In Puerto Rican the word wepa means joy and celebration. And chef-owner Art Robinson says his hope is that after enjoying a meal at the Wepa Café, customers will be so satisfied that they shout for joy. In other words, exclaim wepa!
Robison describes Wepa as a Puerto Rican restaurant serving traditional foods infused with traditional flavors. Housed in a newly constructed, contemporary building, Wepa is in an area of Garden City that is now a center for the arts, breweries, and wineries.
The Back Story
The tagline for Wepa is authentic Puerto Rican cuisine with a social conscience.
The authentic Puerto Rican refers to the Robinson ancestry. His mom grew up in San Juan, the capitol and largest city of this Caribbean country. Robinson returns every year or two to visit family living on the chain of islands. Though he grew up in New York, he was raised on Puerto Rican cuisine. His mom, in his words, was not a good cook, but his grandparents were. One of his comfort foods is Arroz Con Pollo. When he was growing up, his grandmother cooked this chicken and rice stew weekly.
The social conscience is Wepa’s commitment to donate a portion of restaurant profits to the Hurricane Maria relief fund. Puerto Rico is still being rebuilt after this 2017 category 5 storm obliterated much of the country’s infrastructure.
Lunch with Becky
Becky and I went to Wepa to celebrate my birthday. We were excited to try Robinson’s Puerto Rican specialties with their Spanish, Taino Indian, and Afro-Caribbean flavors. We quickly learned that plantains—both green and yellow—are essential Puerto Rican ingredients!
We started with an appetizer sampler: Tostones, Alcapurrias, Bacalaitos, and two types of Pastelilos.
Tostones are an upscale version of potato chips. Green plantains are peeled, sliced, and twice-fried. Raw slices are fried in sizzling hot oil. Then the plantains are flattened, fried again, and seasoned with garlic powder and salt.
Made from taro and green plantains, the Alcapurrias are fritters stuffed with ground meat, tomatoes, raisins, and olives. The Bacalaitos (codfish fritters) were flavored with onions, red pepper, cilantro, and oregano. Finally, the Pasteles turnovers were filled with spiced beef and shrimp.
The sampler plate had two sauces—Puerto Rican Fry Sauce (mayo-ketchup) and Puerto Rican Ranch dressing.
Becky opted for the Camarones al Ajillo entrée, shrimp cooked in a delightful Puerto Rican tomato sauce with rice and beans. I ordered Pollo Asopao, a traditional chicken stew served with cilantro rice. Both dishes came with plantains. Maduros, sweet yellow plantains, accompanied the shrimp, Tostones the chicken stew.
We were too full to order dessert! But, the offerings sounded heavenly—Flan, Guava Infused Chocolate Mousse, and Pina Colada Cheesecake.
Our Recommendation
The Wepa Café is a must-go. Put this restaurant on your rotation for dining out. The atmosphere is very pleasant, the food fabulous, the portions generous, and the service excellent.
Next time we go, I’m ordering the Pernil. This succulent pork dish is a holiday favorite among Puerto Ricans.
Wepa’s Pernil is slow-roasted pork shoulder marinated in spices, garlic, and fresh oregano.
Wepa Café
175 E 35th Street, Garden City, ID
wepaprcuisine.com
Menu * Order Online * Reservations * Directions
Digesting Diaspora 