East Idaho Eats: Park Avenue Grill serves up fresh and diverse menu

IDAHO FALLS —— Serving fresh ingredients and handmade food gives Park Avenue Grill owner Roberto Larrea a smile.

The restaurant first opened its doors in 2014 along the street with its namesake before moving to its current location on Fremont Avenue before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite pandemic challenges faced at restaurants across the area, Larrea continues to serve up his menu fused with Mexican, American and Italian dishes.

“We don’t use anything frozen, everything is made fresh every day,” Larrea said. “It’s important because for me when I go out and eat I don’t want nothing to be frozen or canned. I don’t like that kind of food, I grew up with homemade food.”

One of Park Avenue Grill’s signature burgers is the Borderline. A juicy 1/4 pound beef patty with chorizo topped with queso fresco, guacamole and fried jalapenos. Traditional burger toppings are also included along with fresh-cut french fries and a house fry sauce.

While Larrea is proud of all of his food, he takes great pride in his burritos. Park Avenue Grill offers its unique burrito topped with a handmade poblano peppers cream sauce. The inside can be filled with a choice of traditional Mexican-style meats.

“I always tell people if there would be a contest for a burrito I’m pretty sure I would win,” Larrea said.

Park Avenue Grill also offers a variety of street tacos served on corn tortillas. To give everyone an option, Larrea also created a vegetarian taco that can be served vegan and gluten-free.

The meals can be coupled with a series of appetizers, including chips served with the restaurant’s non-traditional house salsa. The salsa takes a combination of fresh ingredients like onions, tomatoes and avocado. Larrea said when people order salsa, the avocados are cut fresh and blended with the ingredients to ensure the best quality for the customers.

Park Avenue Grill also serves up its food out of a trailer and two taco wagons for catering and events. The brick-and-mortar restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, you can visit Park Avenue Grill’s Facebook page.