The waiters at Picosa wear black t-shirts with a sleek dancing nymphette logo on the front, and a legend on the back that says either “He hopes she’s dirty” or “She hopes he’s rich.”
So, it’s a safe bet that the clientele isn’t coming to the new restaurant/bar in Riverplace in search of gastronomic thrills. More likely they come for the dj, and the dancing and the tropical cocktails, or they come to get lucky.
I came hoping that Picosa, with its Nueva Latina menu, would be another restaurant of the caliber of El Meson and Cafe Ena. No such luck. It’s still early days, but nothing I have tasted so far even comes close – the crisp masa empanadas were mostly dough with very little crab and shrimp filling; the mariquitas (fried green plantain chips) tended to stick together, and the tomatillo duck soup had an uncanny resemblance to Dinty Moore beef stew. A salad of jicama, chayote, mango and cilantro in a spicy mango salsa sounded promising, but was overwhelmingly tart and spicy. The entrée of pan-seared shrimp in mango chili salsa was similar – too tart and spicy to enjoy, and the half-dozen medium-sized shrimp seemed disconnected from the rest of the dish. Service was slow and a bit flaky. On the plus side, the outdoor patio offers a great view of the river and downtown skyline, and great people-watching.
And I’m going to at least give the cuisine another try – who knows, I might get lucky.
65 Main Street S.E., Minneapolis, www.picosarestaurant.com.
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