El Paraiso — Restaurant in Urbana

We've been looking for a new spot for tacos in Champaign-Urbana. El Paraiso caught our attention because of the abundance of plantain options.

With a Gluten-Free family member, the idea of an additional base (beyond corn tortillas) for her to consider is what got us to order for the first time. I'm really not aware of other plantain options in CU, and there's a number of them at El Paraiso.

Our Valentines takeout meal was excellent. Fresh Guac and recently fried chips, a number of tasty proteins (we tried steak, pastor and chicken) accompanied by rice, tortillas and plantains. All of it lovingly assembled -- my pork Canastas were plated beautifully despite being to-go. My wife was so happy to have both savory and sweet plantain options, and also really enjoyed the red rice with smoked turkey (arroz con gandules). Our 4yo enjoyed his plain chicken taco, which was well seasoned and still kid-friendly.

Can't wait to try the Jibarito next. Really hoping El Paraiso becomes a downtown...

They do not provide table service, even when you’re the only table in the place. The employees were very knowledgeable about their dishes and provided recommendations. They did not have some of the items available that were listed as regular menu items. My husband and son had to change out their drink option which was supposed to be a juice, it tasted like it had been very diluted and had very little fruit flavor. I ordered a shrimp dish in a cream sauce with a side of rice. The cream sauce had zero flavor and had separated, making it look as bad as it tasted. My white rice was cold to the touch and very hard, and appeared to have been days old and simply reheated. My husband order something else that had a different rice and he was the only one; out of 5 of us, who finished his plate and enjoyed it. They are very over priced for...

My first time at El Paraiso I ordered the mofongo with chicken and llapingacho. The chicken was fall-off-the-bone tender and the mofongo was very fulfilling. I expected for the llapingacho to be more crispy on the outside, so it didn't quite hit with me.

I did takeout another time and had the steak jibarito, which was so good that I ordered it again the next day. The way the steak is seasoned and cut reminds me of Korean bulgogi. I would definitely recommend giving El Paraiso a try for its various plantain dishes and...