La Nueva R.O.U. Bakery

URUGUAY 🇺🇾

On a big matchday it is not hard to tell the affiliation of this establishment, the flags of Uruguay are everywhere and fans crowd the indoor and outdoor areas cheering on La Celeste as they did this past summer and every important match before that. On other days though the place is much more quiet and it may be hard to tell, unless that is you can decipher the acronym R.O.U. in the name.

This stands for the official full name of the country: Repüblica Oriental del Uruguay. The bakery is more than just that, it has sandwiches and empanadas, and even advertises pizza although I am not entirely convinced of that yet. You can also come here to stock your pantry with yerba mate, the nation's #1 beverage.

Even on the Friday we checked the place out, football was still an important part of the soul here (as it is with most of Uruguay) as the flags of many teams playing in La Liga Profesional de Primera División are hung right above the counter. The bakery does not take a stand of its own and all are welcome.

A typical morning in Uruguay will include not only mate, but an assortment of bizcochos. In New York City, this word is associated with Dominican cakes 99 out of 100 times you see it, but over here in Elizabeth the ratios are far more favorable to Uruguay. These small pastries are made in many different ways; either sweet or savory, plain or filled.

The plain version, at the bottom of the basket below, is full of surprise. The pastry is super light and has a very durable exterior, leading you to believe it is crunchy and dry, but the inside is full of butter and still very moist. Of any, I think this was my favorite.

From left to right, the others above were filled with ham, guava, and what was described as "vanilla," although this was more of an egg custard. Having a little assortment is a fun way to enjoy the Uruguayan news on the televisions and sip on your mate, although this strong, caffeine-rich tea is only in a tea bag here. I doubt anyone would oppose you bringing your own mate and bombilla.

If you happened to miss the display of empanadas in the front as you walked in, go back and take a look and don't pass up the chance on eating some here or taking them home. Four varieties are available, beef, chicken, ham + cheese, and spinach. We grabbed one each of the beef and chicken and were not disappointed. Uruguayan empanadas (above and below) are always baked rather than fried, and are small but well-stuffed with ingredients.

Last but not least, also available is the very Uruguayan mashup food pascualina (below). For more on this egg and spinach Italian-Uruguayan pastry, check out our recent report from nearby Pizzeria Montevideo.

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ELIZABETH New Jersey
482 Rahway Avenue

Map of Eat the World NYC:

El Chivito d'Oro

URUGUAY 🇺🇾

After watching both the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Copa America with Uruguayans at La Gran Uruguaya a block away, I decided to return to where I first cheered with the nation at the 2010 World Cup. That year, the country went deep into the tournament semifinals and the team was a beauty to watch. Having not eaten here since back then, a big chivito al pan (below) was ordered before the match started.

Chivito al pan con Pilsen.

This famous Uruguayan sandwich is the namesake of the restaurant and a no-brainer order when alone and the grilled meat platters are out of reach. Wash it all down with the nation's most recognizable beer, Pilsen, which are always cold here.

Uruguay is victorious!

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JACKSON HEIGHTS Queens

84-02 37th Avenue

Map of Eat the World NYC:

Pizzeria Montevideo

URUGUAY 🇺🇾

Continuing our new series about the South American pizzerias of New Jersey, this time we skip across the Río de la Plata and into Uruguay, which along with Argentina is a country with a lot of Italian in its blood. Taking the first exit after the Goethals Bridge from Staten Island will land you practically at the door of Pizzeria Montevideo in the south part of Elizabeth, New Jersey.

This working class pizzeria named after the capital of Uruguay, in a wonderful working class neighborhood, adheres more to the Italian side of things with pizza and pastas. But just as you can locate the sky blue football scarf of Uruguay hanging on the wall here, look for the Uruguayan pages of the menu for more unique foods.

One of these is the pascualina ($3, below), a type of torta cooked with egg, spinach, onions, pepper, and cheese.

Immensely popular in Uruguay but also with roots far back in Italy, this flaky pastry is common at all times but especially during Easter as the name suggests. The pascualina is meatless making it perfect for lent, and the ingredients all reference religious symbolism and the resurrection. It is still tasty even if Jesus is not your thing.

Ham and cheese croquetas ($3, below) made in the Uruguayan style are also available with either rice or potato puree inside. These two were chosen with rice, which allows the other tastes to shine through a bit better.

The egg and cheese that holds all the ingredients together becomes melty when cooked and the croquetas have a really nice texture. The fun story of these tasty snacks is that they are sort of leftovers food, a family will cook them when there is a good portion of rice that goes uneaten after a meal. Like fried rice far to the east, croquetas are said to be more delicious when the rice is a day old.

The chivitos in Jackson Heights, Queens can sometimes be intimidating, massive beautiful structures of bread, meat, and cheese. Here in Elizabeth, the sandwich seems to match the neighborhood and be much more approachable. It would never be known for its looks, but this chivito al pan ($10, below) will do its job seamlessly, satisfying even the largest of appetites.

Along with grilled meat, ham, and mozzarella, the sandwich stacks in bacon, olives, peppers, lettuce, tomato, and a hard-boiled egg. The bread is always important in Uruguayan sandwiches, and does not let you down here.

It seemed necessary to try the pizza despite expanding waistlines at the end of a long day eating in New Jersey. A slice of pepperoni (below) will only set you back $2.50, and is cut up into four small sections. Along with plates of grilled meat that are typical of a Uruguayan dinner, there were no other tables here this night that did not include pizza.

That information can be used however you wish, but maybe bring at least four people so that you can try all sides of the menu and leave very satisfied.

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ELIZABETH New Jersey

531 Bayway

La Gran Uruguaya Restaurant & Bar

URUGUAY 🇺🇾

10 years ago, La Gran Uruguaya Bakery was opening in late summer on 37th Avenue, three doors in from the corner of 85th Street. Next to it was a botanica, selling religious candles and paraphernalia, and on the corner stood mainstay Cafe La Nueva, which always was mistaken for the more popular La Nueva Bakery on the next block. Over the next four or five years, the bakery was doing a brisk business and slowly expanded towards the corner, first taking the botanica space to increase their pastry output, then finally the restaurant, adding a bar and full dining room and menu. Their signage now extends all three former addresses and makes it appear the whole establishment has always been one.

The restaurant and bakery have separate entrances, but a door towards the rear connects the two if you change your mind and need to switch from coffee to wine. The bakery is busy at all times of day and night, it remains one of the most popular spots for pastries, cookies, and mate in the neighborhood.

Never written about on this site, the bakery is very recommended. It is the premier spot to watch Uruguayan football, especially during major world tournaments when we usually stop by for a match. In 2014, I was in attendance for the heartbreaking game against Costa Rica that opened a very poor tournament for the nation.

Keeping the theme, football is usually on the televisions even on weekday afternoons, and pictures of Messi (and one of Ronaldo) are all around. It seems Barcelona (current home of Uruguayan hero Luis Suárez) is more popular than Real Madrid, but you will find fans from the country in both camps.

This post is all about the full dining room on the corner, offering a vast Uruguayan menu and full bar. During those very big games, they will serve beers to the bakery, but usually if you want to have alcohol it has to stay in the restaurant. The bar is stocked with wines from Chile and Argentina and runs halfway to the back of the restaurant, with a dozen seats or so.

Like most countries in the Americas, indigenous peoples have been wiped out and later their conquerors have used their vestiges and cultures to their own purposes. In Uruguay, this is the fearsome warriors known as the Charrúa, the namesake for this restaurant's Uruguayan platter, a small sampler of three grilled meats that rivals an Argentinean parrillada.

The bandeja charrúa ($22, below) contains two steaks and a sausage. The two styles of steak, in typical fashion, are very minimally marinated, as the point of eating plates like this is to show off the quality of the meat. The skirt steak was very enjoyable, while the other short rib piece was surprisingly fatty and went unfinished. The link of sausage is excellent.

Spread now into surrounding countries, the typical eating culture of the Argentinean gaucho is the inspiration for these modern day parrilladas. The Pampa region was full of wild cattle, and thus full of meals of healthy meat to put over the fire.

The skirt steak has also made its way into a sandwich and is now the national dish of Uruguay. The enormous chivito al pan ($15, below) is a must try for the uninitiated, a stack of foods that appear to be caught in a freeze frame while melting.

Between the toasted buns, the chivito includes lettuce, tomato, olives, bacon, plenty of mozzarella cheese, and a fried egg. As you can imagine, it is pretty impossible to stick the thing in a normal-sized mouth.

As if not enough food already, a side of perfectly fried fries comes with the sandwich. Eating them after already being stuffed makes the terrible soundtrack of this place a little more palatable. The chimichurri and hot green sauces are recommended for adding to meats and sandwiches, the spicy sauce great for the fries as well.

JACKSON HEIGHTS Queens

85-06 37th Avenue

Pizzarra's

URUGUAY 🇺🇾

With buildings surrounding it only two or three stories high, most corners in Union City are like this one and get an abundance of sunshine even during a winter day. Streams of light were actually coming in, making it hard to see the television and enjoy the Uruguay national team fight their way into the World Cup.

With four or five other customers and all the staff, the team scored five unanswered goals and happiness was the theme of the day. It was nice to share this moment with them, and have an easy excuse to travel out to Bergenline Avenue for food.

Knowing I would be ordering too much for one person, I could not resist a couple empanadas (below). These baked versions had such a thin crust and a chicken filling so airy that if there could be such a thing, it might be a diet empanada. Still delicious, the shredded chicken inside comes well-spiced and fluffy.

Needing a partner for the plates of grilled churrasco meats, I had to "settle" on the beautiful chivito de carne ($9.95, below), a typically Uruguayan steak sandwich that comes loaded with egg, ham & cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo. The steak marinade on this guy is delicious and the prominent ham & cheese in the middle create such a flavor party that you will want to bring your friends.

I packed up half of the sandwich to go as the second half of the game was coming to an end and ordered a small alfajor ($1.50, below) to round out the meal. This crumbly cookie was dipped in chocolate, and was much less sweet than I expected. They have a large case in the back with homemade desserts which all seemed just as nice.

One of the most wonderful things about Union City for people that live in New York is that it only takes 15 minutes on the bus from Port Authority to get here, as long as tunnel traffic is not ridiculous. Take the opportunity to walk up and down Bergenline someday if you have not already, as it is full of Latin American restaurants, delis, cafes, and markets. The ones I have written about on this site are only a drop in the bucket.

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UNION CITY, New Jersey

4000 Bergenline Avenue

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La Nueva Bakery

ARGENTINA 🇦🇷
COLOMBIA 🇨🇴
URUGUAY 🇺🇾

Don't confuse this with Cafe La Nueva on the corner of 85th. The best café con leche ($1) in town, as well as a nice selection of pastries and delicious empanadas. When I first moved to New York City and was exploring often, I went to this cafe on many weekends, to enjoy the coffee and practice Spanish. All the ladies are very nice, and never switched to English even when I was tripping over my words back then. The owners are from Uruguay, but they specialize in Colombian antojitos and baked goods from Argentina.

On the plates below, make sure to check out one of their options of alfajores (below, right), which always consist of two cookies with dulce de leche in between. You can have these plain, or covered in chocolate or coconut as seen.

Another delicious treat is the pan con guayaba y queso (below, left), a round moist bun filled with guava and cheese that is to die for.

The thermoses for yerba mate (as well as the leaves) line the shelves, really giving the strongest hints that many customers here indeed come from Uruguay and Argentina. A selection of professional football teams from the two countries make up the bulk of the options. If football games are on, you will see a smattering of older men come in for tea to watch the games on the bakeries two small screens.

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JACKSON HEIGHTS Queens
86-10 37th Avenue

I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World NYC is and always has been free. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better and you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World NYC is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

You can Venmo me @JAREDCOHEE or click here to send PayPal donation, no account is necessary. Thank you!