When you’re looking for lunch in Little Italy, look no further than the lunch menu at Puerto La Boca. Our delicious Argentinian style grilled meats and sandwiches will leave you satisfied every time; particularly these tasty lunch eats.
1. Churrasco
In Argentina, churrasco refers back to the traditional gauchos of the pampas, and their asado style of grilling steaks. At Puerto La Boca, our churrasco features a filet of center cut sirloin, grilled in the low and slow Argentinean style to come out tender and full of flavor.
2. Entraña
One of the more flavorful cuts when done well, in the hands of most cuisines, the skirt steak can have too much chew. But when prepared as an Argentinian entraña, the dish finds just the right combination of flavor and texture. This thinly cut steak is an extra tasty lunch choice for people who like something for their teeth to gnash on.
3. Choripan
Chorizo is a well-known style of sausage most often associated with Spain and Portugal, typically flavored smoked pepper and paprika. But many cultures have come up with their own takes on the classic chorizo, including Argentina. Argentina’s chorizo is not as spicy as the European styles, but it’s no less flavorful. Another difference is the preferred way of eating it. Choripan is a portmanteau, combining the words chorizo and pan, and true to its word, it’s an Argentinian chorizo sausage served in a sandwich. Our choripan is served on a fresh baguette with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.
4. Lomito
Argentina has its own cuts of beef that are distinct from the American butchering tradition. So when Argentinian steak houses like ours refer to a lomo steak, a lot of people in this country don’t immediately realize what we’re talking about is the beloved filet mignon! It’s the same part of the cow, though in Argentina is cut slightly differently, in a way that makes the best use of Argentinian grilling methods. If anything, the lomo preparation makes this beef even more tender! We serve it on a sandwich called lomito — lettuce, tomato, and mayo on a baguette — quite the tasty lunch option.
5. Milanesa
The influence of Italy on Argentine culture is evident in Puerto La Boca’s milanesas, which are thinly cut, breaded filets of chicken or beef. These delicious lunch dishes hail from the same tradition of the famous chicken parmigiana. Our milanesa napolitana is similar, with fresh tomato sauce and melted mozarella. But for a tasty lunch, our beef or chicken milanesa sandwiches taste great with a simple dressing of lettuce, tomato, and mayo on a baguette.
6. Asado De Tira
Asado De Tira is another example of an Argentinian cut of beef that differs from American butchery. This cut is made up of short ribs. However, while English and American butchers cut parallel, resulting in a bone surrounded by meat, here we cut them flanken style, meaning across the bone, resulting in a continuous, flat cross section of bone in beef. This cut allows the short ribs to be grilled, which is exactly what we do, producing a delicious lunch option.
Check out Puerto La Boca in Little Italy, San Diego for lunch, where these and other tasty menu options use only premium and natural beef. And don't forget to start with our number one appetizer: a basket of fresh bread and our famous chimichurri sauce, served with homemade butter and olives. You may find you want to put this chimichurri on everything, including empanadas, sandwiches, and steaks!