Overland Park’s El Porton Cafe serves arepas and other South American specialties

Jose Garcia grew up in Venezuela eating arepas — flat corn cakes split in half and stuffed with savory ingredients such as roasted pork, shredded beef, sweet plantains and queso fresco.

He serves the South American specialty with pride at his Overland Park restaurant, El Porton Cafe, which also serves Cuban sandwiches, Argentinian empanadas and Puerto Rican black bean soup.

Garcia, who has worked in the restaurant industry for more than 35 years, opened El Porton Cafe in May 2010. The 15-table restaurant is tucked in a corner of the Fox Hill shopping center near the intersection of Roe Avenue and Indian Creek Parkway, across from Suburban Lawn & Garden.

Despite its inconspicuous location, El Porton Cafe has become a destination for customers in the mood for South American food. Garcia says his regulars order arepas — but new customers don’t know exactly what they are.

“The Mexican people have their tortillas,” he explains, and Venezuelans have arepas.

I first tried arepas at El Porton Cafe. My favorite is the De Pabellon ($6), which overflowed with spicy shredded beef, black beans, sweet plantains and salty cotija cheese, which Garcia describes as a Mexican version of Italian Parmesan. But I also liked the Reina Pepiada ($6), stuffed with creamy chicken salad and avocado, and the De Guasacaca ($6), a vegetarian arepa loaded with guacamole, pico de gallo and sliced queso fresco.

El Porton Cafe also serves grilled skirt steak, seafood dishes such as ceviche and shrimp with garlic butter; fresh salads, and hearty snacks such as stuffed, fried potatoes (a Cuban specialty) and Venezuelan fried cheese sticks called tequenos.

When I returned on a recent Friday evening, my husband and I ordered the Picada entree ($36), which serves two. Picture a large square platter loaded with chunks of grilled skirt steak, chicken, sausage, pork, triangles of arepa and fried yuca, which tastes almost like potato. On the side: black beans, white rice, green chimichurri and a small bowl of yellow hot sauce that was just as fiery as our server warned it would be.

We paired the filling feast with cold Mexican beer — Corona for him, Pacifico for me — and ended the meal on a sweet note with a slice of coconut milk-soaked Beinmesabe cake ($7), a Venezuelan twist on Tres Leches. As we dined, a pair of guitarists that goes by the name Canto Duo strummed and sang Mexican songs.

El Porton Cafe has live music most Friday nights. The restaurant’s comfortable, family-oriented feel is enhanced by friendly servers and a bustling, open kitchen. The decor is minimal but colorful: The walls are lined with prints by Colombian artist Fernando Botero, known for his exaggerated, rotund figures.

“The restaurant business is about making someone feel at home,” Garcia says.

For Garcia, who operates El Porton Cafe with his wife, Eva, and son, Jeremy, the restaurant business is also an outlet for creativity.

“This little restaurant is my lab,” he says.

Lately he’s been working on recipes for new arepas, a Venezuelan-inspired barbecue platter and a Russian potato salad that his mom used to make with carrots, peas, parsley, mayo and mustard. He often tests his new dishes at El Porton Express, the takeout cafe he opened in October at 240 E. Linwood Blvd. in midtown Kansas City.

Garcia is also considering adding wine and liquor to the menu at the original location in Overland Park. The restaurant doesn’t serve wine, but customers can bring a bottle from home if they pay a $5 corkage fee.

The only problem: He would have to remodel or expand the tiny restaurant in order to store bottles. And Garcia says regulars tell him they don’t want El Porton Cafe to change.

“People who have been coming here for five years say, ‘Jose, just leave it like it is.’ ”

This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Overland Park’s El Porton Cafe serves arepas and other South American specialties."