Cuisine:

• Latin American
• Caribbean
• Ribs
• American

Caribbean Breeze Description:
An Arlington hot spot and a watering hole for the young and the restless, this restaurant surprises with its Latin beat and interpretive Caribbean cooking. True, an appetizer of seasoned chicken and black beans in a spring roll wrapper seems a little off base, but the house special alcapurrias (from Puerto Rico)---hollowed-out plantains stuffed with a beef picadillo---with a jalapeño salsa is much closer to what we would expect. Too bad the cooking throughout remains uneven: a grilled flank steak salad offers tough steak and little flavor, though that is balanced by a respectable (though not outstanding) Cuban ropa vieja (shredded beef braised in a tomato sauce). Acoustics are dreadful, probably because entertainment begins around 9 p.m. It's clearly a drink-and-meet place, too, with plenty of folks cozying up to the bar.