Review: At Tortuga, a continent of South American flavors worth the schlep

30 minutes from Buffalo City Hall, Sanborn is site for Peruvian, Colombian, and Argentinian satisfactions

Tortuga’s Chivito: marinated ribeye, bacon, grilled provolone, chimichurri, garlic aioli, lettuce and tomato, and an over-easy egg.

When I worked in Niagara County and lived in Erie County, I discovered that a surprising number of Buffalonians rarely traveled north of Tonawanda Creek, unless they were on their way to Toronto. 

While Niagara County might border Erie, in their minds it seemed forbiddingly distant. That phenomenon has persisted, despite the in-pocket presence of modern navigation systems that offer precise drive-time estimates.

The reason this is relevant is that recently I was pitching Tortuga, the Sanborn restaurant that’s been drawing customers with South-American-centered dishes since 2020, to a friend.

Chino over saffron rice

Lomo saltado, the Peruvian steak and potato dish, shows up on the Tortuga menu as the Chino ($14), with Peruvian cheese sauce and chimichurri, I said. You can get that on greens, grains, rice, burrito, or sandwich. You need to try the pelotas ($6), bite-sized arancini with hearts of manchego cheese. For dessert you could have alfajores ($4.25), Colombian sandwich cookies filled with dulce de leche caramel and rimmed with coconut.

“That sounds amazing,” they said, “where is it?”

At the words “Niagara County” the light in their eyes went out like a snuffed candle. It might as well have been Peru.