Okay, I know what you’re thinking. You went to Viva Empanadas and got empanadas, right? Well…you see, I was going to but then I read the whole menu and I got distracted.
When I visited Viva Empanadas at their new location in Galleria 7, I was hungry and an empanada just didn’t feel like enough food so I dove in and went right for the Cuban Ropa Vieja ($14). It’s traditional oven-roasted flank steak stewed with tricolored peppers, tomatoes, onions, olives and capers served with saffron rice, black beans and plantains. Everything was so good – especially the plantains. The spices were in your face and perfectly seasoning the food, spicy for me to need a beverage but not screaming for one and then the sweetness of the plantains. It was all so good, now, I really have to get an empanada, and an arepa, and brunch!
Oh, and you didn’t think I left without churros, right? Because if you did, you don’t know me very well. The sauce was great, the churros great, I would’ve liked the inside cooked a little more but overall a great food experience in a place that looks like a fancy food court. Galleria 7 may have a weird vibe but it’s filled with some amazing fooderies that can’t get their own storefront yet so give it all a try!
