wall and you wouldn't be able to tell where your food was coming from.
That being said, Cilantro's still provides a comfortable atmosphere. There are plenty of sturdy wooden tables to sit at, and the service is fast and willing to help the uninitiated with menu recommendations.
We were pleasantly surprised to find such a vast amount of regional dishes at Cilantro's. The restaurant has dining options for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We started our meal with an empanada ($1), or meat pie, and an arepa, or corn cake, with grilled beef ($3.95).
The shredded beef in the empanada was juicy, and the shell surrounding it, like that of a calzone, kept it warm until we were ready to partake.
The arepa, round like a hockey puck, was a bit salty, but the beef was cut thick and worked hand-in-hand with the corn cake's dry flavors.
We were happy with our salmon plate ($11.95), a grilled fillet slathered in a sweet mushroom cream and strips of sautéed celery, carrots and onion.
The cream's heavy flavor almost took away from the salmon, but it worked well with the vegetables on top.
We preferred the yellow rice chicken dish ($8.95), a condensed pile of rice with strips of white chicken found within. The chicken couldn't be beat when combined with the seasoned rice. The meal came with chewy sweet plantains, a favorite side for many Colombian dishes.
Tucson restaurant review: Cilantro's Colombian Grill Restaurant
• Where: 8270 S. Houghton Road
• Hours: 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays. 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays
• Phone: 574-3333
The bill:
Meat empanada: $1
Grilled beef arepa: $3.95
Salmon à la Plancha special: $11.95
Arroz con pollo special: $8.95
Two sodas: $3
Total, before tax and tip: $28.85
