Sobre Mesa – Oakland, CA

Website | Instagram | Facebook | 510-907-7555

Yes, Sobre Mesa is one of our favorite Black-owned cocktail bars & lounges, but they’re also serving up some of our favorite Afro-Latin fare. The menu is inspired by Top Chef alum Nelson German’s Dominican roots and African ancestry, with influences from Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other Latin countries. That includes creative dishes like the West African Spiced Carrots, which includes smoked purple carrot puree, charred carrots, and fried pineapple safe; tostones, made from green plantain, salchichon ‘nduja, 2 year aged cheddar, and anchovy; or the Spiced Refried Bean Hummus by Top Chef Maria Mazon, comprised of refried bean hummus, escabeche of carrots and cucumbers, tostones, and chile oil.

Alamar Kitchen – Oakland, CA

Website | Instagram | Facebook | 510-907-7555

alaMar Kitchen could be considered the older brother (or sister, or non-gendered sibling) of Sobre Mesa, also founded by Chef Nelson German. Not only is the fast casual restaurant known for its seafood boils and signature braised oxtail dish (Nelson’s childhood favorite), their street tacos are a hit. Try the shrimp tacos “Quesa Style,” which comes with Oaxaca cheese, Wanda’s chow chow, corn masa, and salsa criolla. Also check out the roasted oyster with salsa verde, pork longaniza, and parmesan butter.  

Sazon Restaurant & Café – Philadelphia, PA

Website | Instagram | Facebook | 215-763-2500

Sazon is Philly’s first and only traditional Venezuelan Restaurant, located in the city’s Northern Liberties section. Much of their menu is vegetarian friendly, and  gluten-free options available. You’ll want to check out the Arepas, a corn patty that has the distinction of being the national bread of Venezuela, and the Asado Negro, a slow cooked beef roast considered to be “the King of Caracas.”

El Nuevo Frutilandia – San Francisco, CA

Website | Instagram | Facebook | 415-648-2958

The small, family-owned restaurant has been around San Francisco’s Mission District since 1974, serving home-style Cuban and Puerto Rican comfort food. That includes dishes like veggie mofongo, the traditional Puerto Rican classic that includes garlic flavored mashed green plantains with mixed vegetables, sofrito vegetable sauce. It’s served with Puerto Rican rice, arroz con gandules, and choice of braised pink beans or Cuban black beans. As they say at the restaurant, “¡Buen Provecho!” (good eating)

Mix’d Roots – Online ordering with national shipping

Website | Instagram | Facebook | 845-379-4206

Argentina Flores is the ultimate multi-hyphenate. She’s a home cook, a self-taught mixologist, event curator, creative director, and third generation Afro-Latinx herbalist. She grew up drinking herbal teas and fruit infusions that her grandmother would make using ingredients native to the Caribbean, South, and Central America. During COVID, Flores began recreating the unique method of hand-picking, naturally drying, and carefully bottling the premium fruit and spice infusions at home, and thus, Mix’d Roots was born. With national shipping available, you can order mixes like the Cacao Café Colada, which is made with raw Peruvian cacao, 100% Arabaca coffee beans, orange, coconut, and cinnamon-infused sugar – or the Spiced Wine, made with orange, lemon, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, star anise, juniper berries, and organic sugar. Most of the infusions make 8-12 cocktails.