It’s often the most unassuming restaurants, those off the beaten track, that serve the most memorable meals: a hole-in-the wall on some side street with the best burritos ever; a basement dive serving unforgettable dumplings. These surprising finds are all about home cooking, traditional fare learned in a family kitchen, watching a parent or grandparent and then taking those lessons to the next level.
Cari Blue is like that. Tucked into an unassuming block of lower Broadway Street in Redwood City, the restaurant is easily overlooked despite its colorful window signage. Inside, the space is bright and open, with cerulean blue walls, a few potted palms and simple, unadorned tables. Behind the counter, enticing aromas waft from a tiny open kitchen. With a pay-at-the-counter approach, a self-serve cooler of chilled beverages and a hand-lettered menu board overhead, you know right away that ambiance is not the restaurant’s big selling point. Happily, the food is.
Owner Abel Cano and his wife Lulu opened Cari Blue not quite three years ago, offering breakfast and lunch comprising Mexican staples with a smattering of Caribbean dishes. While Mexican food is plentiful in Redwood City, Caribbean cuisine is not, and patrons started asking for more. So the menu evolved as Cano culled recipes from his childhood in Guatemala, focusing on the country’s unique amalgam of Spanish, Mayan, African and Caribbean cultures. Corn, beans, rice, pork, chicken and plantains form the backbone of the current fare. All main dishes come with a mound of rice, the ideal medium for soaking up the delicious sauces.
Cari Blue is not breaking new ground here. If all you know about Caribbean food is jerk, you will not be disappointed in the versions offered here. Cano marinates chicken and pork for four days in a special mix of spices, jalape
