Pá Paraguaná’s hot handhelds bring a taste of home to Kissimmee | Review
I started this write-up last month. On the morning of my birthday, to be specific. I was supposed to have been writing the review you may or may not have read last week — which I eventually got to — but was momentarily derailed by a sugar-and-fat high so good, I wanted to document it for posterity.
It came alongside my rich and bitter Italian coffee in the form of a guava and cheese empanada from Pá Paraguaná, an adorable little Venezuelan joint in Kissimmee that a friend told me about.
I tore at the corner of this deep-fried delight — I will not mince words, these things are greasy, they will make you feel greasy, but I say this with love — and tasted my life. The Miami-melded magic of the pastelito. The paper bag-staining, powdered-sugar properties of the zeppole. The crunch and chew and cheese of a really good blintz in my grandmother’s Brooklyn kitchen. This, in one incredible bite.
Guava-cheese was not on the menu when the Lugo Artuza family, who moved here 10 years ago from Punto Fijo, a city on the southwestern coast of Venezuela’s Paraguaná peninsula, opened the place in 2020. Back then there were just a handful of wholly South American fillings tucked into these portable pockets of yum. Today, there are a dizzying 52 options and growing.
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From molida to morcilla, cazón to three kinds of clam, the family reps their homeland proudly on the menu and since moving to the States, and pivoting to the culinary community, has enjoyed the creativity a life in the kitchen affords.
“My father worked for the government back home, en petroleo (in the oil industry),” Francisco Lugo Artuza, who works in the kitchen of his parents’ place, tells me. “My mother worked in the church. But my dad, he loves food. He always liked to cook. And my mom liked doing desserts.”
It was a natural transition as the family of five found its footing in a new country.
“There was a lot of political trouble at the time,” Francisco tells me, interpreting for his mother, July Artuza Salazar. “We wanted a better future. The principle we have is ‘first God,’ we put everything in his hands. … It was really hard to start again.”
But they did have each other to lean on, says Francisco. Dad Nestor took a job in the kitchen at a Sheraton property. Mom worked in a bakery.
“So, we thought, ‘Maybe we can do something in the kitchen.’ And obviously, in Venezuela, we love empanadas! Every time we had people over the house, that’s what we would eat. And this was something that would be familiar to a lot of other families, too.”
Walking into Pá Paraguaná on a weekday, mid-morning, proves the instincts were solid. Every seat is taken. People chat cheerily. I wait five minutes before sliding into a seat at the counter while waiting for my order. The short line moves swiftly but never abates. Not the entire time I’m there.
Most customers are Spanish-fluent on my visits, but with a Kissimmee location, Lugo Artuza says they get tourists from all over. The States. Canada. China. Many Latin American countries. And locals, too, who come for fresh fillings and a corn-flour dough with just a hint of sweetness that pairs with both savory and dessert fillings.
Seafood is a staple in the coastal region of Paraguaná. Shrimp, octopus, crab, clam figure into the menu. I had them all in single and mixed variations. I’d recommend any. Along with flavorful pernil. Fish roe is a favorite of Nestor Lugo Valles, the head of the family and the kitchen. His wife loves the tuna. The fillings look similar but have decidedly different flavor profiles. They bring with them a true taste of home.
But they are not the only things transportive about Pá Paraguaná. Sometimes, it’s the music.
“My dad, he likes to sing. He plays the cuatro (guitar-like instrument),” Lugo-Artuza tells me. “And you know Venezuelans, when they leave home, they go to different places, they get separated from their families. Sometimes people tell us it’s been 20 years since they ate cazón. Or a really good empanada. And my dad will go in the back and grab his cuatro and start singing. And then everybody will start crying.”
The emotion, he says, is meaningful to the family. As is their new home.
“We have some new flavors, like pernil with a yellow cheese that’s American,” he tells me, laughing. “I don’t really like it, but my mom does. It’s really popular.”
They’ve got pepperoni, too. And pizza. Things that might appeal to some guests more than goat, sheep or callos, a stew that includes tripe, though I’d suggest giving those a try instead.
They’ve also added apple pie to the mix, so new it wasn’t yet on the menu at press time
“It’s something that will be a new flavor for us. Americans eat a lot of apple pie,” he says.
If you go
Pá Paraguaná: 2381 N. Orange Blossom Trail in Kissimmee, 321-200-4400; paparaguana.com
Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram at @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
