Eats and Drinks
Best Latino Restaurant
Latin Palace
809 S. Broadway, (410) 522-6700
Baltimore's Latino community is swelling by the thousands each year--latest estimates have local native Spanish-speakers totaling 50,000--but the offerings of Latin-American and Spanish cuisine haven't quite kept pace. There are a handful of good little eateries that make a mean arroz con pollo, but there are even more that open and close each year--due at least in part, we reckon, to difficulty attracting a gringo clientele for whom Latino food means burritos and chips.
Latin Palace, which recently opened on Broadway, is out to change that. This former dinner theater/nightclub is a huge space that has been through many incarnations, but its latest proprietors just may have nailed the right combination for success. With two nightclubs downstairs and a large dining room upstairs, Latin Palace is many things without trying to be everything at once. If you want sangria and salsa, go no further than the front door. If you want a relatively peaceful and leisurely dinner, sit upstairs in the dining room, Las Palmas. Its menu is broad enough to appease family members who must have roast beef and mashed potatoes, but the Latino options are too good not to try. The paella, arroz con pollo, and fried plantains top our recommended list.
