Charrúa is devoted to serving the staples of Uruguayan homemade food. Our goal is to introduce the “Uruguay Natural” of our childhood to our adoptive New York City community. We strive to recreate the local, natural, and farm-to-table concepts that we grew up with by using produce from local farmers, and products and services from local and family-owned businesses.

Charrúa is named after the original inhabitants of our native Uruguay. Today, Uruguayans refer to themselves as Charrúas, especially in sport-related activities, and the expression “la garra charrúa” symbolizes the tenacity and resiliency of the Uruguayan people.
Uruguay, which means River of Birds in Guaraní, the language of the Charrúas, is a small country in South America bordered by Argentina to the south and west, Brazil to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The country has a little over 3.5 million inhabitants and vast stretches of countryside populated by grass-fed cows and sheep. The broad availability of meat translates to its domination of the Uruguayan diet in the form of churrasco, chivitos, beef empanadas, and asados. Our food is also influenced by the Mediterranean cooking styles of Spanish and Italian immigrants that have populated the country since colonial times. Thus, pasta, milanesa, meatballs, and chorizo are also part of everyday family meals.

Charrúa is possible thanks to the dedication of its team, led by Gonzalo and Rocío, a couple with Uruguayan roots and New York branches: they are both from Uruguay and their kids were born and are being raised in NYC´s Lower East Side.