Guiso Latin Fusion

We were seated outside beside the patio heaters which kept us warm and toasty as we enjoyed our dinner. The servers were incredibly warm, funny and friendly. They recommended some great options for us. We had the Pulled Pork Sliders for starters and the sauces and flavours were mind-blowing good!! The Church Smashed Burgers was perfectly cooked and the fries were some of the best we have ever had! The Halibut was very delicate and the perfect option for a healthy and yet deliciously exotic meal. Can’t wait to be back here!

It's cozy and small inside which is where we sat for dinner, it was raining outside. The music level was okay but the couple RIGHT next to us carried on a LOUD conversation which is not the fault of the restaurant but REALLY annoying... and then a large bride to be party came in and one of the girls barfed, again, not the fault of the restaurant, they cleaned everything and didn't miss a beat, but again YUCK...and then the 2 girls that took their sweet time at their table, oblivious to people wanting to come in and eat, again, not the fault of the restaurant, they tried to nudge them along.
Our waitress was Vanessa and she could not have been more accommodating, knowledgeable and fun. Throughout our visit with all the chaos around her she keep her smile and professionalism. The food was amazing! So tasty! Only the one fish dish was way over salted. Not a place to go if you necessarily want a quiet dinner, but if you want this gastronomic experience and you can keep your perspective and a sense of humor, a great choice.

Every aspect of this place was fantastic. Sat at the bar overlooking the kitchen. The food was prepared literally 3 feet from us. The cooks were skilled and it was very entertaining to watch. The chef is 32 years old and was a pleasure to talk to. He has done a great job with the place.

Food - 5/5 no question. Fresh, interesting, flavorful. You see it come off the stove, onto a plate and then placed in front of you. No heat lamps.

The vibe of the place is great. All the staff were wonderful. We chatted them up the whole evening. The space is small but it works so well in this place. Definitely has a family feel to it.

Price was actually cheaper than I would have thought based on the location in Healdsburg and the top notch food/experience.

I would love to come back next time I'm in the area. Highly recommended.

Wonderfully creative take on Latin cuisine.
Amazing flavors, textures and presentation.
The "soupy" paella is outstanding - a must try!
Staff are very friendly and helpful.

A solid 5 stars all around for an amazing family style dining experience. One year later and I stand by my review. I'm not typically a fan of small costly dishes, but I'll make an exception for this restaurant. Their food is wonderful and excellent. My recommendations are the shrimp in guiso, tacos, scallops and pinot grape juice.

Came here for lunch to celebrate our anniversary, and I can't wait to go back! This place is hands down one of the best places my husband and I have been to. The food, atmosphere, service, and just overall vibe is top notch! Food is like home, it's full of flavor and the menu is such that you can try a bunch of different things. The food is brought out as it is ready so we had a few different dishes at a time, and it's family style - which I love-. My favorite was the Cachapa, Papusa's and Papas de Camote...but honestly everything we had was amazing!! The service was probably some of the best. The service was attentive, nice, warm and welcoming. You have a view of the kitchen and chef Carlos is right there and is so friendly. Everyone who worked there was so nice. We celebrated our 18 year anniversary and there was a nice card on the table and they surprised us with sparkling wine, so thoughtful! I love that most of their menu is GF and specifies such. Make a reservation even for lunch, they get busy! Can't wait to go back!

Family owned, super tiny, recommended by a winery in town. Guiso surpassed our expectations on every level. The service was above and beyond, such a friendly and fun staff, they walked us through the whole menu. We shared several dishes including the fish tacos, sweet potato fries, smash burger, and pupusas. The food was phenomenal!!!!! We will definitely be coming back! Oh and we didn’t take any photos because it was so good and we ate it all too quickly.

Hands down one of the best restaurants I’ve eaten at, and that’s saying a lot. Small quaint family owned restaurant, with all homemade Latin food. We reserved a table ahead which I recommend. The days leading up, we kept hearing so many people say we should try this place out and I see why! We ordered tapas style and shared, Passionfruit Ensalada, Oysters, Pupusa, Cachapa, Papas de Camote, Chilaquiles, and Quesadillita Salvadorena for dessert. The flavors were vibrant and well balanced. The food was plated beautifully, every very dish just kept getting better and better. Our favorite was the Cachapa, A must try! The staff and chef (who is also the owner) were exceptionally welcoming and friendly. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see this restaurant earn a Michelin Star in the near future.

OMG! Get the pupusa! Or any of the family recipe dishes from the owners mama. The atmosphere is warm and friendly and the food is cooked within sight of most tables. Service was seriously nice and several people who contributed to our excellent experience were also members of the owners family. I think my favorite thing was the dessert menu-don’t miss out on dessert!

Just Wow! The most beautiful, authentic food prepared by loving hands and served with a kind smile...what more could you ask for? Everything was so perfect...texture, temperature, seasoning. Still tasting and dreaming about the sauce the shrimp was served in,as well as the perfect texture on the octopus. Dearly wish we had saved room for dessert! We can't wait to return..

Tonight we had dinner here for the first time. It was my wife’s birthday. The entire experience was great. There was a birthday card from the Chef to my wife. The servers were attentive and full of pride in their products and service. The Chef came by to chat. The food was prepared perfectly. All in all, an excellent experience. Thank you to the entire team. It meant a lot to my wife and to me. We will be back often

What a great journey of flavors, colors and cultures. Guiso’s menu will surprise you with thoughtfulness, clear concepts, great variety and unexpected fusions. Not your stereotypical Latin food for Americans! Great service by the way!

What a wonderful experience! So creative, tasty and perfectly made. Lively atmosphere and warm and attentive service. Definitely a keeper.

We enjoyed our experience, thanks for the warm welcome Chef. It's a small space, so reservation is a must. We got our reservation at 530pm. We ordered sliders, lamb chops n paella. The sliders were out of this world. Lamb chops were not medium rare as we hoped, but had good flavors. Paella was good but slightly tangy for my taste.

Wonderful!!! The food was absolutely delicious! My husband and I started with the Pupusas and they were perfect. We got one of each flavor and each one was so distinct but went well together. We then shared the sweetbread and paella. First off I could have taken home a whole bag full of that bread 🤣. The paella was beautiful and tasted amazing!!! We finished with the Aeros con leche with coconut milk and it was yum! Also we have to mention Fernando who took wonderful care of us and had great suggestions for food and wine. All the staff made us feel like family and we WILL be back in the future!!

Very small restaurant but magnificent food! Everything was very unique and great uses of spices. The papusas revueltas were amazing. Try this. You won't regret it.

The fusion of flavors and techniques excites all of the senses. Great service. The staff know what they are serving and are attentive and happy to provide great service. One of the best dining experience’s ever.

Guiso! (pronounced [EE-soh]) From the time that we walked through the door until the moment we left, we felt like part of Chef Carlos's extended family.

The Good: Lets start, for once, with the staff. Valeria, our server, was such a friendly and fun person that we felt more like we were having a meal with friends rather than at a restaurant. Don't get me wrong, she was professional and efficient, but made us feel completely at home. She explained the menu and the concept behind the restaurant and told us a few of her favorite menu items. We also met Chef Carlos later in the meal. We had been watching him move through the open kitchen all evening, and it was nice of him to take the time to come to the table and say hello.
Now on to the food. The first appetizer we had was the Brucelas con Chorizo. There were so many interesting flavors popping up through this dish between the house made chorizo and the crema and the jerk flavored butter, that every bite brought a new, welcome layer to dish. We shared it between 3 people, and while it started out with everyone being willing to share, it rapidly turned into a mini brawl to see who would get the last spoonful of brussel sprouts. Now when is the last time you could say that?! Next there was the Media Noche Sliders described as mojo marinated pork shoulder, smoked ham, homemade sweet pickles, mustard, and Swiss cheese. These were good, but not quite the wow factor of the brussel sprouts. We found that for our tastes, if we pulled one of the two pickles off each slider it dropped the acidity level to a more pleasant counter note. The pulled pork was a little on the salty side, but the homemade rolls were soft and delightful. Last appy was the Guiso Vegetariano. This is a don't miss menu item in my opinion. Valeria described it as vegetables in a tomato based stew, but I don't think that really describes it well enough. The vegetables in the guiso vary with seasonal availability, and ours contained potatoes, sugar snap peas, baby squash, and a few others that all tasted so fresh and well prepared that I thought they might have come out of someone's garden. But the real star of this dish is the guiso/stew base. This isn't just another tired ragout. There layered flavors in this stew that that go way past tomato sauce and add delicate cumin and chile spices that dance around the vegetables celebrating their freshness. DO give this a try. Evidently he uses the same guiso base for his shrimp appetizer, but since I don't do seafood (unfortunately) we did not get that one.
The stew base was so good that we ordered the house made rolls JUST TO SOAK UP ALL THE GUISO LIQUID IN THE BOWL! The entrees were also quite satisfying. I ate the After Church Burger which was small but very tasty accompanied by tarragon roasted potatoes with a really tasty yogurt chile sauce for dipping. I'd order it again just to get that sauce. My table mates ordered the Paella Caribena which was more soupy than the dryer rice-heavy versions I have seen elsewhere. I mentioned earlier that I don't eat seafood. I wish I could because most of it looks very appealing, but the smell usually causes my stomach to turn. The paella arrived with chicken, linguisa, prawns and clams looking more like a cioppino than a paella, but it smelled absolutely wonderful. Even my sensitive nose couldn't detect any seafood smells whatsoever. By my table mate's accounts, it tasted as incredible as it smelled.

The Bad: Nothing.

The Mediocre: There were no pupusas that night because the chef's mother, who makes them, had just arrived back from traveling from El Salvador. How dare she take personal time to recover from jet lag instead on making me a pupusa?! Such Nerve.

Overall: This is a very nice, comfortable, homey place to enjoy a meal that uses Salvadorian spices and influence to elevate their food. I can't tell you the last time I enjoyed a meal this much. So run, don't walk to see chef Carlos and his family at Guiso!!!

Amazing food. Sat at the bar which has a view of the chef cooking all the meals. Very chatty and makes it an amazing experience. The staff is very friendly and welcoming. They are very proud of the food and authenticity of their cuisine. EAT THE PUPUSAS!

Alright folks, believe the hype. We were recommended to eat here from friends in Texas and every single local said we had to stop. We were lucky to snag an early dinner reservation same day but definitely recommend planning ahead and adding this to your itinerary as it’s a small space. The service was fantastic, food incredible. What a treasure to have this restaurant in Healdsburg.