Martin’s BBQ

A local recommended this place to me for some good and cheap PR food. It’s cafeteria style so you can walk in and quickly pick up food to take home which I saw most people doing. We picked up a whole chicken, fried pork, yellow (chicken and pork) rice, and some sweet plantains, and 1.75L soda. The price was reasonable but I wouldn’t call it cheap.
The rotisserie chicken was juicy and moist. The pork was okay, but slightly dry as all fried pork tends to be. The yellow rice was awesome — super flavorful and worth the extra cost over the regular rice. My only compliant would be that eating the chicken and rice together tasted a little too salty. The sweet plantains were as good as I’ve had anywhere.

The plane landed… Too many thoughts roaming through my head. The island looked so beautiful from up above… from afar. I was excited to see my sister whom I had not seen in almost a year… I was not looking forward to opening up the house and the memories, for me long gone and dealt with. I inhaled and I waited for the expected ovation and clapping classically performed by Puerto Ricans when a plane successfully lands. Especially louder when they arrive in the island… Oddly enough, almost as if my gloom had become contagious, very few clapped and the flight attendant had to urge and ask for it.
The minute I turned on the phone, text messages flooded. I almost panicked. Overwhelmed by the epic proportions of the task and my impossibility to do it all myself. I had to depend on complete strangers, mostly. As I waited for the luggage, I called the electrician, the gardener, the plumber, the moving company, the pool man… Many of them already parked in front of my house waiting for me to open it after two years of absence. Would it be like Miss Havisham’s house in Great Expectations? Maybe not as decayed, but certainly as heavy.
Having so little time to get everything together and longing for some Puerto Rican food, I decided to stop by Martin’s BBQ on the way home. There is one right in the corner of the shopping center in Trujillo Alto. Very small and unpretentious. For the locals, it is just normal every day flavor of a fast food chain. Neither splendid or bad. It is just so. Convenient. NO cooking necessary when craving some mofongo (which I am crazy about). It reminded me of the many times I called and had the food packed and ready to pick up after a long day at work. The kids hungry. The Finicky Eater only eating the white rice and the Green Eyed Foodie asking for everything on the menu she could pronounce then.
The usual faces greeted me a year and a half later. It was rather sweet, actually. The place was empty which made me happy because they cook the mofongo when you ask for it, the rest of the items are there in cafeteria style. Ready to be served and enjoyed. I ordered two plates of mofongo and carne frita (cubed fried pork). I took the food home… I still call it that somehow. I just realized. For a long time, I called it «the house.» After greeting all the workers and letting them do their tasks, I sat overlooking the dirty pool. Eating the food and enjoying the familiar in the no longer. My sister sat next to me in silence. The food was as I remembered it. Not this or that, just so. Good enough. Like I was feeling… like the house itself at that moment.

Everyone has boasted the chicken and I need to try it. But stay away from the ribs. They are not tenderized. Just heavily seasoned and deep fried.
As far as cleanliness… There were ants in the restroom and on the walls of the restaurant.

Small shop on Isla Verde Ave. I happened to noticed the sign as I drove by and decided to go in. I think I was the only tourist there. No long line like Bebo. Excellent sancocho. The bbq chicken is so tender that the meat fell off the bone.

All the local PR comes here for food… as we were thinking of what to order a very kind lady made suggestions of food and as we’re eating all the locals are coming in to order to go and eat in. Portions are huge so have a big appetite for Puerto Rican cuisine.

The chicken is very good! And so are the plantains and white rice! Definitely a good place for fast and tasty food!

Ribs and chicken were moist and tender. Service was good. We loved this place and we will be back.

The food was great, the price was reasonable and the service was not bad. If I’m in town I would go back.

The ribs are tender and tasty but the chicken can be a little dry. There are several side dishes that are good, the yuca friters and yellow rice in particular.