La Pulpería

Montevideo, Uruguay

La Pulpería has been operating in the Punta Carretas neighborhood since 1994. It opens only for dinner, Tuesday through Saturday, and takes no reservations. The line forms on the sidewalk. Inside, the parrilla takes up most of the kitchen, and the menu is short: chorizo, sweetbreads, ribs, a few beef cuts, and morcilla. The portions run large and the prices stay modest. Regulars treat it as a working parrilla, not a dining destination, and the no-frills approach is the point. The chorizo here has a thicker casing than average, and the grill time shows in the dark char marks on the skin.

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Sausages served here

Chorizo Uruguayo

Montevideo & Uruguay

Uruguay has more cattle per person than any other country on earth, and this fact shapes everything about its food. But at an asado, the chorizo goes on the grill before the beef. These short, thick fresh pork sausages, seasoned with garlic, oregano, nutmeg, and black pepper, cook fast over hardwood embers while guests drink wine and wait for the main cuts. The asador checks them often. A skin that puffs and chars at the edges signals they are ready. The choripán, chorizo split and tucked into crusty bread with chimichurri or salsa criolla, is the street food that defines Montevideo. You find it at parrillas, at football stadiums, at Sunday markets, and at the smoke-filled stalls of the Mercado del Puerto.

freshporkgrilled