Pork Sandwiches, All Good at El Nuevo Cibao

When I hear descriptors like “restaurant row” and “trendy dining mecca” applied to eating out in Brooklyn, it sometimes makes me want to stay home and make myself some cereal. While Smith Street is populated by many well-known, fantastic restaurants like Saul and The Grocery, one of my favorite places doesn’t usually make local magazines’ “Top Eats” lists. It’s El Nuevo Cibao, a no-frills Dominican restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

My top eats at El Nuevo Cibao include the delicious roast pork sandwich on a fresh hero roll with a bit of Jamaican Parrot hot sauce on the side, as well as the pork chop sandwich; two deboned chops on a thin roll fried and flattened using a sandwich press. They offer a solid Cuban sandwich – layers of pickles, roast pork, ham and cheese, but the pork and chop sandwiches are what keep me going back. Starchy as Dominican food can be, El Cibao also turns out a wonderful version of the national dish, rice and beans. A daily meal for many Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Dominicans, one popular version of rice and beans is known as ‘Moros y Cristianos” (Moors and Christians) which features garlicky black beans and white rice. El Nuevo Cibao serves huge, inexpensive portions of delicious red and black beans with both fluffy white and yellow rice. Simple, nourishing and beloved, rice and beans can be the measure of a good Island restaurant. Finally, if you’re able, try the bright orange flan resting in an oozy caramel sauce.

The crew of servers and cooks at El Nuevo Cibao are a friendly bunch who like ribbing eachother and seem to enjoy one another’s company. When attention isn’t being paid to the food or the customers (which is not totally unusual), it’s on the jukebox, with everyone singing along with the salsa and bachata tunes. When the last song finishes, don’t be surprised if you hear shouts of “Musica! Musica!” as your server races over to the jukebox, dollar bills in hand, to cue up the next track.

El Nuevo Cibao
172 Smith Street

Originally posted on Until Monday: Brooklyn.