Mi Tierra Latin Fusion Restaurant

A great Caribbean restaurant. I went specifically for the Cuban style food and actually found it a cultural expereince, as the owners and cooks are Puerto Rican, who cook close, but not the same as Cuban food.
Dominoes and beer on thursday nights, I have to check this out!
I drove by recently and the restaurant and it was closed!!! I’ll keep people posted…

I loved the difference of the food… very authentic. Note… don’t come too hungry because the food takes a little while. It’s worth the wait.
I know they give a reason about why they don’t offer chips and salsa and blah blah blah… but I guess I was still disappointed. Otherwise, I have eaten here three times and all 3 times I loved it.

We visited Mi Tierra about 9PM one Sat evening following a day at Cowboys Stadium watching high school football, so we were hungry.
We were quickly seated and presented a funky menu in this funky restaurant. Wait staff was pleasant and helpful.
We shared an order of chicken empanadas while we surveyed the Latin American inspired menu, with an emphasis on foods Puerto Rican or Cuban.
He ordered Argentine skirt steak with Churrasco sauce along with special rice/​bean combo and fried plantains. I ordered grilled Peruvian chicken with the same rice side and also a cup of what turned out to be a salty chicken broth (would skip that the next time).
One thing to note here, and I saw it on my last visit. Not all orders come out at the same time. It is OK with me because the food is delivered when it is ready, not when some of it might be cold. But I know that upset some of my friends who’ve eaten here in the past.
We shared a Tres Leches chocolate cake for dessert that was quite tasty.
Also, Mi Tierra does not have a liquor license so you need to bring your own if that is something you need to enjoy a meal. A guitar player was at work — playing was good, but we did not particularly enjoy the singing.
We recommend Mi Tierra for an unusual experience. We love ethnic restaurants. Would we go back? Yes.

Not my fav

We make an annual trip to the Virgin Islands almost as much for the food as for the sailing… Lucky for me, Arlington has Mi Tierra!
Mi Tierra is a small, converted house so it feels like you are dining as a guest in someones home. The gracious owner and wait staff make you feel like family. The menu is authentic. My husband loves the mofongo.
My favorite dish is plantains, garlic shrimp and rice with pigeon peas washed down with guava juice. My kids are all about the chocolate tres leche cake.
We enjoy going on the weekend when there is live music.

I went to Mi Tierra for lunch with a customer, and I’ll say that we had a good experience.
The restaurant is built in an old, little house. It’s a very intimate setting, and would likely be a very awesome place for a date. It would be a good idea to make reservations, as my customer and I ended up waiting 20 minutes for a teeny table for two. Seating is VERY limited.
For lunch, I had (on Unilocal’s suggestion):
–Chicken and cheese empanadas
–The pork Mofongo
–Ice Cream and Guava empanadas for dessert
Walking through the food, the empanadas were very good. They were kind of expensive for what you get, however. The highlight of the meal was the Pork Mofongo. This is essentially a mound of fried plantains and some other ingredients with meat in the center. The consistency of the «mound» is similar to that of rice, where the meat is kind of like fajita meat. The pork is kind of chewy, but it was tasty. We actually got an order of tortillas on the side with some guac to eat the Mofongo. The Mofongo was plenty big for two people.
The Guava empanadas were excellent, and very memorable. I’d probably make a point to get a dessert if you decide to come to Mi Tierra. In fact, I’d probably skip on the appetizer to make sure you get a good dessert.
I’ll give the restaurant three stars, because it’s a slower moving meal with a wait associated with it, as well as a somewhat higher than average cost. However, the food was very impressive. If I would, I would give Mi Tierra 3 and a half stars.
In conclusion, it’s a great place to consider if you want something a little different.

I had the pleasure of working on a Carribean Island once for two months, so I know the math. And as I drove on 30 to Arlington, I had a few doubts, thinking of how the creators of King of the Hill named their Texas suburbia by combining Arlington and Garlend to get Arlen. But Solomon W’s is my Unilocaling homeboy, and since he gave it five stars, I had to go.
A small old house with hardwoods and big windows, it felt like eating in someones home. The buffet was simple, authentic and homemade.
Octopus salad marinated in olive oil and peppers, smashed plaintains with onions and garlic, Cod, fried plaintains, and a coconut custard were the show stoppers. .They also had chicken empanadas, brisket, and whole chicken. It reminded me most of very good Puerto Rican food. Consider this a treat, on Sunday’s, the brunch is $ 14 and includes beverage. You can bring your own alcohol. They also serve aquas frescas.
Fellow diners were down to earth, talking casually, enjoying this damn good island style comida. The wood chairs here may be scuffed but I left here as sustained and happy as a Carribean blue sky.

This was my first time here and it will not be my last. I never had P.R. food before, but I’m always willing to try something new. The owner was very nice and informative. He told us stories of his life in P.R. and how he came about opening Mi Tierra with his wife. I ordered the mofongo with chicken and it was delicious. I also had guava turnovers with ice cream, and that was fantastic as well.
The building is an old home converted to a resturant. I like these types of settings because it’s more homely and personable. It’s not for people looking for the next trendy place or «look at me, I’m cool» place.
I would recommend this place to anyone that wants to try a Latin dish that’s not Tex-​mex.
So if you’re in the Arlington area and craving for something delicious and unique, come to this place. You wont be disappointed.

I really WANTED to love this place. It’s close to my house. Some of my friends had recommended it. And I’d been craving a good Cuban sandwich something awful. So I decided to swing by during lunch one day. I’m sad to report, I did not love this place as much as some of my fellow Unilocalers.
I ordered the Yuca… which is one of my faves. It was cut up poorly and I had long pieces of that woody, root running through it. I had to pick it off.
Next I had the Cuban sandwhich… and it wasn’t much better. The pork did not taste as if it had been cooked there. It was not pulled pork, it was sliced. It was ok, but nothing special. I was also disappointed that the fried plantain chips were the kind you can buy at the store and not fried in house.
I might go back for something else… like the Mofongo or empanadas. But as of now, I’m not sold.

I was craving Arroz con Gandules for… forever! So, I asked several of my friends and they scratched their heads and could not help, so I turned to Unilocal. My Boyfriend and I waited to be seated for it seemed like 35 minutes in the heat, until I went in and asked for the drink menu, only to order something and only get a sample because they thought I would find it too sweet! I ordered it for a friggin reason… moving on, they sat us down and I was happy to see the intimate and quiet setting; quite nice for a date or small get together with friends or la familia. Our Waiter, was rude and non-​attentive! He didn’t serve us our drinks that we had ordered as we can in from the blistering heat (while being bit 8 times, 8! by mosquitos) that really angered me to the point of leaving, and leaving hungry!
Bad service (the waiter, spent the whole time trying desperately trying to flirt with the patrons, non attentiveness) even for a simple water, or the drinks we ordered 10 minutes from being seated!
Ridiculous LONNNG wait… I had heard that would be a problem before I went, but still I wanted to try it out and was initially excited to.
*LA COMIDA (THE FOOD): My Arroz con Gandules, I Craved for So much… COLD, not even at room temperature and lacking sabor/​taste!
My Mofongo — which is the House specialty —- I ordered steak, & was given Pork… OVERCOOKED, Tough to the bite, overcooked pork. My Boyfriend ordered the Cuban and he liked it so there was my plus for the night.
My experience was B.A.D! Never again mi gente/​my peeps, and I do not recommend it. If you have a better experience, I’m so happy you did, I just wished I had.

First impressions count.
I’ve heard of the place from local friends who live in DFW area. I was hoping to add this place to my A-​List for future visits.
We got there early Sunday afternoon for the buffet. The place is very pretty, welcoming and the food looked and smelled very inviting. The staff seemed very nice, the place wasn’t busy at all.
The problem? I asked to use the restroom and the waitress told me that the restroom was out of order. She suggested I’d walk to McDonald’s at the end of the block to use theirs. The only working restroom in the place should had been available to everyone equally and was not.
My review is about how things could had been handled by management and staff regarding the restroom issue. You don’t send patrons to another business to use the restroom. Think of it carefully. None of the men in the place got to wash their hands before handling serving items from the buffet table.
This was clearly a health issue. We left.

Mi Tierra Sampler-​2 types of empanadas (beef and cheese), tostones, ham croquettes, Yuca frita, and corn fritters.
Cuban Sandwich-​lots of roasted pulled pork with Swiss cheese and pickles.
Argentinean Churrasco-​8 0z. skirt steak with chimichuri sauce.
Soup of the Day-​beef broth with cabbage and ham
I’ve been to Puerto Rico twice before which explains the two star rating. The Cuban Sandwich was good. The pulled pork was flavorful and totally worth the $ 6 price. What annoyed me though, is the fried banana chips served on the side. I am sure that they could have done something better than just fried banana chips.
Reading through the rest of the reviews, I now agree that most of the dishes we ordered were over salted, specially the soup. It must have been seasoned right earlier on but after it has been reduced further, the saltiness was just too much. I suggest that the chef must be a smoker. His palette has been severely compromised by years of chain smoking. Just a theory. And, I hope that if I were right, that Mi Tierra will take note.
Like some of you, I am still hopeful of this restaurant. It’s the restaurant that could. I hope. Otherwise, I am flying back to Puerto Rico for more Latin flavor.

This is probably the most flawed restaurant that I love. The website said that they opened for their Sunday buffet at 11AM, but they actually didn’t open until noon. Their explanation was: it’s a typo. We were the first ones in, and only about 3 tables followed. Pretty slow and sad… It may seem like I’m putting this place down, and maybe it does deserve to be put down… but there’s a special place in my heart for mofongo. A deep hole in which you smash fried plantains into and top it with assorted meats and onions.
The $ 14 was a pretty good deal, especially for a wide sampling of some authentic Latin cookin’. I’ve never had this stuff anywhere. The spread was pretty big and unique, but I will say most of the food was pretty lukewarm.
The dishes ranged from fried plantains to garbanzo and pig feet soup to shredded beef. Most things were pretty tasty, although the flavors definitely won’t appeal to everyone. There were some definitely faults, but I can easily look past those. The managed to dry out dark meat chicken, i.e. thighs, and legs; it’s normally a tough task to dry out even dark meat. The pork roast was a bit dry as well, and the shredded beef was a tad salty.
For the adventurous, pig’s feet soup would be a good choice, and the sancocho, which was a mystery hodgepodge of squash, taro, plantains, tripe (?), etc., is a definite winner for the curious ones.
But, what I am a real sucker for are beans, mofongo, and heavy flavors. The mofongo was room temperature, but anytime you serve plantains mashed with fat with huge slices of onion, the dish is a winner in my eyes. The black beans and pinto beans were both hearty and salty.
Anyways, there aren’t too many positives that I can truly write about in detail… but try to make it here for the Sunday buffet. It actually runs all day, but since business seems slow, you may do best to get there earlier-​ish to get the fresh-​ish food. The food may be cold if you get there when it opens, but it may be really old if it sits there all day if they don’t need to refill it. I digress. Go try yourself some Latin grub.

As many have expressed, this is a little gem in a very lame part of town where interesting food choices are minimal. It is good but I almost feel like I’m giving it more stars than the food merits because it has a cool vibe and offers something interesting to the food landscape.
It’s not that the food is bad by any means but sometimes I think I’m just not that into Latin fusion stuff (Gloria’s also tends to disappoint me.) We had a appetizer sampler and boy howdy, I’ve never eaten so many variations of fried plantains in one sitting! They were all good but all started to blur after a while. I had a pork dish with these litting pork cubes and onions served in a cup. I now refer to it as «the pork cup» and although I thought it was good at the time, I probably wouldn’t order it again. The bf got the Argentinian Churrasco with chimichurri sauce which I tasted and was a little jealous of. The waitstaff were very friendly and I didn’t notice any problems with the service. The bf went different time with a male friend and he said the waitress clearly thought they were a gay couple. So when the other guy paid she was like «that’s how you do it!» Is my boyfriend actually a downlow gold digger?! I enjoy a little sass in my waitstaff so I thought that was cool. Again, a nifty place that I hope stays in business!

They know empanadas. Tried the beef, cheese, and chicken, and the guava turnovers for dessert, which are really guava empanadas with powdered sugar. Also enjoyed my first experience of mofongo.
Charming place in the middle of Arlington, which I wouldn’t have encountered without Unilocal

Do not come to Mi Tierra expecting Tex-​Mex. The restaurant describes its’ food as Latin, but you’ll find the cuisine a colorful montage of flavors from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Caribbean, the Americas, and Spain. The menu changes often and weekly specials keep a constant state of change.
We have visited Mi Tierra twice. The restaurant is an older home and the dining areas are converted rooms in the house. I could see people hosting rehearsal dinners, parties, and such in this restaurant, and still maintain a sense of privacy and charm. The owner is sweet and gracious, and we felt welcomed on both occasions. The wait staff is accommodating, too.
The food is savory and delicious. We noticed plantains used alot as fritters, chips, and as a starch with entrees. The Bistec Encebollado — Steak & Onions — is seasoned perfectly and is outstanding. The Camarones al ajillo — Garlic Shrimp — will break the jaw. We look forward to tasting the Stuffed Mofongo — mashed plantains or yuca stuffed with a choice of meat. Or the Argentinian Churrasco with chimichurri sauce. Oh my!

Decided to check out Mi Tierra for lunch on Friday. The place was very busy and very loud, if you want to talk to the people you are having lunch with then I am not sure I would suggest this place. Because of the layout we were in a small room with 4 other tables and when everyone was talking you could not hear yourself think.
The service was definitely lacking. It took a while for our waiter to come by and then even longer to receive our drinks. I was also surprised to find out that during lunch on a Friday they ran out of iced tea.
While the service could use some help, the food was actually quite good. I was impressed with the food but I would like to see them improve their service. I will be back to give it another try.
Update 8÷23÷09 — Today we decided to try their Sunday buffet. I as very disappointed. We went at about 3pm and there was no one there. We were the only customers. The buffet was quite lack luster. It looks to me that the owner and his wife take Sunday off so they prepare this buffet food ahead of time so that who ever is working on Sunday can heat it and serve it. The Sunday buffet was nothing like the food available on other days.

Took in a Ranger baseball game; needed a very special restaurant (close to Ranger Ballpark) to entertain my long-​lost cousins. Reviewed previous Unilocal reviews; decided to give it a try. Sunday brunch was a buffet… and WHAT a buffet. Garbonzo, black, red beans; fresh salads with plantains. Barbacoa, pollo, and all the latin fixins. Not a mexican restaurante; not a puerto rican cuisine. A TRUE latin fusion (fur-​sher). My cousins and I give Mi Tierra +2 thumbs Up! [P.s. Cousin Linda was hurt so good by filling up on the apple empanadas…]

someone recommended this place to me and decided to check it out.
I was very impressed with the Service I think the owner came over and greeted us and took our drink order… he was super friendly (not in a creepy way).
The food was very good. I love Plantains. they have the best Tostones Nachos. Their empanadas were also really good…
the Yucca was delicious… would love to go back with friends that are a little adventurous. the girls I went with thought all the food was weird…. DUH it’s not cheeseburgers and fries. it’s Latin food…
Very good. cant wait to go back.

I decided to give Mi Tierra a try for dinner tonight. I came with some friends and a couple of small children, and the restaurant was completely accommodating. The waiter was really nice and helpful. We happened to be eating really early, and so we were the only ones in the restaurant. Not only did we have the whole restaurant to ourselves, but they treated us as though we had the whole restaurant to ourselves. The waiter was perfectly attentive and happy to answer all our silly questions about Latin fusion food, which none of us have ever tried before.
They seem to have figured out a hundred different ways to cook plantains, all of which are delicious. I tried the Caribbean baked chicken and the mofongos stuffed with shrimp. Both were delicious, but I especially enjoyed the shrimp. The marinade for it was wonderfully tangy and had just the right amount of spice. I just wish we’d saved room for dessert, but it’s OK, because I’ll definitely be back
What a great addition to Arlington, and way to class up the absolute worst part of town!