Fogonero Restaurant

Ready to get transported somewhere far away for a taste of delicious Venezuelan food? Fogonero is not just a terrific place to dine, it's an experience!Let's start with the food:Mixed Ceviche - Mixed seafood and catch of the day with yellow pepper sauce in Tiger's Milk with choclo, cancha and sweet potato served with fried green plantain. This was a an absolute delight for my taste buds. The seafood was generous and tasted very fresh. I think this is the best ceviche I've tasted in the great Austin area.Beef and vegetable soup with arepa on the side - The soup is very flavorful and the beef attached to the bone is soft and tender. It comes out piping hot and again they are very generous with the ingredients here.Coastal TunaYellowfin tuna over avocado and palm heart salad topped with sautéed mushrooms in garlic butter. This is my least favorite dish and that's probably just because I'm not a big fan of lots of dressing on my salad. There was way too much dressing on the salad and the tuna itself was a tad salty as well. I would highly recommend ordering it with dressing on the side.Tres LechesI was too full to eat this so I ordered it togo because the server stated that this is house made and I'm a sucker for house made tres leches. I kept this in my fridge and ate it an hour later. It is exactly how tres leches should be. It's not too moist, not too soggy, not too sweet... a wonderful dessert that I'll order very time I'm there.The restaurant is small but they make very efficient use of the space. There was groovy Spanish music and service is attentive and charming. The decor is also very unique and creative and it felt like I was transported halfway around the world to try some delicious authentic local food.This place is an absolute gem in Pflugerville!

My wife and I came into Fogonero with another couple and their kids on a Monday night around 6 PM. We beat the dinner rush that night given that the restaurant was empty when we arrived. It's smaller inside with about 5-8 tables if I remember correctly. We were a party of 7 (4 adults and 3 kids) and they put a couple tables together for us--had the restaurant been busy or our party larger than 7, we might have had some issues getting sat.The young woman who took our order was attentive throughout the meal, which we appreciated. To start we had an order of "Empanadas" which were filled with shredded beef, chicken, cheese and ground beef. They were okay, unfortunately some were more filled than others and the dough was dry in my mouth at times.To drink I ordered the "Frozen Passion Margarita," it wasn't too sweet but also wasn't very boozy, it seemed just right. For my entree I ordered the "Pabellon Criollo"--a dish with shredded beef accompanied by rice, black beans, fried sweet plantains, avocado, fried cheese and topped with a fried egg. It was a beautiful dish. It was well-portioned, however it lacked flavor in my opinion. I expected/hoped for more, but it ended up being just "okay." It was filling for sure though! For dessert we shared a Tres Leches Cake. On the outside it looked amazing, drenched even. But once we started eating it, it ended up tasting dry in the middle, which was unfortunate.Overall we had an okay experience--food was filling, but there were definitely some points of improvement. Also, it seems very pricey for what it is actually served--we might give it another try someday.

The empanadas were to die for! I can't wait to return just to try that. The soup was amazing as well, although I didn't get a chance to get a photo of it. Great place in a unique spot in Pflugerville. Has family vibes with amazing food, as a quaint indoor and outdoor area. Loved the energy of our server and her recommendations were the best! Can't wait to return!

Great and attentive service! Parking can be tricky and seating too since the space is small and located on a corner of a plaza off Pecan St, so heads up for large parties and maybe carpool? We came on a Monday evening and it was empty and it was 7 of us and thankfully didn't have issues getting seated. Loved the ambiance and the music. Was a bit loud at the beginning then more people started to come in and they lowered it a bit. My husband and I went all out because we've been wanting to try Fogonero for a while so we got cocktails, appetizers, main dishes and even dessert! Cocktail - Passion Fruit Margarita 5/5 Delicious, not too sweet and not too boozy. Appetizer - Order of Mini Empanadas 3/5 They were okay! Some of them weren't filled as much as others were and so you would just take a bit of the fried empanada. The green sauce was good, the red/orange one had more flavor, had a kick of heat, and therefore was my favorite. Entree- Asado Negro 3/5The bite of the beef+rice+plantain was good all together. I wish the dish came with more rice and that the sauce had more flavor and there was more of it? I didn't finish my meal and took it home and the next day the beef was so dry. Dessert - Tres Leches 3/5 It was fine! Nothing spectacular. It's a good size, so ordering it to share would be a good idea. I'm used to moist tres leches and sure there was sauce all over it but the actual cake itself was missing more moisture. With tip we spent about $90ish. A lot right? I don't know if we'll come back again, but am glad we came and finally gave it a shot!

I first went to this restaurant in October and I loved it so much that I went during Thanksgiving week with my friend who is Venezuelan. The place itself is small and it has a lot of nice touches for decoration. The kitchen is open and you can tell that everything is made to order. It may take a little longer for you to get your food but it's worth it. Food highlights, tequeños are smaller than I'm used to but the sauce is delicious. I also loved the creamy chicken soup. A bowl of that could fill me up as an entire meal. As for entrée, I loved the Pabellon so I've had it twice. The shredded beef, rice, black beans, fried cheese, plantain (I substitute for tostones because I don't like them sweet) with the fried egg on top are divine. I also was able to try their Christmas dish which included an hallace, chicken salad, Ham Bread (a slice of a sweet-ish bread roll that has ham, bacon, mozzarella, olives, raisons inside - yum!). Everything was just so tasty!They also offer some italian dishes on the menu and they were also very tasty themselves. I already had approved of the flavor and my Venezuelan friend vouched to bring her family along to try the food themselves. I know I'll be going back!

I came here for lunch on Sunday and was lucky to find a table inside. The restaurant is quite small, but they do have tables outside as well. I ordered the ground beef empanada, made with fried corn dough and stuffed with ground beef. This was my first time trying a Venezuelan empanada, and I was not the biggest fan. There was a lot less filling and a lot more dough than I expected, and the dough was chewy and a bit bland. I wouldn't order this again.My boyfriend ordered the asado negro - braised roast beef with sugar cane and red wine sauce served with white rice and fried sweet plantain. He shared a bite with me and we both agreed this was the highlight of the meal. The portion was big, but it was so good that he finished it all. I'll order this next time.

Pros: -friendly staff. Quick to respond. -delicious food. Patacones were excellent -water refilled without asking -cute decor and fun themed colors and wall art -easy to red menu -large portions mainly -affordable margaritas $10.Cons:-only two small tostones for a big ceviche portion we had to buy some more. Also - maybe it's traditional but I'm used to something crispy with ceviche. -Would I return: YES. Want to try the empanadas !!

Ambiance: The outside and the inside of the restaurant were pretty nice. The inside was a lot smaller than I expected, but it was comfortable, and it wasn't crowded. They had karaoke when we arrived. I believe it was probably the owner. It looked like he was having a good time. He handed the mic to my husband, and he sang along. It was pretty funny. You can see the kitchen from your table, but it's partially hidden behind a wall, and there's not a lot of noise, so that was nice! Service: the staff was friendly, the menu was pretty easy to choose from, and they answered all of our questions. Food: absolutely delicious! Everything was cooked well and to perfection. The drinks were pretty good, too. My husband and I had two shots of tequila. They had good options to choose from as far as liquor goes. 10/10 I would come back here again!

COME AND EAT HERE! Fogonero is going to knock your socks off, that's just my opinion though. What a find this place is, wish I had come here more soon!I was a bit skeptical walking up cause the place is so tiny, and hidden over in the corner of one of those little shopping mall things on the side of the road with some other stores next to it. A party of 6 come parading out of the door speaking Spanish and laughing, they had told me that this was a good place to eat when I asked.There was a cute patio outside with more tables, but we wanted to chill inside, and might I say that there's not much to the place, or a lot of seating. We sit down, there's music playing somewhat loud, and even a couple got up and started to dance a bit. There were these large beautifully crafted looking rolls of bread just pulled out of the oven cooling down on the server counter, one was cut a bit so you could see all these goodies inside, it filled the room with this sweet amazing aroma. At this point I could tell our dinner was going to be fantastic. Mini Empanadas to start with, crisp, hot, and golden! Each filled differently (Ground Beef, Shredded Beef, Pork, and Cheese). The sauces they brought out with it was also freaking amazing. I got excited and started digging in before I could get a pic of all 4 haha. soon after that our entrées came out, the presentation was very nice, you can tell some excellent cooks are back in that small little kitchen. Juicy meat, with an egg over the rice next to some black beans, with a sliver of cooked cheese topped with some sweet tasty plantains. Everything was fantastic! Of coarse I could not leave without asking what that bread was, I wasn't exactly sure what she had said, but I asked if i could try a slice since they were wanting to sell a loaf of it at a time. She eventually came out with my cut of what I figured out to be Ham Bread! Oh my gosh it was so delicious! I said is there a secret menu that we don't know about? Nope just that it was a seasonal dish that they make! Christmas bread with ham, bacon, olives and raisins! TRUST, you have not lived til you have tried this Venezuelan Christmas Ham Bread. I CAN'T WAIT TO COME BACK!

This little hole in the wall place was such a delightful surprise! The empanadas were delicious as an appetizer! My husband had the chicken and really enjoyed how succulent and tasty it was over the mashed potatoes. I had the crispy fish and plantains and it was mouth watering! We would definitely eat here again!