J’s Kitchen

Justin Valle, who goes by J, opened this in the room that used to be Fairhaven Pizza. Both his parents are Puerto Rican and all four of his grandparents came from the island, and he learned to cook at home. The recipes on the menu are his mother's and his own.

Cascadia Daily News called it the first restaurant in the area that is Puerto Rican from top to bottom, in a region full of Mexican restaurants and short on this. The empanadas come in six fillings. The pernil is slow roasted pork, and it turns up in a bowl over white rice and pinto beans.

Elsewhere there is carne frita, yuca fries, maduros, potato fritters stuffed with beef picadillo and mozzarella, a cubano on Cuban bread, arroz con gandules, and mofongo when it is on. Tres leches for afterwards. The kids menu offers spam and rice, which is not a joke and is very much the point.