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Momentos, a new restaurant in Hampton Bays, takes its cuisine cues from across Latin America while adding an upscale flair, according to its owners.
Guido Parra and his cousins Louis, Washington and James Aucapina are carpenters by trade, but decided to “offer a new kind of Latin cuisine,” Mr. Parra said last Friday. The menu features fare from Ecuador, but also samples from Mexico and Colombia and Italy.
“There are a lot of Spanish restaurants in the area, but ours stands out because we get a little bit from each culture,” Mr. Parra said. “In Latin America, each country has similar traditions, but the way the food is cooked in each country is a little different.”
The owners used their carpentry skills to renovate the former Gilligan’s Saloon, a tavern and pool hall that closed about a year ago, into a sleek restaurant and lounge. The entire space, which can accommodate 104 diners, is done in dark wood with deep red walls and the lounge area features three projectors and three flat-screen televisions for sports events.
“Right now, we have the basketball playoffs,” said Fernando Quezada, the bartender at Momentos. “We’ll also show soccer and baseball.”
In terms of the food, to sample the restaurant’s Mexican flavor, manager Gabriel Alarcon recommends fajitas Momentos ($15.95), a classic dish that combines a choice of chicken, beef, or shrimp with cheese, guacamole, and sour cream. It’s up to the diner to put all the ingredients together on the three tortillas provided.
Chef Ruben Bravo, the former head chef at Estia Cantina in Amagansett, specializes in Latin food and recommends diners try the chaulafah ($14), an Ecuadorian dish of fried rice with fried chicken, shrimp and sausage.
Among its Italian offerings, Momentos has fettuccine Alfredo, which comes with either chicken or shrimp, for $14.
The restaurant had its grand opening on Friday, April 11, and Mr. Parra said that business has been “excellent” since then. He noted that besides lunch and dinner, the restaurant offers a late night menu featuring picadas and tapas.
According to Mr. Bravo, picadas translates to roasted potatoes and chicaharon, fried and seasoned ribs and chicken. The picadas are $10.
The restaurant also offers a kids’ menu that sticks to American cuisine. Children can choose from mini-hamburgers, a hot dog, or chicken fingers, which all come with French fries. The options range in price from $4.99 to $5.99.
Momentos, which stays open until 4 a.m. on the weekends, also offers a variety of drinks including sangria—a standard offering for a Latin American restaurant, but served with a twist at Momentos: the wine and fruit drink is blue. The bartender, Mr. Quezada, wouldn’t reveal the secret behind his special recipe, but he did say that the drink is full of green grapes, green apples, kiwis and oranges. A pitcher of sangria goes for $25, a half pitcher is $15 and a glass costs $6.
For something with a bit more kick, Mr. Quezada recommends the Momentos cocktail, which combines several Stoli vodkas—regular, vanilla, blueberry, and orange—with sour mix and splashes of orange and cranberry juice.
Just as the Momentos menu spans South America, its selection of bottled beers represents a sampling of Latin America. Next to the familiar Corona, a light lager, there is Negra Modelo, a dark, rich beer from Mexico, Presidente, a lighter beer from the Dominican Republic and Imperia, another light-colored beer, from Costa Rica. All the bottles of Latin American imports are $6.
The restaurant offers three additional beers on draft for $6 each—Blue Moon, Peroni and Sam Adams. Miller Lite is also served for $5 a glass.
The restaurant serves a typical South American assortment of non-soft drink choices for their selection of non-alcoholic beverages, including blackberry, guava, passion fruit, and pineapple juices, any of which can be mixed with either milk, for $3.75, or water, for $3.
Adding to the atmosphere, Momentos features a DJ booth that abuts the bar. Mr. Parra said there is dancing after midnight, when the kitchen closes for dinner, though he quickly noted that the dancing doesn’t get “too crazy.”
Momentos also offers karaoke on Sundays at no cost.
“Momentos is the perfect place to take the family for a nice lunch or dinner, just to relax,” Mr. Alarcon said. “The food is great and the decorations are nice.”
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