The first thing you notice when you walk up to Sol Food is the color. The walls are painted bright, neon green - the equivalent in wall paints of a nice slap in the face.
The second thing you notice is a hand written letter encased in the menu box by the front door. In the later dated October 2006, two years after the opening, Angelo admonishes Mrs. Hernandez to change the color of her restaurant calling it “ugly and garish” and “appropriate for Puerto Rico, but not for Marin.”
As a Puerto Rican transplant living in California (the land of tolerance), I’ve come to relish the reputation that Puerto Ricans have for being loud. The paint is a small signal that amid the otherwise tame surroundings of Marin, some Boricua had the guts to bring a conga to a city council meeting, so to speak.
Go through the door, get a whif and take a look at the people, what they’re eating and how they’re eating, you’ll know that you’re about to have a damn good meal.
We went there for lunch last saturday. I had the Bistec encebollado with a generous side of rice and pink beans (garnished with pimento stuffed green olives), two tostones with garlic mojo and a simple salad dressed with a vinagrette. Well it was freakin’ amazing.
After lunch I walked over to La Bodega right next door where the operation continues. Here they feature fresh Rotisserie chicken, full on espresso machine to make café con leche, refrigerators with Malta (a carbonated beverage made from molasses, aka mother’s milk), and other goodies from the island (Goya products!) that are hard to come by in this neck of the woods.
I may be biased but, judging by the abandon with which I saw people eating, this is one of the best restaurants in the Bay Area.
