The affordable prices attract new customers to Latino-owned restaurants across the metro.
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Latino Restaurant Week has officially returned for its second year. The event, which started last Friday, is organized by the Iowa Latino Hospitality Council, a nonprofit that works with Latino restaurant owners.
Over 20 restaurants are involved in this year’s event this year, which showcases global flavors while giving Latino businesses a boost.
The following 16 restaurants from across the metro are participating:
- Tullpa Restaurant
- Panka
- Fiesta (West Des Moines, Pleasant Hill and North Liberty locations)
- Los Allegres
- Margarita’s
- El Pollo Ranchero
- La Cuscatleca
- El Paisano
- El Fogon (both West Des Moines locations)
- El Guacamole Patio & Cantina
- Old West
- El Toro Loco
- Blue Bean (Johnston and Ankeny locations)
- El Barco
- Flame Cantina
- Roots 95
At Tullpa Restaurant in Des Moines, Gloria Henriquez is serving up something special for Iowa Latino Restaurant Week.
“We crafted a special menu for this week,” Henriquez said. “Behind each dish is a story. What we’re trying to reflect is like our culture through each dish that has been crafted.”
The special menu includes a classic Peruvian dish called arroz con pollo and arroz chaufa, a Peruvian take on fried rice.
“This past weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we had the opportunity to see a lot of new faces,” Henriquez said. “That’s the reflection of the success of this campaign.”
Fiesta in West Des Moines has a Latino Restaurant Week menu that features familiar favorites like birria tacos and choripollo, a dish featuring grilled chicken and chorizo.
“What we’re doing this year is that we’re doing our most popular dishes,” Fiesta owner Antonio Berber said. “That means that is what our regular customers that come here week after week, that’s what they order.”
Participating restaurants offer two lunches or a dinner with a side or dessert for $25. It’s an affordable option that’s attracting customers.
“I already had a few people mention that they see me on TV on another report that we had, and so I think it definitely helps,” Berber said.
Whether tried and true or something new, each Latino Restaurant Week dish spotlights a diverse flavor from Latin America.
“The restaurant is not just a business,” Berber said. “It’s a way to share your culture. It’s a way to engage with your community. That is by far the best thing that I like about the restaurant.”
Iowa Latino Restaurant Week runs through Sept.14, which just so happens to be the day before the start of Hispanic Heritage Month.
