Mi Bolivia

The food was divine!!! Seriously)))
The only problem was that only the chef was speaking English:)

If you’re coming here for the food, you will be amazed. The saltenas here are heavenly, you have not lived until you have eaten a saltena from here. That said, the service seems to be stuck in an eternal «whatever, YOLO» mode. They literally do not give a single shit. Like I wanted to get a few saltenas to takeout and it was like ten minutes before anybody showed up to take my order. You couldn’t even flag anyone down, since there was nobody in sight. Also when I dropped a twenty dollar bill on a twelve dollar order, they didn’t even give change back. Do they just expect an automatic 60% tip every single time? Waitress was lucky my arguing/​cursing skills in Spanish aren’t fully developed yet
Great food, but MAL servicio. Malo malo malo

I was inclined to rate Mi Bolivia a ¹⁄₅ for the following reasons
1.) Cashier mistakenly handed me the lesser amount of change and didn’t apologize after I inquired.
2.) Lomo Montado to-​go order took 20 minutes.
3.) Medium rare steak was fully cooked.
HOWEVER
The quality and flavor of the Lomo Montado significantly influenced my rating. Also note there were valid reasons for the terrible inattentive service. 1 server/​cashier, was managing the whole restaurant by herself — taking orders, processing checks, clearing tables, and running outside to deliver food to a demanding customer in her parked car which probably led her to incorrectly calculate my order. The superwoman of Mi Bolivia i would call her.
20 minutes of waiting led to frustration and draining patience which led to an imminent impulsive ¹⁄₅ star review. All changed when I tried the Lomo Montado. My frustration diffused and Mi Bolivia became one of the most underrated restaurants in Sunnyside on my list, a well-​deserved 4 stars. Lomo Montado is a eggs over rice/​fries/​steak combo, well done eggs with semi-​runny yolk, fries seasoned with spice (somewhat like the Red Robin seasoning), steak overcooked (glad it was seasoned to balance the cardboard texture), crispy salad with tomatoes and ripe avocado, and bonus green hot sauce. Smiles.
Will come again! Note to owner — please don’t ask superwoman to cook.

Saltenas are kind of like a stew that’s trapped inside a doughy crust. Its a little bit sweet. The mocochinchi drink is good.

Of the 3 Bolivian restaurants that I’ve managed to find in NY. This is by far the best. The salteñas are amazing. My fave dish is the silpancho and this is the only place that doesn’t over salt the meat. I also tried the sopa de mani it was also on point.
Not a 5 star because the service is not that amazing. There’s only one person (at least today) and the place was getting slightly full. She seemed a bit grumpy but doing everything by herself I can kinda understand. The place is minimally decorated and the space is small but I think it’s rather cozy.
Overall come for the food, I highly recommend it.

On my most recent trip to the Big Apple, I visited Mi Bolivia. A must for any empanda enthusiast like myself (yes, I am on a journey to try this delicious treat from every Latin American nation, in all of its many names and varieties). I had the pleasure of staying with Bolivians while in Switzerland, but I could not try their cuisine due to the lack of local ingredients found nearby. So trying this food has been on my to-​do list for quite some time. In Bolivia this empanada type dish is known as a Saltena. The crust is somewhat sweet, and the filling is almost like a hearty stew. Interesting combination of flavors. Am I glad I tried a saltena? Absolutely. Will I ever fly to NY to eat another one? Probably not. Either way, the restaurant is very modern, and it was a great experience.

Don’t expect refined service or atmosphere, at Mi Bolivia it is all about the salteñas. These delightful treats are perhaps Bolivia’s greatest culinary contribution to the world. Mi Bolivia has the best salteñas in the U.S., beyond Beba’s in the L.A. area.
Salteñas are a slightly sweet pastry with a soupy filling inside. Think something like a Cornish pasty or Argentine empenada. It is amazing they don’t get more attention amongst the foodie set.
I’d suggest ordering at least one beef (carne) and one chicken (pollo). They come out blazing hot from the oven. Shake it first gently to redistribute the filling. Carefully bite a corner to vent the steam. Then enjoy! Your life will be forever changed…

After moving from the DC area to NYC, I was really homesick for Bolivian food. (Fun fact: the DC area has the highest concentration of Bolivians in the country!). While I was disappointed by the lack of Bolivian food available in NY, I was happy to see at least ONE Bolivian restaurant.
The second I entered Mi Bolivia, I was so giddy with excitement. Looking at the menu, I felt at home and wanted to order absolutely everything. In the end, my dining companion and I split the following:
–Silpancho: MASSIVE portion. Best split between two people. Silpancho, a childhood favorite of mine, is a thin piece of steak that is breaded and served with a fried egg, rice, and a mix of onions + tomato. Absolutely delicious! Recommend! It’s also not spicy, for those that are spice-​conscious.
–Sopa de mani: YUMMMMMMMM. Sopa de mani (peanut soup) was perfection. I ordered it to take home, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat everything and I needed sopa de mani in life!
–Salteña de carne: Sigh. Okay, I’m not going to say that it wasn’t good. If this were my first salteña ever, I would have probably LOVED IT. Alas, I am Bolivian, so this ain’t my first salteña rodeo. It was good, but I was underwhelmed, to be honest. But, hey, a New York transplant has to take what she can get, right?
–Chicharro de pollo: also a MASSIVE portion. Also massively delicious!
While Mi Bolivia disappointed me on the salteña front, it made up for it in other arenas. And absolutely nothing can beat the feeling of being home away from home :).

The best place for Bolivian Salteñas, sadly it’s very small and the service is not the best. Call ahead to place your order for Salteñas.

Weird that VOICEPLACES lists this as closed. It isn’t, though it certainly isn’t crowded. We were there on Saturday at 5… and for most of the 3 hours, it was ONLY us, and some take out folks. One Mexicana did everything, from taking the orders to waitressing to bussing the tables. We wondered if she did the cooking.
She was always nice to us and helpful with the suggestions. I don’t know, though, how people who don’t speak any Spanish can manage… a lot of pointing, I guess.
The chicharones were the best dish. Not like the plastic bagged ones in the deli, but ones with meat on them, subtly spiced and fun to eat off the bone. The steak was a bit tough, not much in the way of taste. The corn (Mexican? Bolivian) was NOT like American sweet corn, but more like potatoes. The empenada appetizers (I guess they were the saltinas everyone likes) WERE good. We doubled our order.
The food was generally good, but not spectacular… and it was surprisingly UNspicy for Latino food.

La comida es mediocre comimos silpancho y la carne estaba rancia con olor a aceite viejo devolvimos la comida y el cocinero nos mando a decir que era el pan y que el olor era normal. Casi se me olvida, este lugar tiene una «C» en la inspección higiénica que hace ciudad.

If nothing else, come here for the coffee. Really, the coffee is excellent. The service is usually slow, I’ve never been wowed by the food, though it is usually tasty, but the coffee is superb. I’ve had the saltenas, the dried potato and meat soap, and the chicharron. The saltenas were my favorite. The chicarron was OK, I found the meat a little too dry, and the soup was meh. I basically just go for the coffee and pleasant atmosphere to read. The wait staff has always been very pleasant.

I am a Bolivian native, and have had many saltenas in my lifetime, and the saltenas from Mi Bolivia, are really good, very authentic, and filling! At $ 2.5 each, its a great deal. We also loved the Timpu, which had chuno!
We will definitely be going back on a weekend, when they have other amazing dishes like Fricase, Lechon, Plato Paceno! the list goes on. I wish they would open up another one in Manhatten, or a Saltena food truck! that would be amazing.

It hurts me that I’m giving a Latin American place an unfavorable review, the lowest i recall giving a place was 3 stars, but something is definitely off here. I ordered the saltenas as every on Unilocal raved about… i was not impressed… it lacked favor, meat, and was served lukewarm. Even with the watery green sauce I cant understand what the fuss is about? I also ordered a mora (blackberry) shake and that was good. My initial entrée choice was not available, so i settled on pork chops. It came served with rice, potatoes and salad… To be fair the pork chop was cooked well and juicy, but it was missing flavor, there was no seasoning, nothing, not even your basic salt and pepper. It was a sin. It could of been a great pork chop if they used even basic seasoning. This was my first time going to a latin american restaurant and asking for salt.
Service was ok… prices are reasonable… but I wont be returning anytime soon, the only good item i had was the mora shake… and i can get that anywhere on roosevelt ave certainly not worth the trip here.

Had my first meal here recently around brunch hour. Small place with a counter near the end, one TV and a few tables. Not the prettiest restaurant you’ve ever been in but that’s not what it’s about anyway.
I ordered the famous Saltenas, had one of each. They were as good as advertised, as one commenter said they are «what Hotpockets should be» overwhelming with flavors and dripping with sauce. Excellent.
I also ordered the Bolivian Breakfast, which came with fried pork, an egg, and fries. They said it was a special, but it looked like very cheap food barely cooked. Granted all the food was cheap, but I still noticed it simply wasn’t very good, not a good way to finish the meal. Finally, I tried the famous Inca Kola, which was good.
The service was alright. The young waitress spoke English well, and unlike some other places didn’t seem to mind speaking it to me. She wasn’t exactly overly helpful, but again it was fine.
Overall, decent cheap food. Stick to the Saltenas and anything else you trust, along with Inca Kola for sure.
Cheers.

I’m Bolivian and I love this place. Their salteñas are very authentic and so yummy! I always buy extra to take home when I go there.
My favorite dish is «Falso Conejo», love their soups. The food is just great, very authentic Bolivian food. I hope they stay around forever because I love Bolivian food and miss it.

My first experience with Bolivian food could not have been better!
My coworker suggested we go here for dinner last night because I was in the mood for empanadas, and he’d been raving about bolivian food for a while now. Little did I know I’ve been living blocks away from this place my whole life and have been missing out!
Everyone is raving about the salteñas and while they were extremely delicious (and I might add filling) I’m a huge fan of corn and the humitas were excellent! I had it as an appetizer, but I hear it tastes great as a dessert with coffee or tea. Our main dish was the silpancho, which is a pounded thin steak lightly fried and served over rice and potatoes topped with chopped veggies and an over-​easy egg… the most delicious piece of meat I’ve had since my steakhouse adventure in Aruba!
I’ve always known hole-​in-​the-​wall places are usually the best, and this little gem is no exception! :)

Nope, definitely not closed. And pretty damned amazing for the price.
Everybody here is going crazy over the saltenas – and they’re absolutely right. I lived in Chile for awhile and thought that Chilean beef empanadas were the best thing ever. And then I tried saltenas – they’re juicy as all hell and beautifully spiced. They make my beloved Chilean empanadas look dry and lifeless. Good job, Mi Bolivia.
We also tried piqué a lo macho (my Spanish is rusty, but I think it translates roughly as «pickings of the manly dude»), which has fried potatoes, fried mild white cheese, fried beef, fried onions, fried hotdog chunks, and a few bits of fried vegetables in red sauce. It’s a massive, massive plate of food for $ 11.
Try the fresh juices (passion fruit, pineapple, orange, and blackberry were available when we visited) – great stuff for $ 3/​glass.

Juicy salteñas
What a hot pocket should be
Get in my belly

SALTENAS are amazing!
They are like juicy, delicious empenadas that drizzle their wonderfulness all over your chin.
They are huge and only $ 2.
They make me do this funny dance (insert visual here)

THE MENU SAYS «MI BOLIVIA» BUT THE SIGN OUTSIDE SAYS INTERNATIONAL RESTAURANT.
When my friend emailed me and told me there is a Bolivian restaurant in NY, I literally fell off my chair. I live in LA, and I miss the taste of home so much. The closest thing I got here is Peruvian and that is totally different because Peruvian cuisine is seafood heavy (ceviche, etc.) while Bolivian food is meat and potato heavy (we are landlocked). I told her to find out where this restaurant was and trust me, it was so hard to finally get here.
They need to change the name of their restaurant sign and menu so that it says the same thing or else people will overlook this place!
We got into a cab and we finally got here. The cab driver said something about how we were all the way in Brooklyn. My sassy NY friend told him NO, we’re in Woodside.
Once we found our way in, the familiar aroma of saltenas and meat filled the air. I was so elated! I sat down and opened the menu (Which said «Mi Bolivia» on it. A really friendly Bolivian girl, transplanted from Virginia (VA has the highest population of Bolivians in the U.S. outside of Bolivia) came and helped us out (I am assuming that she was the only English speaker and we were the only Asians there — another sign of authenticity).
She told us that the owner of this restaurant is from La Paz (the active capital of Bolivia) and how back at home, he was known for having the best salteneria (a specialty house dedicated to making the saltenas, a juicy version of an empanada that is so filling and full of meat, potatoes, eggs, spices, raisins, olives, etc).
We ordered 2 saltenas (one beef, one chicken, and i absolutely loved the beef one because they used ground beef instead of beef chunks. this made it really tender and easy to bite into. however, the chicken is still my favorite. i think it combines better with all the other stuff inside).
1 mocochinchi and 1 maracuya for drinks (first one is a drink made from dehydrated peaches, cinnamon, sugar, and the second one is pureed passion fruit), my favorite childhood drink was the mocochinchi but i did not like this version too much because they didn’t give me a bolita (no dehydrated peach in there).
1 humintas (a dessert type corn concoction, reminiscent of a tamale with no filling. instead, it’s made with sweet corn, raisins, cinnamon, and there is a layer of burnt cheese on top, all wrapped in a corn husk).
1 sopa de mani (this soup is made of ground peanuts, usually with beef broth, vegetables, french fries, and meat –usually leftover chicken feet but in this case, it was just beef chunks).
1 piqué a lo macho (basically, this is french fries, beef chunks, onions, peppers, cheese, sausage, all sauteed together with a delicious sauce. it’s all about the sauce).
1 chicharron de cerdo (this is basically fried pig skin but the meat is usually attached, along with the bones. however, people order this because of the skin. the best part of this dish is that it came with choclo — hominy — and purple potatoes, which is native to the andes).
The best part of this meal was definitely the saltenas. the other dishes are good, too, but if you’re Bolivian, you just CRAVE saltenas. you can’t find anything like that here. the other dishes you can try to make it on your own and come close to it in your own kitchen but dayam, the saltenas are hard to get right and right it got in this restaurant.
FIVE STARS!!! Now I don’t have to go all the way to bolivia to have my dose of saltenas. i just have to fly over to NYC.