Will Miami diners drive to Hialeah for good barbecue? This tiny restaurant says yes

When she and her business partner Mario Barone decided to open a barbecue spot in Hialeah, Gianina Roman knew it would be a challenge.

Hialeah isn’t trendy (yet) and doesn’t really draw tourists the way Wynwood or downtown Miami do. It’s not a place locals outside the city think of going when they think of eating barbecue.

Even luring the nearby Cuban-American community, she thought, would be hard, since barbecue isn’t a big part of the cultural cuisine.

And yet, at their feisty little La Veridica BBQ, which highlights influences from Roman’s native Peru, the partners are determined to change and delight palates of meat lovers from across Miami-Dade.

“If the food is good enough, which it is, people will drive to Hialeah,” Roman says.

At La Veridica, that “good” refers to fat spare ribs so tender the meat just slides off the bone; Texas-style brisket cooked for 12 hours in a smoker; smoky Argentine sausage; and pulled pork that you can order as a “Fire Ball” sandwich with pickled jalapeños, pickled onions and cucumbers, smothered in spicy Peruvian robata sauce. Don’t worry — they’ll try to make you a slightly milder version if you ask.

The creative Peruvian touches at the restaurant, a modest space on 29th Street, start but don’t end with the robata sauce. La Veridica also serves Peruvian-style empanadas stuffed with aji de gallina (a chicken stew) and huacatay sauce. The cornbread is made with Peruvian white corn, and the mac and cheese is made with queso fresco. The barbecued chicken is basically pollo a la brasa, a classic Peruvian rotisserie chicken.

Also on the menu are Peruvian tequeños, which are different than the Venezuelan-style bites you may be used to. The Peruvian version is made with wontons, a nod to the Chinese influences in cuisine, and stuffed with leftover brisket, raisins and olives. La Veridica also brews its own artisanal beer.

The Peruvian influences set the barbecue spot apart, Roman says, but also sometimes confuse prospective diners who see the word “Peruvian” and expect ceviche on the menu.

“There’s more to the Peruvian cuisine than just ceviche,” she says. “Peruvians eat fish before 5 p.m. We get everything from the market, so we eat meat at night, because the fish wouldn’t be fresh. People don’t have any idea how much Peruvians eat meat!”

Roman came up with the idea for a barbecue concept while working for the Toscana Divino Hospitality Group at various private restaurants at some of the luxury condos in Bal Harbour. Barone, a chef also working for the group, came on board with the plan, he says, because he can’t resist a good smoked brisket.

“It seems everybody is going for barbecue these days,” he says. “Everybody barbecues at home. Being a Montrealer, I love smoke! But we wanted to bring a little diversity to where we were. Gianina is proud of her Peruvian heritage, so we decided to put it together.”

The kitchen is a lively spot, the larger-than-life Barone providing comic relief (he sees his partnership with Roman as “husband and work wife, with no HR”). Having never worked in a barbecue joint before, Barone has had to adjust his expectations on how swiftly food gets finished.

“I had to learn to be patient,” he admits. “You cook the brisket for 12 hours. The pulled pork takes 11. When you start cooking a product, it doesn’t mean it’ll be ready tomorrow morning.”

Roman and Barone have had to learn patience in other respects, as well. The restaurant was initially slow to draw customers, despite the fact that people seem eager to line up for barbecue in other parts of town.

Roman blames the slow start on cultural disconnect.

“The culture of the people that surround us is different than what we’re used to, so we’re trying to teach them about a different way to eat,” she says.

Now, La Veridica is beginning to see return customers, neighbors, workers in the area who come back for this special type of barbecue. And they’re not shy about praising it, Roman says.

“When Hialeah loves something, they express it passionately,” she says. “We don’t want to be just a restaurant. We want to be a destination, a place where people go and create memories, where it feels familiar and you know everybody by name.”

La Veridica BBQ

Where: 610 W 29th St., Hialeah

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, Sunday; 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Parking: Free in the alley next to the restaurant or across 29th Street behind Farm Stores; street parking

More information: laveridica.us or 305-603-8995