Eat Up Havana: This Colombian Spot Is Gaining Fans Despite Google Reviews

Over a decade ago, former Westword food editor Mark Antonation began his food-writing career by eating his way up Federal Boulevard. Now, we’re turning our attention to another vibrant culinary corridor.

The four-plus-mile stretch of Havana Street between Dartmouth and Sixth Avenue in Aurora is home to the most diverse array of international cuisine available in the metro area. From restaurants and markets to take-and-go shops and stands, food lovers of nearly any ethnicity or interest can find a place that will remind them of home or open new culinary doors. In Eat Up Havana, Antony Bruno will visit them all, one by one, week by week. Check out his previous stops.

This week, Bruno visits La Sazon de Irene.

Early this year, the former Ali Grill space in the Market Square shopping center welcomed a relative newcomer to the Havana Street food scene with the opening of Colombian restaurant La Sazon de Irene. Even for a street as diverse as Havana, Colombian food is a bit of an outlier, with only one other compatriot offering the cuisine just down the road (the previously visited +57 Bar & Restaurante). 

But since its opening, the algorithm gods have not been kind to La Sazon de Irene. Yelpers have saddled it with a 2.8-star rating (based on just three reviews: a 1-star, a 4-star, and a 5-star). Google Reviews deliver a slightly better 3.1 stars (based on 65 reviews). 

For a small, family-run restaurant like this, that kind of thing can be a death knell. 

But by all accounts, digital damnation doesn’t seem to equate to empty tables. On a recent Thursday lunch hour, around 1 p.m., the place was bustling — three tables of families with kids, spooning sips of hot soup into the mouths of babes. A couple having lunch. A few solo diners popping in for a bite during the workday. 

And that doesn’t include a brisk takeout business, with diners and delivery drivers walking out double-fisted with bags of to-go orders, many of whom seem to be regulars based on the familiar camaraderie shown between them and the man at the counter running the show like a general overseeing his troops. 

The Customers

Don’t these people read the internet? The young man spooning up every last shred of rice and beans off his plate like someone was gonna steal it from him didn’t seem to notice that the “food isn’t so great,” according to one Google reviewer. The young boy who started crying when his mother took away the bowl of soup didn’t seem to think that it was “served cold,” as another complained. 

It’s honestly amazing how far from reality the extremes of online reviews can be, both on the upper and lower scales. But even putting aside the 1-star reviews by people whining about showing up before dinner service starts (?), the comments left bear no semblance of reality. So let’s take a moment to clear a few things up. 

The Facts

No, the owner is not rude. This is perhaps the most common complaint among those who have trashed the place on Google. In fact, everybody seems to like him quite a bit. He greets those picking up to-go orders with warmth and genuine familiarity. He makes eye contact with an obvious outsider trying the soup for the first time and raises his eyebrows with a smile as if to say, “It’s good?”

Behind him, a trio of women work the kitchen—one of whom may or may not be the eponymous “Irene” — and they all have smiles on their faces, happily using Google Translate to explain what’s on your plate if you have a question. 

No, the service isn’t terrible. The sole young girl charged with waiting tables may look a little frazzled as things get busy, but the food comes out within an appropriate period of time, and she checks in on you at just the right moment. 

And finally, there are no — despite what one particularly head-scratching review insists on Google — we repeat, no cockroaches. If anything, for a place this small, busy and skeleton-staffed, it’s remarkably clean. 

The Food

No matter who you are or what you plan to order, the first thing you get as you’re seated at Sazon de Irene is a bowl of soup and a glass of lemonade. That’s free and automatic. The soup changes regularly based on the day, but often includes a hearty, brothy yellow base filled with pasta shells, peas and carrots, and a healthy chunk or two of tender braised beef. It’s an immediately comforting move that screams “welcome” in any language. 

The menu is one page — short, and often changing depending on the day. It’s also completely in Spanish, with Google Translate your only option for an English version. At lunch, the options include various beef, chicken and pork dishes, many in stew form, as well as a range of empanadas.

Each comes with a small pile of rice and something that those unfamiliar with the cuisine might mistake for a link of boiled sausage, but is in fact a ripe banana. This looks nothing like the banana many of us know. It’s not yellow, but in fact a reddish orange, and it’s incredibly sweet, almost as if it were marinated.  

There’s then a daily changing array of accompaniments which you can choose from. These include a bowl of red beans; or a frittata-like side with broccoli, cauliflower, and peppers held together with eggs. Whatever’s available that day is handwritten on the menu, which speaks to freshness and originality. 

If you’ve been drawn there by the six versions of “hamburguesa” (hamburger) — which are heavily advertised on the restaurant’s Instagram page and decals over the front facade — be aware, these seem to only be available at during dinner. These distinctively Colombian takes on the American burger come in all manner of interesting combinations, topping the standard grilled beef patty with anything from ham to shredded chicken to chorizo and much more. 

Overall, the menu is simple, fresh, and regularly changing. On weekends, it offers specials not available during the week, like whole fish or beef rib stew. What receives a 1-star rating one day may get a 5-star the next. So if you’re interested in Columbian food, your only choice is to ignore the reviews and try for yourself. 

La Sazon de Irene is located at 1155 South Havana Street in Aurora and is open for lunch and dinner. For more information, follow it on Instagram at @lasazondeirene_usa. 

All the previous Eat Up Havana stops:

• Old Town Hot Pot
• Leezakaya
• Chutney Indian Cuisine
• El Tequileno
• Milkroll
• Shin Myung Gwan Korean BBQ
• Watan Restaurant & Bakery
• Las Fajitas
• Mr. Tang
• Nana’s Dim Sum & Dumplings
• Yemen Grill
• Tofu House
• Sushi Katsu
• Coco Loco
• Ali Restaurant & Bakery
• Thank Sool Pocha
• Taqueria Corona
• Hanyang Wang Jokbal
• Coffee Story
• Tofu Story
• Havana Street Night Markets
• Seoul BBQ & Hot Pot (the Hot Pot)
• Seoul BBQ & Hot Pot (the BBQ)
• Pho 75
• Yong Gung
• Chopsticks A GoGo
• Angry Chicken
• L Cafe & Food Court
• Gangnam GT Lounge & Karaoke
• Katsu Ramen
• Dae Gee
• Snowl
• Chef Liu’s Kitchen
• Piramides Mexican Restaurant
• +57 Bar & Restaurante
• Il Forno di Tutti
• Ifka Cafe
• Maandeeq Restaurant & Cafe