Mi Pilon: Caribbean Comfort Food

was named for an actual pilon, a wooden mortar that owner Mayra Esquea received as a wedding gift, 18 years before she opened a restaurant at 5705 Buford Highway with her sister Laz in 2001.

The restaurant is named for a family legend—and also serves up legendary family comfort food, made with a homemade touch. The brightly painted little restaurant serves Puerto Rican, Cuban and Dominican food cafeteria-style.

There’s a rotating cast of stews, beans and rice dishes served on either a regular, medium or large plate. All of them are heaping to the brim and cost $5.99, $7.95 or $9.95 respectively. 

On a recent lunch, crispy whole rotisserie chicken and a variety of thick stews were on hand to choose from, including ox tail and shredded pork The dishes are served with sweet plantains, beans and rice.

There’s also an abbreviated menu with some unique Caribbean dishes, including notes about their country of origin. Thinking of adventure, I ordered something that I’d never had before that uses the famous pilon that is the restaurant’s namesake: mofogo.

Mofogo is a Puerto Rican dish made with deep fried plantains, pounded in the pilon with garlic, spices and crunchy pieces of pork rind. The plantain mixture is left in the shape of the bottom of the pilon and transferred to the plate, making a kind of plantain “bowl.” A protein of your choice inside the “bowl.” It is all served in a shallow dish with a rich, garlicky broth and some lettuce and tomatoes. It is fantastic.

Eaters beware, the hours are far from regular at Mi Pilon for dinner. On several occasions, this writer has tried to pop by in the evening, only to find all of the lights off. Once, a phone call to the owner revealed that she wanted to close early because it rained. But lunch seems to be consistent.