Guacamole Restaurant Mexican & Cuban Cuisine

Speak up!

Guacamole Restaurant Mexican & Cuban Cuisine

4525 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, FL 33021
Phone: 954-989-5322
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
Price: $$$, $20 - $40
Cuisine: Cuban, Mexican

About

Guacamole is a comfy no-frills place with an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet offering a mix of Mexican and Cuban food—rice and beans, roast pork, fried chicken chunks, ropa vieja (shredded beef), salad and flan. There are also daily lunch specials with about eight dishes during the week and more on the weekend with choices such as burro loco (stewed chicken or beef chunks rolled up in a burrito with peppers, onions, lettuce, and tomato), chile rellenos, picadillo (ground beef), chicken with yellow rice, and chicken mole (pounded breast meat cooked in a rich chile spiked chocolate sauce). The appetizer platter can feed two and brings a tamale with roast pork, ham croquets, a big quesadilla, 2 tacos and a tostada served with the signature guacamole. Entrees include shrimp burritos, fish ranchero, enchiladas, fajitas, churrasco steak and oxtail stew.

See complete review

The appetizer platter is generous at Guacamole , where Oscar Castellon, below, is in charge.

Mexico's defeat of conquering French forces in the battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, has become a reason to celebrate Mexican food and culture, and Guacamole Restaurant in Hollywood is a fine place to party.

Oscar Castellon runs the 8-month-old spot in partnership with his brother-in-law, Manuel Herrera, who operates the original Guacamole in Plantation. Castellon grew up on a farm in Guatemala, joining his older brother in South Florida 15 years ago. The Cuban side of the menu reflects the years he spent working at Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine on State Road 7.

Named for the popular chip dip, the restaurant sports comfy yellow booths and moss green walls with murals of avocado trees. A lunch buffet offers a mix of Mexican and Cuban cuisines including lechon asado (roast pork), chicken chicharrones (fried chunks), plantains, rice and beans, salad and soup.

In honor of Cinco de Mayo on Tuesday, try the chicken mole in the famous Puebla sauce made with ground seeds, spices, chiles and chocolate. Pounded chicken breast is served in the complex dark brown sauce with sides of yellow rice and refried beans.

Or share an appetizer platter that groans under the load. There are two hard-shell tacos (beef and chicken), a tostada, tamale with bits of roast pork, ham croquettes, plantain crisps with grilled onion rings and a large chicken quesadilla plus the signature guacamole.

One can order breakfast dishes for lunch such as huevos rancheros and eggs with chorizo sausage that come with cheese, sour cream, refried beans and a tortilla. Daily specials range from chile relleno (cheese-stuffed poblano peppers) to ropa vieja (Cuban-style shredded beef).

Another specialty here is the giant papa relleno, a golden-crusted, deep-fried ball of mashed potato overflowing with ground beef in tomato sauce. Or try the tongue tacos in soft flour tortillas, grilled shrimp burrito, or burro loco -- stewed chunks of beef or chicken tucked in a tortilla, burrito-style, with peppers, onions, lettuce and tomatoes.

End sweetly with silky flan with a touch of coconut.