FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN
Pana's Kitchen
A rare Panamanian kitchen on Church Avenue — sancocho, hojaldras, empanadas and a menu that changes daily.
Brooklyn's Panamanian community is one of the oldest in the city, and much of it lives along the Caribbean corridor of Flatbush and East Flatbush — yet a sit-down Panamanian kitchen is still hard to find. Pana's Kitchen, on Church Avenue, is one of the few: a small, plain room cooking a menu that changes with the day.
Go for what is on the board. Sancocho, the chicken soup with yuca, ñame and culantro, is Panama in a bowl; cow foot soup, crisp empanadas, bistec and fried hojaldras — puffy fried dough, best eaten hot — round out a typical spread, along with the frituras reviewers rate highly. It is home cooking, unhurried, and the person at the counter will happily explain anything unfamiliar.
Editor’s tip
Ask what soup is on — sancocho or cow foot — and add a hojaldra straight from the fryer.
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Editorial draft — core details last reviewed October 13, 2026. Confirm practical details with the official site before you go.