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So glad that I took my friend's recommendation to try this place! Wow, amazing selection, we'll have to come back again to try some of the other delicious meals here. We got the special (which was a soup), shredded beef portal plate, and beef empanadas. The beef empanadas were SO flavorful and with a corn outside, which I've never had before! The shredded beef is stringy and light, also full of flavor. We loved the sauce that the dish comes with. The soup is also delicious with different root vegetables and corn and on the thick side. A little bit on the salty side for me but nevertheless tasted like it had been stewing for a long time as it was deep in flavor. I definitely need to come back and try some of the sweet pastries in the case and the cheese ball pastry.
I learned about this restaurant after interviewing someone from Columbia. So I grabbed some friends and we decided to give it a try for Saturday lunch. The restaurant is located in a strip mall and was easy to find. I walked in and it was busy for a Saturday noon lunch crowd. My friends arrived before I did and were at the register ordering when I walked in. I went straight to the register and asked the wonderful man (may be the owner) for a suggestion and he recommended the empanadas and country platter (to sample a lot of different things), and the pineapple juice (not pictured). We sat down and began to enjoy the juice. The consistency was similar to a fruit smoothie. The pineapple juice was similar to a pina colada flavor- very refreshing. About ten mins later the empanadas arrived and we jumped in. They were tasty and filled with chicken. The vinegary salsa helped brighten the flavor. Another ten mins passed and our entrees came out. The country platter has a lot to offer but I was not impressed because the food lacked flavor, esp salt. The chorizo sausage had a great smell from the herbs but the flavor just wasn't there and it was on the dry side. The pork rind was nice and hot, and with the help of some sprinkled salt and a fresh squeeze of lime- it was delicious! The rice had a saltiness to it but paired well with the beans that didn't seem to have any salt. I ended my meal with a Columbian coffee cappuccino and it was super strong. Overall I was really glad we ventured out to try Columbian food but I just wish there was a bit more salt or spice! Would I recommend- yes, of course. Everyone should try different types of cuisines!!!
I stopped by here due to a recommendation from a friend. I've been trying to explore more ethnic bakeries as an inspiration for my own baking. When I went in around 5 PM, this restaurant was about half full and I was quickly greeted by an employee. He was very helpful in explaining what each of the items at the bakery counter near the front of the restaurant were. I mainly was there for the Almojabanas, but I ended up getting about 1 of each item (Almojabanas, Empanadas, Pasteles El Portal, Roscones, Buñuelos, Mil Hojas) to try the different flavors out. I was given a brown paper bag for each of the items depending on size and that was placed into a larger plastic bag to take with me. All of these items came out to under $15, which was expected. The Almojabanas (circular biscuit at top right of picture) were this dense and chewy biscuit that imparted something like a cheese flavor, but they were very tasty. I felt like this would go well with a meal or some coffee/tea. The empanadas (rectangular shaped) were filled with cheese and chicken. They were an interesting taste and didn't really remind me of chicken and cheese. Each of the pasteles el portal (triangle shaped) were delicious; I grabbed one of each of a caramel & guava and figs. The roscones (ribbon-shaped) was filled with guava and that was really good as well. The pastries were all flaky and fresh. I ended up also getting these tiny cookies called Mil Hojas that were basically a cookie with powdered sugar on top and a portion of caramel in between. These would have gone great with a coffee and they were quite sweet! Lastly, the Buñuelos (brown sphere) I grabbed was basically cheese on the exterior and a dense salty bread on the interior. This made my mouth feel a little dry when eating, and I wondered if I should have paired with a drink. I'll likely go back again to try a meal here in the future!
Great food and the service is excellent. We'd highly recommend this restaurant for family and friends
The place is nicely located. It's on the smaller side., so it might get packed on the weekends, but it's good for both small and larger groups. The food is really good, and tasty. The picada was a little bit dry, but it wasn't a deal breaker. They have a bakery with buñuelos, pan de Bono, and other traditional ones. You order at the counter and wait for the food to be served. The service is fast, and very nice. Prices are very competitive compared with similar Latin American places.
My girlfriend has eaten here many times and loves it so we decided to go today. Plus she offered to buy me lunch so why not? I got the ropa vieja and she got one arepa con pollo. My plate came with rice, beans, shredded beef. The rice had no flavor, the beef tasted pretty eh. The only reason I ate it was bc they had a ketchup and mayo sause and that's why it tasted good enough to eat. The beans were good but teased like they came out of a can. Her plate was pretty bad as well. The chicken was extremely dry and tasteless. All together the price was relatively cheap ($20) but I wouldn't recommend. The cherry on top was whenever my girlfriend went to the pay the male cashier totally ignored her. She handled her card over and he look at me said thanks boy and asked if I wanted a receipt. To say she was annoyed is an understatement.
If you go El Portal, expect to hear soccer and eat good Colombian food. If I was to recommend just a few things, I would recommend their breakfast breads: the almojábana, the pan de queso, and the buñuelo as well as their appetizer 'Empanandas'. The empanadas are the Colombian version of empanadas, which you must eat with Aji (the Colombian version of the pico de gallo). One, one last thing : get their blended juices, our family favorites are the Maracuya en Leche (Passion fruit in milk) and the Mora en leche (Blackberries in milk). I recommend this restaurant.
I came here for lunch to try something new! Sitting there, I really felt like I was in a cafe in Columbia. I was diggin the vibe. So you order up front and they bring your food out to you. When you're done eating, THEN you pay. We asked for water and they never brought it out so we asked for it again and THEN they brought it out. I felt a little left out because everyone else who was came in and spoke Spanish received a lot of love. We ordered a cheese bread to start off with. It was at room temperature but still very soft and had just the right amount of cheese. I ordered the grilled chicken lunch special. When it came out, I was very very impressed! Total fail while I was eating though. It came with a salad but didn't have any dressing and the chicken was very bland. My favorite part was the plantain. My friend ordered the empanada plate lunch special which comes with 2 empanadas, plantains, and rice. It was okay. We both agreed there was something missing. I decided to try a sweet bread - the Portal which comes with condensed milk and fig. The pastry was very pretty. The breading had just the right amount of sweetness and was flaky but I didn't enjoy the inside very much. I wasn't sure where the condensed milk was. Is it mixed in with the fig? I have no idea. Maybe I just ordered the wrong thing because everyone around me ordered soup and they looked like they really enjoyed it. Maybe I'll give it one more chance.
Authentic Colombian food. Delicious food, great prices and great customer service. Everything is good!!
This small, clean, tastefully decorated and well-kept Latin-style cafeteria place seems to be always popular. Popular with Colombians, Venezuelans and other Latin Americans from the other large landmass that constitutes the other half of the Americas (I do see people proudly wearing their country on their sleeves lol). But this place is proudly Colombian, and it is VERY Colombian in every way. The Bandeja Paisa plate here was great, although I had to get them to remake the fried egg (they didn't make it with runny yolk - which is mandatory to go along with my chicharrones or fried pork belly - YUM!). And this is one of the two places I know in Dallas where you can get this dish (ironically, the other place is also nearby, in Carrollton). The empanadas were decent although I liked Zaguan's better. The coffee could be improved since I found it to be too weak - I hope they do get an espresso machine someday in order to expand their coffee menu. The fruit juices were a better option. But really, this place stands out for having bakery items that the other Colombian place doesn't have - but I'm not very fond of Colombian baked goods. But if you want to try something, try the pastelitos de guayaba y queso, which you would like if you have a sweet tooth, or almojábana which is a cheese bread made out corn flour, which I liked more than the pan de bono, but only because it's a bit sweeter, which goes well with the cheese taste. The pan de bono though is good and is similar to the Brazilian paõ de queijo cheese breads, especially since they both have cheese and are made with yuca flour. Or... try the Colombian buñuelos, which is pretty much have the same ingredients as the pan de bono but is instead fried. But my go-to for Colombian meals will still be the other place, in part because the menu is much larger, the quality is great, and the price difference isn't much. And for more variety of snacking goodies, come here.
5 months ago
A resident of mine just brought me pastries from this place. Oh my , oh my! Delicious!! I had to call her and thank her but to ask her where did she get these deliciousness of pastries! She told me, and now I'm going to have to go back and look at their menu! read more
1 year ago
Amazing food! I have been coming to this restaurant for many years! One of the best place for Columbian cuisine and great bakery! Everything on the menu is delicious especially bandeja paisa which comes with everything. Service is wonderful too! You do not have to speak Spanish to order and eat here. Ample parking area as well and mots of dining chairs for you and your family to dine in. read more
1 year ago
So glad that I took my friend's recommendation to try this place! Wow, amazing selection, we'll have to come back again to try some of the other delicious meals here. We got the special (which was a soup), shredded beef portal plate, and beef empanadas. The beef empanadas were SO flavorful and with a corn outside, which I've never had before! The shredded beef is stringy and light, also full of flavor. We loved the sauce that the dish comes with. The soup is also delicious with different root vegetables and corn and on the thick side. A little bit on the salty side for me but nevertheless tasted like it had been stewing for a long time as it was deep in flavor. I definitely need to come back and try some of the sweet pastries in the case and the cheese ball pastry. read more
5 years ago
I learned about this restaurant after interviewing someone from Columbia. So I grabbed some friends and we decided to give it a try for Saturday lunch. The restaurant is located in a strip mall and was easy to find. I walked in and it was busy for a Saturday noon lunch crowd. My friends arrived before I did and were at the register ordering when I walked in. I went straight to the register and asked the wonderful man (may be the owner) for a suggestion and he recommended the empanadas and country platter (to sample a lot of different things), and the pineapple juice (not pictured). We sat down and began to enjoy the juice. The consistency was similar to a fruit smoothie. The pineapple juice was similar to a pina colada flavor- very refreshing. About ten mins later the empanadas arrived and we jumped in. They were tasty and filled with chicken. The vinegary salsa helped brighten the flavor. Another ten mins passed and our entrees came out. The country platter has a lot to offer but I was not impressed because the food lacked flavor, esp salt. The chorizo sausage had a great smell from the herbs but the flavor just wasn't there and it was on the dry side. The pork rind was nice and hot, and with the help of some sprinkled salt and a fresh squeeze of lime- it was delicious! The rice had a saltiness to it but paired well with the beans that didn't seem to have any salt. I ended my meal with a Columbian coffee cappuccino and it was super strong. Overall I was really glad we ventured out to try Columbian food but I just wish there was a bit more salt or spice! Would I recommend- yes, of course. Everyone should try different types of cuisines!!! read more
I stopped by here due to a recommendation from a friend. I've been trying to explore more ethnic bakeries as an inspiration for my own baking. When I went in around 5 PM, this restaurant was about half full and I was quickly greeted by an employee. He was very helpful in explaining what each of the items at the bakery counter near the front of the restaurant were. I mainly was there for the Almojabanas, but I ended up getting about 1 of each item (Almojabanas, Empanadas, Pasteles El Portal, Roscones, Buñuelos, Mil Hojas) to try the different flavors out. I was given a brown paper bag for each of the items depending on size and that was placed into a larger plastic bag to take with me. All of these items came out to under $15, which was expected. The Almojabanas (circular biscuit at top right of picture) were this dense and chewy biscuit that imparted something like a cheese flavor, but they were very tasty. I felt like this would go well with a meal or some coffee/tea. The empanadas (rectangular shaped) were filled with cheese and chicken. They were an interesting taste and didn't really remind me of chicken and cheese. Each of the pasteles el portal (triangle shaped) were delicious; I grabbed one of each of a caramel & guava and figs. The roscones (ribbon-shaped) was filled with guava and that was really good as well. The pastries were all flaky and fresh. I ended up also getting these tiny cookies called Mil Hojas that were basically a cookie with powdered sugar on top and a portion of caramel in between. These would have gone great with a coffee and they were quite sweet! Lastly, the Buñuelos (brown sphere) I grabbed was basically cheese on the exterior and a dense salty bread on the interior. This made my mouth feel a little dry when eating, and I wondered if I should have paired with a drink. I'll likely go back again to try a meal here in the future! read more
3 years ago
4 years ago
3 years ago
4 years ago
Great food and the service is excellent. We'd highly recommend this restaurant for family and friends read more
5 years ago
2 years ago
5 years ago
The place is nicely located. It's on the smaller side., so it might get packed on the weekends, but it's good for both small and larger groups. The food is really good, and tasty. The picada was a little bit dry, but it wasn't a deal breaker. They have a bakery with buñuelos, pan de Bono, and other traditional ones. You order at the counter and wait for the food to be served. The service is fast, and very nice. Prices are very competitive compared with similar Latin American places. read more
3 years ago
2 years ago
6 years ago
8 years ago
My girlfriend has eaten here many times and loves it so we decided to go today. Plus she offered to buy me lunch so why not? I got the ropa vieja and she got one arepa con pollo. My plate came with rice, beans, shredded beef. The rice had no flavor, the beef tasted pretty eh. The only reason I ate it was bc they had a ketchup and mayo sause and that's why it tasted good enough to eat. The beans were good but teased like they came out of a can. Her plate was pretty bad as well. The chicken was extremely dry and tasteless. All together the price was relatively cheap ($20) but I wouldn't recommend. The cherry on top was whenever my girlfriend went to the pay the male cashier totally ignored her. She handled her card over and he look at me said thanks boy and asked if I wanted a receipt. To say she was annoyed is an understatement. read more
3 years ago
Food is amazing here! It is basically a self service restaurant but the employees are kind and nice. Overall good service and basic facilities. Portions are pretty generous, especially for the price. I stop by pretty often. read more
5 years ago
If you go El Portal, expect to hear soccer and eat good Colombian food. If I was to recommend just a few things, I would recommend their breakfast breads: the almojábana, the pan de queso, and the buñuelo as well as their appetizer 'Empanandas'. The empanadas are the Colombian version of empanadas, which you must eat with Aji (the Colombian version of the pico de gallo). One, one last thing : get their blended juices, our family favorites are the Maracuya en Leche (Passion fruit in milk) and the Mora en leche (Blackberries in milk). I recommend this restaurant. read more
15 years ago
I came here for lunch to try something new! Sitting there, I really felt like I was in a cafe in Columbia. I was diggin the vibe. So you order up front and they bring your food out to you. When you're done eating, THEN you pay. We asked for water and they never brought it out so we asked for it again and THEN they brought it out. I felt a little left out because everyone else who was came in and spoke Spanish received a lot of love. We ordered a cheese bread to start off with. It was at room temperature but still very soft and had just the right amount of cheese. I ordered the grilled chicken lunch special. When it came out, I was very very impressed! Total fail while I was eating though. It came with a salad but didn't have any dressing and the chicken was very bland. My favorite part was the plantain. My friend ordered the empanada plate lunch special which comes with 2 empanadas, plantains, and rice. It was okay. We both agreed there was something missing. I decided to try a sweet bread - the Portal which comes with condensed milk and fig. The pastry was very pretty. The breading had just the right amount of sweetness and was flaky but I didn't enjoy the inside very much. I wasn't sure where the condensed milk was. Is it mixed in with the fig? I have no idea. Maybe I just ordered the wrong thing because everyone around me ordered soup and they looked like they really enjoyed it. Maybe I'll give it one more chance. read more
7 years ago
Authentic Colombian food. Delicious food, great prices and great customer service. Everything is good!! read more
This small, clean, tastefully decorated and well-kept Latin-style cafeteria place seems to be always popular. Popular with Colombians, Venezuelans and other Latin Americans from the other large landmass that constitutes the other half of the Americas (I do see people proudly wearing their country on their sleeves lol). But this place is proudly Colombian, and it is VERY Colombian in every way. The Bandeja Paisa plate here was great, although I had to get them to remake the fried egg (they didn't make it with runny yolk - which is mandatory to go along with my chicharrones or fried pork belly - YUM!). And this is one of the two places I know in Dallas where you can get this dish (ironically, the other place is also nearby, in Carrollton). The empanadas were decent although I liked Zaguan's better. The coffee could be improved since I found it to be too weak - I hope they do get an espresso machine someday in order to expand their coffee menu. The fruit juices were a better option. But really, this place stands out for having bakery items that the other Colombian place doesn't have - but I'm not very fond of Colombian baked goods. But if you want to try something, try the pastelitos de guayaba y queso, which you would like if you have a sweet tooth, or almojábana which is a cheese bread made out corn flour, which I liked more than the pan de bono, but only because it's a bit sweeter, which goes well with the cheese taste. The pan de bono though is good and is similar to the Brazilian paõ de queijo cheese breads, especially since they both have cheese and are made with yuca flour. Or... try the Colombian buñuelos, which is pretty much have the same ingredients as the pan de bono but is instead fried. But my go-to for Colombian meals will still be the other place, in part because the menu is much larger, the quality is great, and the price difference isn't much. And for more variety of snacking goodies, come here. read more
8 years ago
DO NOT COME TO THIS PLACE ON SUNDAY!!!! It's being 30 Minutes and they haven't give me the Food I ordered They are short staff to attend customers. They don't have a back up when the place got crowded so the service level goes down. read more
4 years ago
5 years ago
5 years ago
Food was great and they were more than happy to accommodate my vegetarian diet. They cooked recalentado (rice &beans) without the pork, which made me a happy camper. The food was tasty this time unlike my first several visits a year or so ago. My cafe con leche was also great. Will definitely be coming back. Great pre-work out brunch. read more
4 years ago
5 years ago
16 years ago
Best Colombian bakery AND food in the D/FW metro area (we've tried it all). Kind of pricey on the baked goods but quality is super and service is good. Typical bakery + food procedure (think Corner Bakery style): You can order at display/counter to go or eat in at table. Also, I think you can just sit down and be served by wait staff. The owner is usually at the counter and is a very friendly jolly guy - makes it a fun atmosphere. TV's on wall playing Colombian salsa music videos and sports :) read more
7 years ago
14 years ago
I stumbled upon this restaurant when I was in search of another restaurant, and I'm so glad that I did! The Columbian flag colors were loud and proud from the outside, and although it was tucked away in a vacant shopping center, it looked packed from the outside so you know it's going to be good! The place is very intimate, quaint and you would think that the neon green and orange walls wouldn't make the restaurant feel cozy but the baskets and other artwork made it feel like I stepped into a family's restaurant. The process: you order at the front, grab your utensils and napkins on the side, seat yourself and pay afterwards at the front where you can stare down some baked goods and take some to-go. Looks like the owner(s) and a young lady wear all the hats -- cashier, server, bus tables..etc. I was greeted by a man and I told him that it was my first time at this restaurant, so he kindly suggested a few things on the menu. They had specials listed on the side so make sure you check those out, too. Everything was reasonably priced under $12.00. I ordered the ROPA VIEJA (old lady clothes? - I think) and I really should have asked why they called it that but the meal came with shredded beef, beans, plantains and rice. Everything on my plate tasted delicious -- everything was well-cooked and not over-cooked or too dry. I would highly recommend this dish. The place was packed with Columbians the whole time I was there so that's always a good sign of the authenticity of the food. I would definitely come back there (and on purpose). read more
13 years ago
I am Colombian and the guys that run this restaurant make me very proud because their food is fresh and delicious which is what authentic colombian food is supposed to taste like. The empanadas are great. they are filled with quality meat,potatoes,and spices that give the meat a fantastic flavor. The pandebono is a cheese like bread snack that is great to drink with hot coco or good old colombian style coffee. The atmosphere here is great. They consistently play salsa and vallenatos that make me feel like I am back home! so if you're a little adventurous and want to try something good and authentic go here and try anything that you'd like. I promise you won't be disappointed, and who knows you might just end up eating here as often as I do. read more
7 years ago
7 years ago
Love this place. Of course I'm getting my food to go today. Packed house and the food is seasoned to perfection. Healthy might I add read more
5 years ago
5 years ago
6 years ago
4 years ago
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More info about El Portal Cafe
2810 Trinity Mills
Ste 191
Carrollton, TX 75006
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(972) 417-3927
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