Puerto Rican Street Cuisine — Restaurant in Oakland

Tried the newly reopened Puerto Rican 🇵🇷Street Cuisine restaurant in Oakland. Their chef/owner, Eric ‘E’ Rivera, has a colorful background. In 2015, his take-out gig in an Oakland liquor store was featured by Guy Fieri in Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and the rest was viral history. His take on PR cuisine was soul food for the homesick Rican and their kindred folks. It disappeared after 2017 for interesting reasons. It’s back. This is my honest take on their food I was able to enjoy today.

Taste: 3.5 stars out of 5. The tostones is good but best enjoyed when fresh. Ask for more dipping sauce. It’s onion chicken dish was tasty and tender and pairs very well with the yellow rice. Portion good enough for 2. My fave was the rum cake. Finally an honest-to-goodness rum cake in the bay! Service: 2.5 out of 5. It’s a takeout. The meal took longer to prep than the 15 minutes promised.

Price: 2.5 out of 5. It was more expensive than expected. I had a bit of a sticker shock, though the meal is probably good enough for 2. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by $7 empanadas in the bay.

Quality: 3.5 out of 5. The food was served hot and freshly made. The immediate environment seemed clean. My meal set was prepped complete and neat in individual reusable plastic containers.

Location: 2 out of 5. You can DoorDash.

#puertoricanfood #bayareafoodscene #oaklandfoodie #latinfood #bestcuisine...

Stopped by during Puerto Rican Street Food’s soft opening week and despite a few expected hiccups, I left full and happy. The flavors are on point—rich, savory, and full of promise. You can tell the kitchen knows what they’re doing and is still dialing things in.

The menu was limited, and a few things are still in the testing phase (looking at you, empanadas), but the team handled it with grace. My order was missing an empanada at first, then the one I got was falling apart—but Crystal (shout out!) and the staff were kind, transparent, and quick to offer a fresh batch with a sincere apology. The chicharrón de pollo could’ve used more crisp, but the seasoning was delicious enough to make up for it.

Can’t wait to come back once they’re fully up and running. If this is the baseline, I’m excited to see them hit their stride. Definitely worth checking out now—and again once the full menu is live! Lots of gluten-free options. Right now you can order from the window only, while inside is still being hooked up so not an inviting atmosphere to eat there just yet but...

I’m gonna try to make this short and sweet no I ain’t gonna happen. I’m Puerto Rican let me tell you my name is Nelson that fool was off the hook. I just came from there. He made a Mofongo that kicked me in the butt. It was delicious. it was incredible and the flavor took me back to my country. I was born here in the United States, and thought that I could never find Home and California but yet this man and his wife did nothing but welcome me with open arms. The food was incredible. The past was off the hook, the pork the chicken I don’t know what to say anymore. It was just delicious and when I left, I left content and happy and I will go there again and again and let me tell you Puerto Ricans were born with salt and this guy just put just enough so you could taste the flavor of the food and you cannot find that in any of the restaurant and I’ve been to the one in Castor Valley cannot touch the sky , I’m not trying to start a fight but let me tell you Oakland boy kick...