Buena Vista delivers the best parts of Latin cuisine — the flavor, the soul, the ambiance — with upscale finesse. This is Latin dining the way it deserves to be experienced.
Tucked into the energy of Hell's Kitchen, Buena Vista doesn't shout for attention. It earns it with every plate. After three visits over two months, I'm ready to tell you exactly what to order.
Lobster Ravioli
This is the dish I can't stop thinking about.
Each bite is perfectly al dente — tender with just enough chew that you know it's made fresh. Every pillow is stuffed generously with sweet, briny lobster that tastes fresh from the ocean.
The Grey Goose-spiked tomato vodka cream coats every pillow with a rich, fresh flavor — enhanced by fresh porcini mushrooms that perfectly complements the ravioli.
The bright acidity from the tomato keeps the sauce from feeling heavy, and the shaved parmesan adds a salty, nutty finish that lingers on your taste buds.
This sauce is so dangerously addictive that I have to order their ravioli every time I visit.
Spanish Paella
Each grain of rice is infused with flavorful golden saffron — and the bottom layer of rice is beautifully caramelized and crispy from the heat.
Your first forkful of paella might be filled with juicy shrimp and briny succulent mussels and scallops… or smoky chorizo, with its rich, rendered fat soaked into the rice… maybe even tender chicken, calamari, or a burst of sweetness from the peppers.
Every bite will keep your palate guessing.
Chilean Sea Bass Ceviche
The sea bass is sliced delicately thin, "cooked" in leche de tigre — that electric, citrus-forward Peruvian tiger's milk that's impossibly bright.
Each piece is silky, almost buttery, with a freshness that tastes like the ocean without a single hint of fishiness.
But the heat is what separates this ceviche from every other restaurant. Rocoto and yellow Peruvian peppers create a subtle, warm kick that tingles lightly on your tongue, but never overwhelms the fish.
This is the kind of appetizer that makes your mouth water for everything coming next. Acid, salt, fat, and heat — perfectly balanced.
Grilled Argentine Skirt Steak
At a restaurant this bold, the steak could easily be an afterthought. It isn't.
The skirt steak arrives with a deeply caramelized char — that beautiful Maillard crust you can only get from a highly-skilled chef.
The chimichurri is garlicky, bright with fresh parsley and oregano, with just enough tang to keep you reaching for the next bite.
And it comes with the perfect amount of golden, crispy, fried cassava for you to soak up every last drop of the sauce.
Pan Seared Duck Magret
The duck breast arrives with crackling, golden skin, with buttery, rendered fat that melts on your tongue.
The meat is rosy pink and impossibly tender, with that rich, slightly gamey depth that good duck should have. Underneath is a bed of sweet plantain and spinach ratatouille.
The sauce — a 25-year aged port reduction — is dark, glossy, syrupy. It clings to every slice, adding a deep, jammy sweetness that feels indulgent without being heavy.
I had to close my eyes mid-bite to savor the decadent flavors.
Cuban Tamale
This is easily the most distinctive dish on the menu.
Forget everything you think you know about tamales…
This pillowy masa is filled with sweet, delicate crab, swimming in a saffron-kissed shrimp sauce splashed with Albarino wine.
The texture is impossibly smooth, almost creamy — and the crab is sweet and oceanic without being overpowering.
This rich, golden sauce is unlike anything I've ever tasted.
Calamari Ink Linguini
If you order squid ink pasta every time you see it on a menu, stop what you're doing and make a reservation right now.
Buena Vista's take on this classic dish will ruin other seafood pastas for you.
Their jet black linguini is perfectly al dente and tossed with seared scallops, plump shrimp, wilted spinach, in a fresh, aromatic lemongrass sauce.
The kind of dish you can't stop eating until the plate is clean.
