Opening: Sophie's Cuban Cuisine

First opened in 1997 in Lower Manhattan, Sophie's Cuban Cuisine has officially opened its first non-NY location within the Golden Triangle neighborhood thanks to James Lambert, the Chief Operating Officer of the Running Cedar Restaurant Group who asked to franchise Sophie's Cuban Cuisine after he saw a void in DC for Cuban restaurant concepts. 

We stopped by Sophie's Cuban Cuisine, located at 1134 19th St. NW, to taste some of Sophie's offerings.

Empanadas are stuffed with either chicken or beef, and sauces and juices ooze out of the pastry after your first bite.  Though technically an appetizer, I would be perfectly happy ordering a few of these for lunch.

After sampling the empanadas while touring the restaurant space, we sat down to enjoy a nice selection of menu items, including tostones (fried green plantains), maduros (fried sweet ripe plantains), pork chops in red sauce, salmon, ropa vieja (shredded beef), roast turkey,  moro rice (rice with mixed black beans), and yellow rice.

The yellow rice was the most colorful menu item we were served. It was practically glowing!

Though french fries are also available as a side dish, the maduros are a great substitute for fries.

The smooth, buttery salmon was one of my favorite menu items. 

We couldn't leave Sophie's without also tasting their signature sandwich. The Cubano Sandwich packs swiss cheese, pickles, mayo, mustard and juicy roast pork and ham between crispy, buttery, bread. I'll definitely be back for another one of these very soon.

You can't properly enjoy a signature sandwich without a signature drink to enjoy it with. The super refreshing and flavorful batidos come in passion fruit, guanabana, mamey, mango, tamarlindo, and papaya. The frothy top layer made me think of the whipped Orange Bangs I used to order from Mexican restaurants in California. Delicious!

Sophie's Cuban Cuisine is open Monday-Friday from 10am-8pm, offering dine in, take out, pick up, or delivery through Seamless. The full menu can be found online by clicking here.  Catering is also available.

To stay up to date on the Sophie's Cuban Cuisine's newest locations (three more DC locations are in the works), follow Sophie's Cuban Cuisine on Facebook and Twitter.