Eat Ceviche Under Palm Trees at La Casa de Pedro

20 years after opening in Watertown Square and 10 years after moving to its current Watertown location on Arsenal Street, La Casa de Pedro is expanding to Boston’s Seaport District. The new location opens on Monday, November 14, serving up a wide range of Venezuelan cuisine — and dishes from elsewhere in Latin America — from chef/owner Pedro Alarcón, who grew up in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. “This is the most exciting and growing area in the whole country, so I cannot miss it,” Alarcón says of the Seaport District.

Fans of the colorful, energetic Watertown location will recognize much of the menu here, but there’s even more at the new location, including 13 different versions of ceviche; there’s just one on the Watertown menu. Also different at the new location: a late-night menu (Friday and Saturdays from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., with dishes such as chicharrón con carne and el cubano) and an adjacent grab-and-go space, Rapido Café, that offers pastries, entrees, tacos, sandwiches, and more.

Rapido Café will not open right away, but once it does, it will be open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; stay tuned for its debut. Likewise, late-night hours will not start up right away, and neither will weekday lunch or weekend brunch. One thing to look forward to at brunch: an empanada and arepa bar where corn dough is filled and fried to order.

Like the Watertown location, La Casa de Pedro in the Seaport will feature live music; there will be a rotating schedule of merengue, salsa, and bachata bands on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, as well as during the eventual weekend brunch. Both locations also feature a festive cocktail list that is jam-packed with margaritas, mojitos, sangria, and lots more, courtesy of general manager Luis Maggioli, who is Alarcón’s nephew.

In fact, family features heavily into La Casa de Pedro. Take La Familia room, for example — a section of the dining room decorated with photographs of Alarcón’s family and family members’ names on wooden plaques. Plus, a wrought-iron gate at the restaurant’s entrance was welded by Alarcón’s cousin, a Colombian architect.

The new location continues La Casa de Pedro’s tradition of bright, fun decor. There are palm trees, a couple of barbershop chairs at the bar (a nod to Alarcón’s childhood memories of going to the barber with his father), a giant red Jeep Willy parked right in the middle of the restaurant, and many other details to notice while sipping a caipirinha and eating ceviche, tapas, and more.

For now, La Casa de Pedro is open for dinner service daily; stay tuned for the addition of lunch, brunch, late-night, and Rapido Café. “You better come here before it gets almost impossible to get in,” say Alarcón.

• La Casa de Pedro (Boston) Coverage [EBOS]

All photography by Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater