El Latino Restaurant

El Latino Restaurant is a Dominican restaurant located at 1020 Chili Ave on Rochester's west side, in the 19th Ward neighborhood. The restaurant serves authentic Caribbean and Latin American cuisine with a focus on traditional Dominican cooking. Open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM, El Latino Restaurant operates as a casual, family-friendly spot offering dine-in seating, takeout, and catering services. The bilingual staff serves guests in both English and Spanish.

The menu at El Latino Restaurant spans a wide range of Dominican staples, organized around daily-served plates and made-to-order dinners. Core offerings include roast pork, stew chicken, baked chicken, and oxtail, each served with yellow rice, beans, and a choice of salad or cabbage. The made-to-order section features an extensive mofongo selection — the mashed plantain dish can be paired with shrimp, octopus, steak, fried pork, or a seafood combination. Other notable dishes include:

• Churrasco (skirt steak) with rice or tostones
• Fried pork chunks and pork chop dinners
• Plantain jabarito, a sandwich made with smashed plantain and chicken or pork
• El Latino Paella with lobster and mixed seafood
• Cod fish bacalao, red snapper (whole or fillet), and salmon
• Homemade soups including chicken, shrimp, and a seven-fish seafood mix

Side orders include alcapurrias (fried yuca rolls with ground beef), empanadas, tostones, mangú, and sweet plantains. For drinks, the restaurant offers house-made juices and morir soñando, a traditional Dominican orange juice and milk beverage. Desserts include flan and tres leches cake. Most entrées fall in the $12–$28 range.

El Latino Restaurant has built a following around its slow-cooked pulled pork, oxtail plates, and the variety of mofongo preparations on the menu — an unusually deep selection for the Rochester area. The restaurant also stands out for its seafood offerings, including a full paella and multiple shrimp and octopus dishes alongside the more common Dominican meat-and-rice plates.

El Latino Restaurant sits at 1020 Chili Avenue, a main commercial corridor running through Rochester's 19th Ward neighborhood on the city's west side. The restaurant offers free street parking and a parking lot, and the entrance, seating, and parking are wheelchair accessible. The casual, compact dining room keeps the focus on the food, though many customers opt for takeout. Online ordering is available through the restaurant's website for pickup.