Francine Sustaita Avocados and onions go well with Ropa Vieja.

Ruben's Cuban Restaurant 7278 Glenview Dr, Richland Hills 817-595-9595. 11am-3pm, 5-9pm Tue-Fri; 11am-10pm Sat; 11am-9pm Sun; Credit Cards: MC,V Cuban Sampler (fried yucca, fried plantains, ham croquettes): $7.95 Pollo Saltado (Ruben's chicken recipe): $9.95 Lechón Asado (roast pork): $9.95 Ropa Vieja (shredded beef): $6.95 (lunch) Sandwich Cubano (hot pressed ham and pork): $6.95/$4.95

Ruben's Cuban is a perfect restaurant for meat-loving Texans. Remove the smoke process from barbecue and you have Cuban cuisine. Heavy on starches and beans and with emphasis on slow-cooked meats.

Cuban food is reminiscent of Mexican interior cuisine. It also resembles Salvadoran fare available in the U.S. because of South America's shared history of conquest by the Spaniards. Columbus, Pizarro, and Cortéz brought beans, rice, and food-prep styles along with war and western diseases that all but wiped out the indigenous peoples of Cuba. Foods like black beans, rice, yucca, and roast pork were reminiscent of Salvadoran cuisine. Liberal squirts of fresh lemon sets Cuban food apart from other South American fare and brightens the flavor. Ruben's has dishes specific to Cuba like a Cuban pressed sandwich and a stew called "old clothes."

If Cuba Libre in Dallas reflects the partying atmosphere of Miami's Little Havana, Ruben's is the comfort food of a Cuban family.

There are 11 entrée items spread among the carnivore food groups of chicken, beef, pork, and shrimp. Two salads are offered, but only one has the word "lettuce" in the description. The second salad, Ensalada de Aguacate ("heaping platter of sliced avocado topped with zesty rings of onion") sounds fabulous but won't win the regard of dieters. We passed on salad and soup.

The Cuban sampler appetizer featured two food items that are indigenous to the island: yucca and plantain. Ruben's serves yucca prepared in two ways -- deep fried as an appetizer or boiled and doused with garlic and lemon as a side dish (Yuca al Mojo de Ajo). If potatoes were textured, light, and airy, they would resemble yucca. The flavor is mildly pungent, and the texture of fresh yucca is like a baking potato, slightly gritty and easily mashed.

Deep-fried, it was light and crunchy like a perfect French fry. As a side dish, it was boiled and topped with olive oil, lemon, and garlic slices for an eye-popping tart/garlicky/oily slick flavor that was startlingly heady with garlic.

Plantains are also served two ways. Ripe fruit is fried until lightly caramelized and served as an appetizer with yucca. Green fruit is sliced, fried, and served as a side dish. The two items are as different as Seattle and Havana. The first is sweet and squishy, but under-ripe fruit that is sliced into rounds, pressed flat, and fried has the consistency of an undercooked slice of potato and the bland flavor of yucca. Only its shape and markings hinted that it was from the banana family.

The final item on the sampler was ham croquettes. Although one diner remarked that it tasted like Spam, the croquettes reminded me of the sort my mother used to make from leftovers. Sunday's ham became Tuesday's croquettes. The two-inch nuggets balanced the sweetness of plantain and the base starchiness of yucca.

Two traditional Cuban dishes, Ropa Vieja and Lechón Asado, were worthy of worship. Ropa Vieja (the Spanish phrase means "old clothes") is a shredded-beef stew made from boiled flank steak. According to owner Ruben Rodriguez, the meat is cooked with vegetables and spices until it falls apart in long, ropy strands. It is robust, with slick gravy that coats the long strands of meat without stomping it to death. What could become a mush of squishy meat and greasy gravy is a potent combination of cheap beef and a condensed tomato base that is greater than the sum of its parts: onion, bell pepper, and tomato with a delightful kick of Tabasco or jalapeno pepper.

Lechón Asado is another staple of Cuban cuisine. A pork roast is rubbed with salt, garlic, and lemon and then baked. Ruben's version arrived on a bed of soft, wilted, white onions and was agonizingly delicious. It was tender and seasoned with garlic and the natural juices of thoroughly marbled meat.

Ruben's chicken is sautéed with cilantro, bell peppers, tomato, and onion and uses the fattest, tenderest chunks of white meat.

The entrées come with a bowl of seasoned black beans and fluffy white rice.

The only item that fell short of expectations was the Cuban pressed sandwich. A 10-inch baguette-style roll was stuffed with roast pork, sliced ham, Swiss cheese, and pickle, then pressed on a hot griddle. It tasted like an ordinary American sandwich. The pickles were standard issue dill, and the sandwich was overwhelmed by yellow mustard. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't special or interesting.

Rodriguez has applied for a liquor license. Until he gets it, he allows patrons to bring their own. Rather than carry wine, we decided to try Cuban sodas. One in particular, Ironbeer, tastes like a cream soda. Materva, a soda made from the leaves of the yerba maté plant is light and fizzy, like ginger ale with caffeine. For a real Cuban experience, try Malta, a thick, dark, cereal beverage made from barley malt. It reminded me of molasses.

The restaurant is in a converted ranch-style house. It has four rooms but doesn't feel choppy because the doorways have been enlarged so that the rooms form a large square. The space has a lightness and flow that a house would lack. The hardwood floors have been refinished and the rooms painted in pale yellow and pale lime green with marshmallow white woodwork for a look that is spare yet light and airy. When Ruben's catches on, some carpeting or sound buffers may be necessary. The restaurant will be noisy when full.