El Tropical

Very tasty food located across Center St from the covey center for the arts. Every menu item I had tasted so far has been wonderful. The guy who runs the place is kind and full of great suggestions for what to eat. They prepared our food after we ordered it so it was fresh and just right. I am adding to my review in a most positive manner. They have a seafood soup that is outstanding!! They make their own seafood stock from which the finished product is created. My soup contained mussels, octopus, squid, oyster, shrimp,and fish in a marvelous tomato and coconut milk broth. I will definitely be ordering this again and the portion is most generous

This place is amazing... if you like this type of good you will find no better anywhere around! When we came in they really made is feel welcome and like we were family. I love that it actually feels very family run. It feels just like we were sitting in a little shop in the Dominican or Puerto Rico etc but is a very clean and well kept version of them. We have already been three times this month since discovering it and EVERYTHING has been so good we leave very full but craving more. If you're lucky enough to go when they have pasteles made, definitely buy some and take them home for a great authentic home-style treat... They are not on the menu so ask either Alex (who's mom makes them perfectly) or your waitress... They will blow any tamale out of the water! We have favorites on the menu already but will end up trying everything I'm sure. so far we typically start with the mufungitos and some fried yuka which come out very close to the feel and taste of large French fries, just much better. I would recommend both strongly. The fried food is spectacular... Not dripping in grease, and is obviously fried at the perfect temperature to crisp it up but not pick up additional fat, so don't let the fact that it is fried scare you off...many restaurants in the area should take lessons from these guys. Then we usualy end up sharing a couple entrees-mine is typically a mufungo and meat type because love mufungo... Can't go wrong with any of them but the one with shrimp is amazing! If you need a recommendation, the staff will gladly give you some, and so far they have been spot on with them for us. So I guess to sum up all of this, if you haven't been here, you are missing out and i would definitely recommend trying them out (Fridays would be a good day to go your first time... They have karaoke night and it is very entertaining). We hope you love El Tropical as much as we do!

Me and my friend stumbled upon this place on a Friday night, and we're always up for trying new things. We were probably the only white people there, and the hostess didn't speak a lick of english, but our waitress did. Turns out we were there on karaoke night! It was a lot of fun, everyone was friendly. I don't know much about dominican food, but it was pretty good. I got the fish filet with coconut and fried plantain. The service was a little slow, but it's a tiny place and there were a lot of people there that night. I definitely recommend going on a Friday night if you can! It was a lot of fun.

I have never had Dominican food before, but I got the bottom option on the chicken section of the menu with the plantains. It was really good! The food was cooked very well, and it was tasty! I only give it four stars because I'm not sure if I would have wanted to pay the 11 dollars for it, but we had a groupon deal so we only paid about 3.50 a plate, and it was DEFINITELY more than worth that! My picky 2 year old loved the fried plantains and so did I! My husband got the beef version with rice and beans and wasn't super impressed. He mostly ate off of my plate. He didn't like the beans, and he said the meat was okay. For a first time trying Dominican food I gotta say, you should definitely try it at least once!!

I tried it just because it was a new type of food. The man was very attentive to our novice status and offered some good, not to out there options. Then he even came back with a yummy drink that was on the house. My partner liked the recommendation that he ordered but mine was to... Plain. But i dont think that refelcts the whole resturant so I will go back and get something else!