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Morovis.- One of the must-see stops in Morovis is El Barrilito, an open-air restaurant located at the entrance of the town. The place is characterized by its tasty offering of criollo food that will have you visiting again.

With more than twenty exquisite recipes, this gastronomic center aims to recreate the best moments in the lives of its customers who seek the essence of Puerto Rican cuisine.

The business is run by its owner, Marieanne Russe-Meléndez, who chose to leave her position at a pharmaceutical company to dedicate time to her son. She managed this by starting her own business where she could have greater flexibility with her time.

The 51-year-old woman confessed that “I never thought I was going to dedicate myself to the restaurant business. But everything spontaneously arose when my son started school and I wanted to spend more time with him.”

“We bought the business (with the father of her children) in 1997, and I quit my job. So, I dedicated myself to working in the business. I began to polish my skills in the kitchen (and) took courses. And I’ve been here since 1998,” explained the daughter of María Meléndez-Pagán and Ramón Russe-González, who was mayor of Morovis for two four-year terms.

Likewise, she pointed out that the name of the business, El Barrilito, came up when she acquired the place. It was after that when she noticed that all the tables were barrels.

“We have always been dedicated to criollo food, the kind that Puerto Ricans love so much. Then we evolved and changed the concept in 2016. We expanded our menu offering. Thank God we have good clientele, and it’s a family atmosphere,” said Marieanne, mother of two children.

With an operation that employs a dozen people and holds a varied menu, the restaurant starts off by offering lunch options on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. “We haven’t opened on Tuesdays or Wednesdays since the pandemic hit. For the lunch menu we have rice, beans, chicken breasts in salsa, churrasco al caldero (stewed churrasco), breaded or Milanese chicken breast, biftec empanado, and other criollo delicacies,” she mentioned.

On the other hand, the dinner menu starts off with an appetizer offering, among them El Barrilazo, “a large appetizer tray with tostones, half a pound of fried pork chunks, wings and chopped churrasco.” They also have fried cheese with guava sauce, tripleta pastries, caramelized sausage in wine, wings, sorullitos (fried corn fritters), mozzarella sticks, mixed chips and cordon blue cheese.

With a variety of approximately 20 recipes, El Barrilito offers exclusive dishes. Among them is the “Hércules, that’s the house dish. [It] consists of a churrasco in guava sauce, stuffed with mofongo over mamposteao rice.”

While the Poseidón is a grouper fillet with shrimp, sautéed in passion fruit sauce and stuffed with mamposteao rice. Likewise, the sautéed onion pork chunks with guava or chimichurri sauce are among customers’ favorites.

Other menu options are the wings, the ribeye steak, grilled churrasco in mushroom, guava or chimichurri sauce, and chicken breast stuffed with sweet plantains and cassava with guava sauce, prepared according to your preference.

Seafood lovers can choose between shrimp, grouper fillet, salmon and mahi-mahi, prepared with garlic, criollo or guava sauce, or with butter. And for those looking for the popular mofongo, the place presents tasty selections to accompany it with poultry, meat, or seafood.

“For desserts, we have homemade flans… cheese, vanilla, pumpkin, coconut, fried cheesecake and tres leches. Our most popular drinks are tamarind, jobo (cedar tree fruit), acerola, and passion fruit mojitos... bottled beers, as well as frappés and natural fruit juices,” she said.

The restaurant, located in the Russe sector of Barrio Morovis Norte, accommodates up to 40 people. “Everything is outdoors. We’re a part of the idiosyncrasy of Morovis. People who come to visit the Cabachuelas caves, people who are chinchorreando, and tourists who come down from Toro Verde in Orocovis, they all say that it’s the best food they’ve had in the area,” she concluded.

For details you can call 787-717-0211 or visit: El Barrilito Morovis on Facebook and Instagram or elbarrilitopr.com.