Where to get great Dominican food in Washington Heights and Inwood

When I recently rode my bike from Bushwick to Washington Heights to visit the Cloisters, I stopped along the Hudson to eat a sandwich. As I looked at the map on my phone, I realized there were a number of restaurants in the area that I’d been meaning to check out. And after I finished my lunch, I wished I had planned my day around visiting some of those spots.

So that’s just what I did on a recent Wednesday. I hit up my friend and neighbor Miguel Trinidad, chef and owner at Marie’s in Bushwick as well as Dinner with Chef Migs (a cannabis dinner series he often hosts), to eat Dominican food in Washington Heights and Inwood.

Trinidad, whose parents moved to New York City from the Dominican Republic in the late 1960s, was born and raised on the Lower East Side. Much of his family lives uptown. However, he hadn’t come up this way to explore and eat in a while. He joked that his most recent visits were to attend funerals, and said exploring with me would be a reintroduction to his roots.

I hopped on the back of Trinidad’s Vespa and we made our way to Washington Heights. The first stop: Wahizza.

Wahizza, which opened in 2016, is a pizza restaurant located in a food hall on Broadway between 183rd and 184th streets. Trinidad’s friend recommended it, specifically for the rabo pizza.

Rabo means “tail” in Spanish, and in this case, it was oxtail. It came with four kinds of cheese: mozzarella, parmesan, goat cheese and ricotta, as well as basil, some veggies, and hot honey.

I’d never had Dominican pizza before, and never realized it was a thing. According to Trinidad, “anything that Dominicans touch, they put their own spin on it.” And the pizza was incredible. The oxtail was tender, and the crisp, chewy crust was sprinkled with sesame seeds. The honey added a nice sweetness that complimented the oxtail. We washed it down with the soda of the Dominican Republic: Country Club, specifically the merengue flavor, which tasted like cream soda.

Although I was sad that we’d only ordered the one, I knew that we had other places to check out, and soon we were back on the Vespa and off to our next spot: Lulo Restaurant.

Lulo Restaurant is located on St. Nicholas Avenue between 191st and 192nd streets, and has been around for over 20 years. Owner Yudelka Marte Vargas took over the space about 12 years ago after moving from the Dominican Republic in 2001.

The place was busy and lively. Trinidad let out a happy sigh as he unfolded the paper menu.

“This makes me so happy,” he said.

The food is cooked fresh daily and we could see it being scooped and plated from the steamers behind the bar as customers ordered. A man next to us was trying to sell gold chains and earrings from a jewelry case. He yelled (lovingly) at Trinidad in Spanish, urging him to buy me something nice (he didn’t). The simultaneously chaotic and calming scene made me happy.

On its menu, Lulo proudly claims to be “El Rey del Chivo,” or the King of Goat.

So we obviously ordered the goat, which came with steamed rice, beans and fried plantains. The beans were swimming in their liquid and were incredible when poured over the rice.

From there, we rode over to the queen of pork: Elsa La Reina del Chicharron, located on Broadway between Academy and 204th streets.

Chicharrones are pieces of fried pork belly or pork rinds. We ordered a strip of pork belly, which was cleaved into 1-inch pieces before it was passed to us on a paper plate. I squeezed some lime juice over the top before tucking in. The pork skin was incredibly crispy and the meat was tender and juicy.

We also got mofongo, a dish consisting of smashed fried green plantains topped with broth. Dominican mofongo typically has a richer broth, while Puerto Rican mofongo might have a bit more pork skin in it for texture. This version had fried pork belly mixed in and an incredibly rich, savory broth that we poured over the top. The plantains were soft and sweet, the crunch from the pork belly added a wonderful contrast, and the broth was slightly sweet with an unctuous savory note.

Reader, it was wonderful.

We jumped on the Vespa to our final destination: Lina Restaurant on 207th Street between Post Avenue and 10th avenues. The 1 train zipped overhead as we parked the Vespa and walked inside to meet Led Black.

Trinidad and Black met at a cannabis dinner uptown and have mutual friends. Black founded the Uptown Collective in 2010 with the mission to document and shape the trajectory that he has seen happening in Harlem, Washington Heights, and Inwood, particularly among young Dominican creatives.

Lina is Black’s favorite spot, so I let him take the lead when ordering. Next door is Tina Fish Market, which has the same owners as Lina, so ordering seafood at Lina is a must. We got camarones al horno (shrimp in garlic sauce) and filetillo de pollo (strips of chicken cooked with vegetables and soy sauce).

We also ordered morir soñando, which translates to “to die dreaming.” It’s a popular Dominican beverage made from orange juice, milk and sugar served over ice. While I was a little skeptical of the milk and OJ combo, it was light and refreshing and I was not at all disappointed.

Garlic bread arrived at the table along with some lime wedges. Our mains also came with a bowl of steamed rice, beans, and fried plantains. The beans were incredible and the garlic bread was lovely for soaking up some of the juices from the shrimp.

The chicken was delicious, and Black reiterated that Dominicans adapt and make things their own. One example of this is soy sauce, which can be found in numerous Dominican dishes as a result of Japanese immigration to the country.

Trinidad described Dominican food as like “getting wrapped in a blanket … it’s like a big hug from mom and grandma, and it’s always something that brings people together.”

After our adventure, I would have to agree.