To kick off the evening, the birthday girl ordered a sangria pitcher and crispy calamari for everyone. Meanwhile I checked the menu at Pio Pio Restaurant to figure out what Peruvian food really was.
I love birthday celebrations! This time was my roommate’s bday and she decided to have dinner at a Peruvian restaurant in the Upper West Side. She always talked about Pio Pio, but I never had the chance to visit the place.
Actually, I was dreaming of it because of all the good things she and her friends kept telling me. I knew in advance Pio Pio had the best Salchipapas in town. Or, sausage with fries, and I was ready to try it out!
We were in a big group of friends so we made a reservation. I do recommend it, if you are with a big party, as well.
Strategically located on a street corner with a green façade and red signs with their name, the restaurant definitely surprised me! The venue was infinitely more beautiful and elegant than I had imagined.
I saw people from all around the world enjoying great Peruvian food and the place was so charming!
We sat right across a gorgeous brick wall with countless colorful paintings. Every art work was truly spectacular. They portrayed a Peruvian kids in the country side and really called my attention! And, amongst the kids, was a huge vertical painting of Our Lady, Mary.
So, to kick off the evening, the birthday girl ordered sangria pitchers and crispy calamari for everyone. Meanwhile, I checked the menu to figure out what Peruvian food actually looked like. Well, I found plenty of dishes made out of pollo – chicken and seafood.
After chatting a lot while drinking sangria, it was time to eat. Yay, my favorite time!! I shared a dish named Matador combo (Killer combo) with a friend, and it really was to die for. It was a preparation of rotisserie chicken served with yellow rice, avocado salad, red beans, tostones and the highly anticipated, salchipapas.
OMG, I loved it! I actually felt at home, since it was like comfort food to me. Other people ordered seafood dishes which all looked and smelled terrific!
For dessert we had tres leches – a traditional Latin sweet, flan – like a caramel custard, and Piononos – a roll cake filled with dulce de leche. I’m craving it all over again…
The experience I had at Pio Pio was really fantastic. And you can experience it too! Oh! And you can find at least one Pio Pio in each NYC borough.
If you enjoy Peruvian food, or if you’d like to try other cuisines like Mexican try Tijuana Picnic and the Latin American inspired cuisine, Colonia Verde.
Hours: Each location has different operating hours, so please check online.
Locations:
702 Amsterdam Avenue, Upper West Side, Manhattan
84-02 Northern Boulevard, Jackson Heights, Queens
282 Kings Highway, Gravesend, Brooklyn
264 Cypress Avenue, Mot Haven, Bronx
Text by our Contributor: Rafaela Azevedo
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Pio Pio Restaurant
*Last Update on Feb/2020.*
