Cabanas Restaurante serves up a taste of Honduras in West Columbia

Platillos Hondurenos – super-sized portions of authentic Honduran food – are the stars at this restaurant in West Columbia.

Owners Karen Pineda and Jose Gavarrete hail from Honduras and brought family recipes to open this culinary venue, which also provides familiar Mexican dishes for the less adventurous foodie.

Gavarrete recommends the baleadas, two enormous handmade flour tortillas stuffed with beans, eggs, cream cheese, avocado and a choice of beef, chicken or sausage. Tortillas are light with a slight grill flavor – not your standard grocery-store variety.

Pastelitos catrachos is a dish with three fried-corn patties stuffed with beef and rice. There are seafood dishes as well, including a whole deep-fried fish served with slices of green bananas, cabbage salad, rice and handmade tortillas. Camarones al ajo is shrimp sauteed in garlic lime butter, red pepper and cilantro and served over rice with avocado and tomato slices.

Distinct American-inspired dishes include the chicken Hawaii with two chicken breasts layered in ham, topped with bacon-wrapped shrimp and served with pineapple and rice.

Those interested in tasty Mexican can choose from tacos, quesadillas, burritos, nachos, tacos and fajitas. There are also salads and appetizers to choose from, including chicken wings.

Daily lunch combos include Mexican selections. Beer, wine, and some cocktails are available.

How did Cabanas Restaurante get its start?

Gavarrete says it is the only Honduran restaurant in Columbia that he knows of, and it is his desire, as well as Pineda’s, to bring to the area dishes they both enjoyed in Honduras.

Open for about a year, Cabanas chooses the freshest ingredients and carefully prepares each dish as it is ordered. The restaurant’s motto: “We are not fast food.”

What does the place look like?

Bright, colorful walls painted salmon are accented with dark green. Two eating areas are separated by a partial wall. Booths and tables can seat up to 78 customers.

Honduran art and flags tastefully adorn the walls. A mounted television airs international football (soccer). A glass counter area offers a small selection of Honduran grocery items to go.

Who eats here?

Patrons can dine in or carry out. Columbia-area residents who hail from Honduras are regulars. However, residents living on both sides of the Congaree River – Sunset Boulevard neighborhoods, the State Street area, and downtown Columbia – have discovered Cabanas, according to Gavarrete.

Weekends are especially busy, while weekdays are when many customers call in orders to pick up for lunch and dinner.

This story was originally published December 28, 2016 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Cabanas Restaurante serves up a taste of Honduras in West Columbia."