Reina: A Modern Latin Bistro

The girls and I enjoy new restaurants. Recently, we enjoyed lunch at Reina, a modern Latin bistro, located in the historic district of Frederick, MD. If you're familiar with the area, you recognize this spot as the former Acacia restaurant. Looks are deceiving and the restaurant is quite large, extending the entire length of the historic building. We sat in a window seat facing Market Street that allowed us to watch the people on the street.

Murals and art dot the walls of the restaurant.

Upon first glance, the menu offers a modern twist on some Latin American favorites. The restaurant sources most items locally and focuses on fresh, organic food. We decided on a tomatillo-pineapple salsa to start. It tasted sweet and full of flavor. Natalia practically scraped the last bit from the bowl. Salsa arrived with yucca chips, tortilla chips, and plantain chips.

Instead of dinner rolls or bread, we ate "cancha" before the rest of our food arrived. Cancha is a Peruvian snack that is highly addictive and incredibly delicious. The crunchy texture of the corn snack combines perfectly with the spices.

Our server told us that the restaurant prepares the guacamole when it is ordered. Although they didn't prepare the guacamole table side like other restaurants, it tasted fresh. I love it that the skin of the avocado serves as the bowl!

Corn tortillas are made by hand for many of the dishes. My chicken tacos come with a corn salsa that is so fresh, I could tell that it was just cut off the cob. A spoonful of sweet jicama slaw takes the bite out of any spiciness in the dish.

On our next visit, we plan to eat in the patio located in the back of the restaurant.