Vargas Cafe

By Tobin Bennison

I’ve often found that when friends spin tales of their Central American surf trips, the great waves they caught (or likely missed) are secondary to the meals they consumed. They’ll gloss over glowering, gun-toting farmers, white-knuckle driving and sketchy accomodations, yet they’ll always rattle on for ages about how delicious the food was.

Now whether they were in Nicaragua, Mexico, Panama or Costa Rica really makes no difference. What does matter is that each dish adhered to the region’s four culinary principles: freshness, simplicity, heaping helpings, and dirt-cheap prices.

There, vegetables, herbs and salsas had a sun-kissed crispness, and fish, chicken and goats were kicking about energetically hours, if not minutes, before they were brought to the table. Plates came piled high with steaming rice and warm tortillas, and what you were eating was what your hosts served their families. To top it all off, you paid so little for it, you probably left the equivalent of a 75% tip to mitigate your American guilt.

Going inland to the eateries of their major towns and cities was no different, really, and the impression those meals left is strong enough for you to try and duplicate those dining experiences once you’ve returned home.

Few area establishments offer such authentic food as Cape Canaveral’s Vargas Café, the kind of hole-in-the-wall eatery you’d expect to find south of the border. The best chance you have to find this type of food stateside is in the ethnic neighborhoods of metropoli like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Miami. Even then, their food is at best a reasonable facsimile. Incredibly, here at Vargas, you’ll get the real deal.

In writing a review of this kind, it’s customary to regale readers with the owners’ personal history, and I took Cuban-born Alberto Vargas’ reticence to discuss these issues in understanding stride. Apart from the humorous account of his meeting his Mexican wife (and Vargas Café cook) Maria, Alberto shyly brushed aside my questions about his restaurant’s history, but his eyes lit up with childlike glee when the subject turned to his food.

Reflecting the owners’ origins, Vargas Café serves a mixture of no-nonsense Cuban and Mexican dishes the natives of those regions prefer. Here, you’ll find no “sizzling fajitas,” cheese-slathered chimichangas or any other gringofied favorites. You will get real, honest-to-goodness food; and if it’s good enough for the Vargas family and the legions of loyal Latin American regulars, it should be heavenly enough for you.

Vargas’ refreshingly simple menu is separated into Mexican and Cuban dishes, and the authentic tacos are probably the most popular of the former’s offerings. For under $2, you can choose from toppings like carne asada (grilled, marinated beef), pollo (chicken), al pastor (lightly spiced and grilled pork), and picadillo (Cuban spiced ground beef). They’re served as they are in Mexico: with warm, soft flour tortillas and deliciously fresh pico de gallo, a roughly diced salsa of peppers, tomatoes, onion, and cilantro. What makes them so lip-smacking are Maria’s mixture of spices and marinades which create flavors that are deliciously complex without tasting muddled or overdone.

Other Mexican selections include a range of $3.50 and under smaller burritos (bean and cheese, carne asada, pollo, al pastor), and a $6.50 Super Burrito, bursting at the seams with rice (choose white or yellow), cheese and a meat of your choice with their famous pico de gallo on the side.

The authentic tortas, though, deserve special attention. Rarely available in the U.S., the torta is a Mexican sandwich filled with a selection of meats; among them: carne asada, pollo, al pastor and de Carne Molida, a hash of spiced ground beef. We tried the fantastic torta al pastor: perfectly flavored chunks of pork seared briefly in the pan, topped with a huge dollop of cool guacamole, and slid into a warm bun.

You’ll find the Cuban half of the menu just as pleasing, and Alberto and chef Antonio prepare them masterfully. All the entrees are served with beans (black or red) and rice (white or yellow) and include bistec de palomilla (sirloin marinated in garlic, oil, onions and spices), boliche asado (pot roast), picadillo ala criolla, masa de cerdo (fried pork), camarones enchilados (shrimp spiced with chilis), and chuleta (pork chops).

The excellent Cubano isn’t the only sandwich on hand; there’s the roasted pork, the bistec (steak) and the pollo. Along with the popular pan con ropa vieja (marinated shredded beef between two slices of Cuban bread), there’s the Alfredo Choripan, a sandwich of spicy chorizo split lengthwise, fried with onions and topped with melted cheese. Served piping hot from Vargas’ plancha (a Cuban sandwich press), its heat is eased by the sweetly fried onions and blanket of Swiss.

Each and every one of Vargas’ side orders is a work of unassuming brilliance. Apart from favorites like maduros (sweet plantains) and tostones (green fried plantains), there’s yuca (a potato-like root vegetable) prepared in mojo, stuffed and baked (relleno), and fried (frita), potatoes stuffed with minced beef (papas rellena), and outstanding croquetas and baked-in-house empanadas. Everything’s so inexpensive, you could order one of each in one sitting and still leave flush. Finish off with a flan and a sweet Cuban coffee and swear to come back sometime for desayuno, or breakfast.

Desayuno consists of four simple meals: steak, eggs, bread, and coffee ($6.50), eggs with ham, bread, and coffee ($5.00), the same central combo with bacon for $4.75, and pan con tortilla cubana: a Cuban omlette with bread for $4.25. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better deal beachside.

The humble Vargas is small and can fill up quickly, especially during lunchtime. But don’t be discouraged if there’s a line -- it’s worth the wait. Many of Vargas’ dishes can be added to and modified according to tastes, and repeat visits ensure a fresh crop of delicious daily specials. Alberto and Co. also serve all your favorite Latin American beverages: Jarritos, Malta, Sidral, Materva, and Jupiña, as well as Mango, Guava, and Coco drinks.

Revisit past meals, discover new flavors, or bask happily in the present at Vargas Café any time of day. And if you see Alberto, ask him how he met Maria. It’s a good one.

Vargas Café (783-9519) is located in Cape Canaveral at 8010 N. Atlantic Ave., Unit 1. They’re open Mondays through Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.