I Love Paraguay
“We started with chipa guazu and mbeju which were super flavorful and great traditional starters.”
“Anytime I step in Queens, I make sure to stop at I Love Paraguay, especially on Tuesdays for their Vori Vori chicken soup which is delightful!”
“I loved the chipa so'o, the delicious, calorie-laden meat cake.”
I Love Paraguay
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I have been stingy on giving out 5 stars lately. But these guys earned them. The food was great (never had real Paraguayan food!), the service was great and friendly and as an introduction to their food the owner came out with a complimentary dish- the only solid soup in existence. (According to him, I have not checked)
Everything was delicious and the ambience was quiet and relaxed. The place was relatively empty when other places were not, but I attribute that to them being slightly off the beaten path, as the expression goes.
The leftovers did not go to waste. They were all eaten by the next day!
There isn't just one guy I love. I Love a Pair-of-guys. So, apparently, does the person that opened this restaurant. This type of polyamorous problem is common in South America. But then so are kidnappings. Not that I'm comparing kidnappings to loving more than one person. What was I talking about again? Oh yes. My pair-of-guys.
What to get: Chipa Guazu
What else: It's a Chipa off the old Guazu
This is a delightful little Paraguayan restaurant in a quieter part of Queens south of all the action in Jackson Heights and Astoria. My first impression was how tiny it was (that's what she said). It's very cozy inside though and they've done a great job on the decor.
Upon walking inside, every single person stopped what they were doing and looked up at me. I think because it was shocking to them that someone non-Paraguayan, and unfamiliar to them, had entered their establishment. I found it really cute actually.
I was also struck by the number of spectacular looking girls inside. From the server, to the owner (I think), to several of the customers. My conclusion is that there is something in the water in Paraguay, and I want some. Wow.
I ordered the world-famous Chipa Guazu which is thick, dense, filling, and something like corn bread, but not quite. It's very corn-y in any case, much like my jokes for that matter. It has sweetcorn bits inside it or something resembling them. It's not savoury, but it's not sweet either. It's a little dry, ands extremely filling.
They also have an excellent selection of imported sodas, so I ordered a Guarani, which is the most popular soda in Brazil – maybe in Paraguay too. It was just as delicious as I remembered it from Brazil. The girl that went to Brazil with me was very jealous when she saw I'd been drinking Guarani. But she need not be jealous of the stunning girls in this establishment since she's even more stunning.
Based on the Chipa alone, I'd give it a 4, because it's not something I'd go back for, but was still very interesting and filling and tasty. However I will try something different next time I come in, and for the excellent soda selection, the beautiful and friendly and lovely employees, for the awesome decor, and the fact that it's a Paraguayan restaurant – I mean how unusual is that! – this place scores 5.
And by the way, we should do some kind of sky-surfing sometimes. Because I Love Paragliding. And also, that song "CrushCrushCrush" is awesome, but then I Love Paramore. OK I really don't but it worked for the review.
I was worried they might be out of some of the specialties like another review mentioned and unfortunately they were. It doesn't seem like it was an isolated event. Of the 7 or so dishes listed under Paraguayan specialties they only had two remaining- the Mbeyu and Sopa Paraguaya. While they were both excellent it was very disappointing to not be able to try so much of the menu- they were out of many of the empanadas as well.
We ordered a few dishes from the normal entree section of the menu which were ok. They were overall very bland, especially the breaded chicken. If you can get the specialties they are good but it's not worth a special trip out to Sunnyside since they are most likely out.
To be quite honest, I don't know the first thing about Paraguayan cuisine. Thankfully, I have one Paraguayan friend, a rare ethnicity to find in NYC surprisingly. My friends and I ordered the chipa guazu, something like a corn bread/polenta hybrid, solid on the outside but creamy on the inside with whole kernels of corn packed in there. The vori vori soup is a dish that gives that home-y, comfort feeling. The only thing my friends and I weren't too delighted with were the croquetas. They tasted fine but were extremely dense. All in all, if you want authentic Paraguayan food, this is really the only place to go other than someone's house. This was even proved when my friend ran into an old family friend while there.
Having a Paraguayan girlfriend automatically mandated we come to I Love PY.
Fantastic food. According to my gf — authentic. No fake fillers here.
Chipa is awesome Paraguayan cheesey bread. Yerba Mate is awesome. If you're in the mood to try something that (you most likely never have had), definitely visit I Love Paraguay!
First, I'd like to say Jando if it weren't for your review I wouldn't know what the hell to order.
This place was so. so. good. I mean 5 years and I've never had their empanadas. 5 FRICKIN' YEARS! I've been deprived and I didn't even know it!
Thanks for shedding some light! I'll be back for their weekly specials. This place rocked my socks!
Love the empanadas (fried and baked), the various daily soups (sopa pescado is the best!), and the paraguayan grill. Also winners are the steak sandwich and the grilled chicken sandwich.
The waitress is quite friendly and very helpful. At their peak they seem a understaffed but they definitely try their best to keep up.
A Paraguayan restaurant in Sunnyside? Count us in!
My enthusiasm fizzled out when we learned that I Love Paraguay was basically out of the majority of its menu, including the entire traditional dishes section which was one lure for me. The waitress said they didn't anticipate as many people as they had prepared for. Since we were already there and seated, I decided to just forge ahead.
Because my pickings were slim, and at the waitress's suggestion, I ordered the popularv sandwich de lomito "I Love Paraguay" which was a steak sandwich with cheese, a fried egg, lettuce, and tomato. Fries came as a side. The fries were standard issue. The sandwich was pretty good but I couldn't help wondering what other fare I could have been consuming.
Fun fact: I didn't know what lomito meant, so I just consulted Google. It looks like a lomito is a South American sandwich, popular in Chile and Paraguay. There may not be a standard lomito, but it appears that steak and cheese and runny eggs are popular components.
I did also get a palmito empanada with hearts of palm and it was super cheesy and yummy.
The space is pretty home-like and casual, with soccer on the TVs, and guests seeming like regulars. The servers were all polite and checked on us regularly.
It sounded like this was a one-off occurrence, so I hope so. I would check out I Love Paraguay again, though a phone call before showing up to see what's available would be a requirement.