Long wait at Paraíso Tropical on Saturday

As planned we went to lunch on Saturday at Paraíso Tropical in Cabula. We got there at about 3 PM, and knew things were going to be tough as soon as we saw the number of cars parked outside.

Turns out there was a large party of twenty or thirty people celebrating a birthday, occupying the entire area upstairs. When we arrived, we were seated immediately at the entrance patio, along with a few Others who were not part of the birtyday party.

Beto Pimentel, the owner, was in the kitchen with a stressed expression on his face. It turns out, he told us later, that his wife had given the weekend off to the head cook on account of Mother's Day. "My family has set me back 10 years!" he complained.

Although we took care to order as soon as we sat down, the wait for the food was still long and difficult. The food arrived a little over an hour after we ordered, which is a long time even by the relaxed standards of restaurants in Bahia. In the end we finished our meal before 5 PM. We were in the restaurant for less than two hours, but it seemed an eternity.

The food, when it finally arrived, was excellent as usual. We ate fruit from the large basket they bring for dessert, and took the leftover fruit home in the plastic bags they provided.

Attempting to make up for the long wait, Beto asked me to come back any day Monday to Thursday, and he would give me a personal tour of the fruit orchard in the back of the restaurant, from where all the dessert fruit is picked.

Although my wife complained during the long wait that she would never return to this restaurant again, I personally cannot resist their food, and would Paraíso Tropical a break for the unusual conditions they faced that day.

Paraíso Tropical
R. Edgar Loureiro, 98-B, Cabula
Salvador, BA
Telephone: 3384-7464