We're Open: Tabare Restaurant

There's only one place in Brooklyn to get Uruguayan food.

News 12 Staff

Sep 22, 2020, 11:45 AM

Updated 1,481 days ago

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There's only one place in Brooklyn to get Uruguayan food. 
There's only one place in Brooklyn to get Uruguayan food.
After years of working in the kitchen of many restaurants, the owner of Tabare decided to open his own place, serving the food he grew up with.
Tabare gets its name from a story that the owners learned about growing up in South America.
"Name of a Native Indian from Uruguay that got famous because he married the daughter of a Spanish conqueror, and he fought for the revolution,” says owner Ramiro Lescano.
Lescano says the Williamsburg restaurant is the only Uruguayan restaurant in Brooklyn.
“Uruguay was colonized by Spanish and Italian rivals in the 19th century and yea, they brought a lot of influence to our cuisine, and then we have Latin influence, of course, as part of being Latin American and then we eat a lot of meat,” says Lescano.
In the 11 years the restaurant has been open, they never did delivery. But that all changed during the pandemic.
“Of course, we had to adapt to that, and it wasn't easy to get customers right away but yea we were closed for a month and then we started doing delivery and takeout,” says Lescano.
Back in November, the eatery expanded with a location in Bushwick as well. The restauranteur admits even with delivery, takeout and outdoor dining, sales have been down, but he remains hopeful.
“I think we're going to make it through, but yea it's still very tough,” says Lescano.
The restaurant is getting its staff ready for indoor dining, which is slated to start at a limited capacity next week.