La Lechonera

The location and place is a little run down but the food was good, not the best but not bad, my son had the pastrami sandwich which he said was great, I had the Arroz con gandules you peril and it was not bad, wife had quahito and she did not like to much.
Not complaining.

The oxtails are really good. The mondongo is good too. I’ve had almost everything and no big disappointment so far. Great price, and love the customer service!

If you dont speak Spanish youre in trouble. Thank goodness I do, or my mom and hubby would have not been able to eat. lol The food is outstanding and they are very kind. Its a cafeteria style ordering system. Be prepared to order quickly because there is always a line and it is very fast moving. If you arent familiar with Puerto Rico, Hispaniola or other island lifestyles then it might be a bit intimidating.

It was like my mama was in the kitchen fixing me a plate of home cooked food. Very friendly sweet people. We had the arroz con gandules with yuca and ropa vieja. Delicious! We also had the arroz negro with sweet plantains and lechon asado. Awesome combination! We also had a pastel and an alcapurria de hueyes. Cooked very well and delicious.

This place is pure bullshit the oxtails are garbage and tough as hell. chicerone is fucking cold fat. I went there once before and I see why never came back but I seen a picture on Unilocal and thought I’d give it a second chance and I see why I never went back buyer beware! I’m mad as shit cause I spent 39.00 $ and had to trash it hang go next door to la Cubana. look at this bullshit. Garabage

We went there to get two sandwiches for take out. The food was pretty good, but why 2 stars??? Because if you are not hispanic — your order will take more time than the other guys. We waited 20 minutes for 2!!! sandwiches, while the orders that were after us were completed. Yes, we don’t speak Spanish, but it doesn’t mean that our order can be pushed 5 – 6 people behind.

This little gem is is bit off the main drag but well worth the extra mile or two. Food was fresh and very tasty. My wife is PR and loved the Mofongo. I had the pork Platter with rice and beans. Enormous portions! The servers were very patient and helpful with us first timers. We cannot wait to visit again next time in Tampa.

«Great place to get the real taste of Puerto Rico!»
5 starsReviewed Apr.27, 2016
We were returning back to Phila., so wanted a quick bite and just happened on this place. There were a lot of folks eating there so took a chance and it was wonderful. There is a broad menu so surely something for everyone. And the LECHON we had was the best ever. Just minutes from the airport a good stop in if flying in or out of tampa.

Not a fave at all! I came here and tried the lechon (roast pork) with mofongo! It was salty and dry, ick! I even tried my leftovers. I didn’t like it either.
My hubby ordered morcilla (blood sausage). It tasted mostly like rice. He ordered yellow rice and gandules, roast chicken, and sweet plantains. It was ok but no biggie.
The people working are nice. Be prepared to speak Spanish, not English! I spoke broken Spanish and thanks to my fluent Spanish speaking hubby, he was able to take care of the rest!

Whenever I’m back in Florida, I have to find Mofongo. The Mofongo here was some of the tastiest that I have had. The only criticism I would have is I need more chicharones! Truly though this was a grat dive to stop in on my short trip to Tampa. If you are in the area, I highly recommend.

Probably my favorite Latin food spot. It’s fast and delicious. I always get the pork with yellow rice, plantains and black beans. The ropa vieja is good too. It’s a small place so I usually get it to go. The portions are huge and make great leftovers.

Thanks to my good friend Unilocal who tells me where to sow my foodie oats we found this restaurant. I wasnt expecting to find a pig roast at a restaurant so we decided to go try.
Their portions are humongous, our table looked like a gypsy wedding. We had so much food in front of us!!! The truth is that we fight a good fight. It was all delicious and we didnt have that many leftvers. Oops!
The service was more than excellent, being a small place they treated us like we were family, We had roast pork, Mofongo, Pasteles en Hojas and Rabo guisado. Their Cocido deserves a mention. will come back.

This is the place in Tampa for Puerto Rican food. The place is a bit hole-​in-​the-​wall, but the food is good and the portions are huge. Very friendly staff.

Really good home cooked food, friendly staff, nice homey atmosphere. Tasty dishes and many options to choose. I like it here and will go again!

Awesome Latin buffet with great staff.
After readingg the reviews, I had to try the pork. The lichen asado did not disappoint. It was well seasoned, and the chicharones were fantastic. I was also delighted by the vast amounts of food I received for less than $ 7. The moro rice was not totally dried out like it can be at a lot of places. The plantains were fantastic.
One great feature of this place is that they don’t consider rice and beans two separate sides. So you can get rice and beans (NOT moro rice) AND plantains or yucca as your two sides. So great.

My fellow Unilocalers pointed me in the direction of La Lechonera for Latin food. I trusted their opinion so I hopped on over there for lunch. First impression was that the interior of the restaurant was cleaner and more updated than I had imagined. Not that it has great ambience or anything, but I was expecting it to be more rundown. So that was a plus. I also noticed as soon as I walked in that the smell of the food was wafting through the air. Now if it tasted as good as it smelled, I was in for a great lunch.
The nice lady behind the counter showed me the various meats they had. I went with the roasted pork which is what they are known for (hence the name La Lechonera) with maduros (fried plantains) and yellow rice and black beans as my sides, with a couple pieces of Cuban bread thrown in for good measure. All for around $ 7! Great deal! Then to drink, I got mavi (more on that later).
After I got my roasted pork, I realized that maybe I should’ve gotten the roasted pork with onions because that one had steam coming off of it and it looked more moist. There was no turning back though; it was already on my plate. Although my pork had good flavor, it was a little dry and just lukewarm, as was my rice. A couple of the end pieces were also hardened so I didn’t eat those. The plantains weren’t as soft as I like but they were good nonetheless. The black beans surpassed my expectations. I’ve had them before at other restaurants but I was always indifferent towards them. They must have added some spices to it because I liked the flavor. Reminded me of the flavor of gallo pinto, a popular Costa Rican dish that I had for breakfast, lunch and dinner while I was there on vacation.
As far as the mavi goes, I didn’t enjoy it. For those not familiar with mavi (or mabi or mauby), it’s a fermented drink popular in the Caribbean, especially in Puerto Rico. It’s made from the bark of the mavi tree, cinnamon, ginger, sugar, and whatever else. It’s an acquired taste really. I thought I had acquired the taste as I’ve had it a couple times before in PR and elsewhere but I was wrong. No mas mavi para mi! The lady was nice enough to give me a sweet tea instead. Muchas gracias!
Would I go back? Definitely. I think you get great bang for your buck here. Most of the plates were under $ 8. I would just make sure that what I get passes the eye test.

IRS stands for Impossible RelationShit. My accountant kindly acted as mediator, but smacked me with a catalogue of my edible lifestyle. Boy! He was mad. Maybe he was hungry. He must have being to say such things. My friends did not offer condolences and we were all taxed, vexed and grieving. We got together at my house and had an epicurean intervention. I have kept to my word and have eaten out much less. I have even cooked! My cat stares at me in disbelief. «Who are you and where is my spoiled owner?» he meows when I use the stove. My melancholy drove me to seek comfort food… that there is no way I would make for myself. How comforting can it be to cook your own comfort? Like really, let’s get real. How can I restore my sense of well-​being and improve my mood by cooking Puerto Rican food and then doing dishes? I might be broke but not insane.
La Lechonera became the obvious rehab. Many people do not like where it is located… in the very Cuban and Puerto Rican part of Armenia… duh! Where would you go to find the real thing? Exactly, where the people who cook and eat their typical food live! Many people do not like how bare it looks (a latin cafeteria very common in Puerto Rico). Walk in. Imagine you are on vacation. You might feel out of place, but you forget that the minute you are overwhelmed with the tasty choices. Pernil (marinated roasted pig), stew chickpeas, red beans, black beans, tamales, marinated octopus salad, ceviche, alcapurrias… I had planned to beg for a plate with a bit of everything, a food orgy, bountiful and limitless… endless combinations; but the couple right in front of me at the line did just that and I was baffled. Perplexed, I decided to ask for Carne Frita and Mofongo.
Please, ask me. You must have monfongo before you die. Write it right now in your bucket list. Because I am psychic and you will definitely go in your future: You’re welcome. Carne frita is fried pork in cubes… seasoned to perfection. Moist and tasty. Mofongo is green plantain that has been fried a bit, then mashed with pork rinds, a tad of bacon fat, and garlic. A concave ball of delicious. The mofongo is usually served with chicken broth on the side to dip it in. I also, let’s keep the pig motif here… let the irony not escape… had congri rice or moros con cristianos which is black beans and white rice simmered together. Yummmmm. Side orders of sweet fried plaintains (amarillos) which are the opposite of tostones (green fried plantains). I was lucky. We waited very little to be served as the mofongo is done when asked. Sometimes the line for take-​out food reaches the outside of the small house no matter how prompt they try to serve you. -«The servings are those your grandmother would give you during Sunday lunches. Lovingly generous. Two people can easily eat from one dish (there would be some great left over for you to take home) and the prices are cheap and beyond affordable”– that is what I told my accountant when he called to check up on my epicurean rehabilitation. He showed up and ate his advice and my leftovers.

I was in the area & pulled up my trusty Unilocal ap & saw I had LA Lechonera bookmarked, so I headed over, dreaming of boliche.
Upon entering there was only 1 other diner & 3 people behind the steam table eagerly waiting to take my order. I quickly looked up at the menu on the wall & then started looking at the offerings on the steam table.
We started with the rice & when I heard they offered brown rice, I got really excited. I have always wondered why there was no brow rice offered at most restaurants and only white & yellow.
As the rice was being loaded onto my to go plate, it was not brown rice, but negra (the combination of white rice, with some black bean broth added for color. I will redial y admit I easily got at least a pound of black beans and rice. I had requested a lot of chopped onion for my beans & rice & upon arriving home was totally dismayed there were NO raw onions to be found. I know it’s a personal preference thing, but just beans & rice is typically boring, hence the raw onion, really bummed on that one.
Next the Boliche, the star of the show, the 1 food item I wanted more than anything else. I have almost always received 2 pieces & here just one piece. I guess they make up for it by giving you a boiled potato, on top of your pound of rice & beans. The Boliche had no Charizzo sausage in the center! Call me pot roast! Super bumbed.
The restaurant is small & needs a facelift, but if the food was correct, who would care? If you tell me brown rice, I want brown rice. If I want my beans & rice covered in raw onion, not a big deal. If I order boliche, I expect a Charizzo center. The flavors were good & for the sheer weight of the food, it should have been a really good deal. But, when things are not what they appear & you get home to have dinner, only to find nothing quite like you ordered, the real dissapointment sets in.
I am always on the lookout for good independent restaurants, unfortunately this is one I can take off my list & not worry about revisiting.
To add to my angst, while taking a photo of the outside sign, a lady ran over & demanded to see my cell phone, stating I took a picture of her. I explained what I took a picture of & that there wasn’t a prayer of her looking at my phone. She went on to call the police, I posed for a picture & gave her ample time to get pictures of my car & tag, what a sideshow!
What’s a girl to do? some days, just stick to what you know & leave the drama & disappointment to someone else!

Being in Tampa, there are times where all I want is some good olé’ Cuban food. On the day of our visit, I was craving black beans, pernil and maduros for lunch. We came here because I knew we would get just that… and they definitely delivered the goods!
La Lechonera reminds me of those little Latin cafes in Miami. The ones that are borderline just dirty but you go to them anyway because you love the food. Well, La Lechonera isn’t dirty by any means but it has the same cafeteria style setup and the Spanish-​only speaking staff that you would find in Miami. As you enter the café, you see the food counter with all the lovely menu items on display, which the staff serves to you in big, heaping portions. On the far left side, you have the cafeteria with tables alongside the walls and windows, and family tables at center stage.
A few things can be guaranteed here:
— juicy pernil (it is epic– you must try it)
— big portions (literally had enough for lunch and dinner later that evening)
— delicious fruit juices (with your typical Latin fruits like passion fruit, mamey, lulo, etc.)
— an affordable price (super cheap, seriously)
Another reason La Lechonera reminds me of Miami: the Cuban guy that was at the front counter. He spoke so fast and mumbled… I knew he had to be Cuban. My husband usually understands Spanish, unless its spoken from a Cuban to which my hubby cannot decipher even a word. No problem though, I was there to translate! This guy pretty much called my meal on the spot. I guess I had «pernil and a passion fruit juice» written all over my face when I walked into the café. All in all, a great meal was had here. One of my faves in town… and I’ll be back to try the mofongo. ;-)

I like this place because they are always fast and friendly. Most things are already made, or are quickly assembled. They have a cool array of sodas that no other bodegas carry cold as well. What I ate there was great, what I took home was well packed up for me, and stayed really hot. This place combines the speed of a fast food place with traditional lechon and puts everything behind the line where you can get up close and personal before deciding what to buy. Que yummy, I say! Arriba!

Uno de mis lechoneras favorita. La comida es riquísima y los sandwiches también. El servicio es excelente y el dueño siempre está disponible y muy servicial. Los Precios son excelentes. Siempre voy una vez al mes.