Pernil is Puerto Rican slow-roasted pork shoulder marinated with garlic, oregano, sour-orange and adobo, crisp on the outside and shredded under, with rice and beans.
Pernil is the canonical Puerto Rican Christmas and special-occasion roast, cooked overnight from a sour-orange and garlic marinade. Central Florida absorbed massive Puerto Rican migration after Hurricane Maria in 2017 and earlier waves through the 1990s, making Orlando the largest Puerto Rican community outside the island. The eastern Colonial Drive and Semoran Boulevard corridors plus the Kissimmee John Young Parkway stretch now hold the densest lechoneras in the region. La Lechonera El Jibarito in Kissimmee and Pio Pio in Lake Eola anchor the city's pernil map.
2 editor picks for Pernil in Orlando, ranked by editorial score. All Orlando signature dishes · Pernil across every city.
La Lechonera El Jibarito ★ 4.5
sanford · 1985 S John Young Pkwy, Kissimmee, FL 34741
La Lechonera El Jibarito on John Young Parkway in Kissimmee is the canonical Puerto Rican roast-pork counter, with lechon, pernil and rice plates daily.
Pio Pio Restaurant ★ 4.4
downtown · 501 E Washington St, Orlando, FL 32801
Pio Pio Restaurant on East Washington Street near Lake Eola is the Peruvian rotisserie chicken spot with pollo a la brasa, lomo saltado and tres leches cake.