455 is still alive…

Folliero’s Pizza ~ 566 N. Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90042 ~ (323) 254-0505

Suck it Brooklyn! While you fiendishly pine for our Southland tacos, we’re over here avoiding the motherfucking Noid from Bravo in Santa Monica to Coop in Cheviot Hills to Mozza in Hollywood (btw, did you know there’s a fancy Mex restaurant in NYC called Florencia13?). Stepping into famous Foliero’s Pizza in Highland Park is like hoo-riding with Doc Brown back to the early 1960’s. Opened 40 years ago, this charming pizza parlour is old school to the bone, a red brick building with a carved wooden doorway, bare brick walls inside, and smiling, laughing families carving up the pies that a cracker jack team of Mexican Mario and Luigis get to tossing. Service is particularly warm and there’s a community vibe here. And beer. They have beer.

The thin crust pizza here is very good, often even great, depending on fate and timing. Rustic and made from scratch, its ilk can be found at authentic diners from Naples to Corsica. You will not get cheesy bread in the crust or 14 pizzas for the price of one, just whole pies that taste rightly of fine olive oil, ripe wheat, basil, mozzarella, along with your fresh ingredients. Some specialty pies bust items like chorizo on them, which I hear is a good call.

Yes, this pizza is on its way towards thin and the baked crust is light and crisp. The cheese is stretchier then one of Plasticman’s loads. Meat toppings are greasy and thus quite tasty, while the veggies can range from overcooked to just right. The sauce does not have much bite, it is just a mellow, ripe base for the party that is to be held in your mouth.

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Taste of Brazil ~ 4838 S. Huntington Dr. El Sereno, CA 90032 ~ (323) 342-9422

New York has Sounds of Brazil, El Sereno has Taste of Brazil. While only our children’s children will live to see which city reigns supreme in the hearts and minds of the country, you should presently take advantage of this inexpensive spot to sup in a cool and casual, yet sophisticated dining room, munching $9 steaks and fresh squeezed fruit juice while sampling a few of the international varieties of cuisine found in Brasilia. I sat down to discuss ‘man bidness’ with TACO counsel Laneus Lopez Esq., surrounded by a color scheme that would surely please most Hobbits. Mosaic-scarred plant holders and dinner tables bust the Brazilian flag, with yellow umbrellas and napkins coordinating with green chairs and twisted trestles of verde vines. Outside sits a tree shaded eating area across from a giant wall-length mural of Rio’s Christ the Redeemer.

As our trusted legal aid is used to the finer things in life–your grey poupon, your Corbel champagne–he went for a glass of vino tinto, while I non-literally dove into some fruit juice. I got a taster of the cashew juice first just out of curiosity. If man could bottle and drink flatulence, I’m afraid cashew juice would be it. Much better to get a violet-hued Acai juice, which tastes like a light boysenberry smoothie. Yum! T.O.B.’s menu is interesting for its inclusion of northern, more tropical Bahian flavors and even includes some dishes influenced by Brazil’s immigrant population like Beef Strogonoff, which our server told us Brazilians eat a lot of. Which reminds me of the punchline to a little joke: What do you call a cow jerking off? Beef strokin-off!

We whet our appetites with calabreza ($8), our plate piled with severed sausage bits, ringed loosely by seared onions and that salsa that I forget the name of. The chopped sausage, which resemble frankfurters sliced by your mama, are infused with a pipeline of herbs and arrive piping hot. Once your teeth pierce the thin casing on the sausage, a delectable sap of natural pork juice and nearly scalding oil jumps out. When it mingles with onion and the salsa, which is like a tangier version of pico de gallo, the taste becomes more complex and still more comforting, the slick, smooth white onions provide an excellent sharp foil for the simple sausage. These wonderful little swine nuggets come with delicious fried yucca, which though good, do not live up to Restaurante Flor Blanca #3’s lighter, more divine edition.

I love pao de queijo (cheese infused bread rolls), but T.O.B. needs 30 minutes to make it, so I skipped it. I also skipped the feijoada, like a complete moron. Perhaps my legal aid was in the bathroom and unable to advise me. This signature Brazilian dish is one of the world’s heartiest stew, full of yummy creatures (typically pork) and other delicious odds and ends. I figured I’d had my share in life at Brazilian parties and skipped it, only to learn later that T.O.B. has a definitive version in Los Angeles. Oh well, I will be back and add to this story once I’ve tried it. Oh yes, I will be back.

While Mr. Lopez laid out my defense strategy (shut up, deny everything, and when pressed, mention that she said she was 18), our steaks arrived. I was disheartened last year to return from a 20-day red meat binge in Argentina to find that steaks actually cost a pretty penny in the States. Taste of Brazil’s got a small selection of steaks for under $10, but being international ballers, we plunked down $14.20 for the picanha na tabua, beef top sirloin that comes in five huge hunks of meat sizzling on a cast iron plate. These steaks were phenomenal and succulent, with crisp salty edges yielding to melt-in-your-mouth, medium-soft bites flooded with juice. A side of plantains resembles a jalapeno popper/hush puppy hybrid, short but sweet, half-blackened on the outside, a deep shade of gorgeous gold in the sweet inside.

We wanted to get a taste of Bahian in our mouths, so we ordered T.O.B.’s renowned Peixe de Baiana, a white fish (I think maybe catfish actually) cooked with a coconut and palm oil sauce, then smothered in a rainbow of chopped bell peppers and stray bits of white rice. The fish was light and soft, cooked delicately, with notes of Thai coconut curry in vastly more subtle shades. This savory dish was buttery, fresh, bursting with contrasting yet complimenting flavor, and really pretty simple, more bossa nova than samba, but like most things Brazilian still bursting with personality and sabor.

So when you’re hankering for Brazilian eats or just want a cheap and near perfect steak, you can’t go wrong with this charming, cozy nook of a restaurant. T.O.B. also rocks incredible sandwiches, including one with the aforementioned calabresa, and the fish Paulistinha which comes recommended, as does the balacubaco. Desserts like coconut flan and chocolate mousse are tasty too. Just when you think you’re ready to go home, dip into adjacent BrazUSA, a market packing products and pastries from Brazil. It has everything to suit your Brazilian needs, with the exception of giant butts. But they do have mate!

El Atacor #11 ~ 2622 N. Figueroa St. Cypress Park, CA 90065 ~ (323) 441-8477

I pass El Atacor on a weekly basis, but it wasn’t until the place came recommended by Wallywood wall-scribe Wally Wallnuts that I ventured inside what will most likely become a staple of my post-noon repasts. El Atacor is a man’s taco joint, all exposed brick and hard white walls, buck’s head on the wall, pretty lady up front, pinball machine with a hot space chick painted on its side, and a lot of heavy eating fellas moseying their way in and out. They even have a ‘porno burrito,’ according to Los Angeles food guru J. Gold, whose review is hanging on zee wall. I skipped the porno burrito, figuring I get enough of that at home (it’s basically just a tremendoid burro of the basics called a Super Burrito which is bigger than most third legs, hence the moniker). Instead I dove into a quad-wrangle of tacos and a ceviche tostada for emphasis.

Coming back to my corner table, bookended by colorful murals, my arms full of paper plates, I was blown over by the tostada and realized El Atacor’s incredible value from the freshness weighing down that particular disc. For only $2, I got two crunchy tortillas sandwiching a solid hill of clean whitefish mixed with crisp diced onion, cilantro, ripe cucumber, and chopped tomato, and topped with a generous scoop of perfectly light green avocado that Subway would probably charge $1 for alone. The flavors are pure, natural, and revitalizing, the fish soaking up the sharper tastes of the lemon and accompanying herbs, while injecting me with a dose of protein and omega 3-s that would last the month. A true steal.

I hooked up pastor, asada, and carnitas on my taco plate. These $1 tacos were small, gone in about two and a half bites, and while not very impressive in appearance, extremely delicious where it counts. The tacos are noticeably oily, but not excessively so. All three shared a similar flavor from the use of the same roasted salsa, with variations on the theme coming from the various meat’s ample juices. The pastor was off the chain; My first bite exploded with the flavor of pineapple, which is often used on top of the pork’s roasting spit, but seldom, and if so, subtly, discerned. The pastor had an excellent consistency, chewy, while not too tough, and softened by the oil and curry-like gravy that had tons of roasted pepper and barbecue flavor. The asada was packed with the flavors of black pepper, the grilled steak crunching a little at the start of every wet bite. Carnitas at Atacor taste very juicy as well, also sporting traces of that nice barbecue flavor. The awesome meat was shredded and tasted naturally sweet and in its prime, even a bit like birria, but more wholesome, without any hints of game.

What’s really the bee’s knees at El Atacor though, are the papas tacos. I’ve always been wary of dry and starchy potatoes crashing my tacos or breakfast burritos, but the spud tacos being served here are truly a miracle snack unto themselves. Tortillas are packed full of whipped tater innards, then deep fried for a quick soak, and served up fast and hot under a snowbank of white cheddar curls and green sauce. The lightly fried hard shell seals around the pillow of potato. When bitten, it splits open and out spills buttery mashed potatoes, light as a cloud, heavenly and scrumptious, as satisfying and addictive as the day homo sapiens discovered tater tots or french fries. The airy down of the pomme oozes like a cream in consistency, mixing with the dollop of actual sour cream on top and the crumble of maize-battered tortilla rim, becoming the ultimate hash brown. They are nothing short of a new evolutionary branch in potato snack foods. If other places follow suit, maybe we’ll see them being sold on Venice Beach and at Dodger games…mmmn.

El Atacor is cheap and delicious. Get thee there for a bite and a beer. It’s open late. We’ll be back soon for ceviche and of course those poppin’ fresh tacos!

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I took a trip down South a few months ago and volunteered to do a cursory report of the taco scene in Mexico, might as well have a reason to take pics of random taco stands! I should mention that as a longtime vegetarian I was completely unqualified for this task, and though I’m a fan of the taco lifestyle, you’ll not be getting any reviews of the tacos themselves, just some snapshots of the taco stand culture. If that’s okay with you, click ahead to start the tour!

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Tacos Baja Ensenada ~ 5385 Whittier Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90022 ~ (323) 887-1980

If you looooove tacos, you’ve surely hit this small spot on Whittier Blvd. or have been planning to. Tacos Baja Ensenada has a well-deserved rep on our city’s streets for the sublime fish and shrimp tacos that they sling. True to the word, these friendly guys know seafood and surely have a way with tacos. Baja Ensenada started when owner Martin showed his skills making free fish tacos for the neighborhood. It wasn’t long before entire blocks clamored for him to open up his own shop. That same love is evident in everything this place serves, from our beloved tacos to the soups, cocktails, and plentiful other available options.

A small buffet of fresh abalone, octopus, wee clams and other bivalves sits daily awaiting the cocktail treatment, next to a smattering of goodies like limon, radish and salt-dusted deep-fried peppers. The tacos are large and covered in the works, a hot mess of sour cream and hot sauce, plus lettuce, onion, cilantro and cabbage. Four tacos each easily filled even the biggest bellies at our table.

Showing up conveniently on Wednesdays (or Wed-senadas as we like to call them) finds you getting a deep discount: fish tacos for 99 cents, shrimp tacos for $1.50, when usually they come at $2.50 each. The mostly neighborhood crowd is still very sparse at dinner despite the slashed prices, ensuring seats for you and your motley crue (there are no umlauts on this keyboard). Lunch is another story, however, with crowds willingly waiting a while to get theirs’.

The fish comes fried in significant long strips, with a thickish, but light shell of batter that barely seems to touch the meat. It really just floats there, waiting to melt in your mouth, followed by the pescado, which does the same. The fish tacos are so light and fluffy, they are barely even noticeable in taste, just subtle hints of freshness reaching out through that soft crunch. The addition of crema infiltrates the fish, providing extra substance and gooey flavor. Baja Ensenada gets HUGE points for their homemade, fat, yet soft tortillas, which put the tacos into the A+ category.

Even better are the shrimp tacos, which are gathered individually in a gang of fried critters that pop with every chew. The shrimp seem to take on extra flavor than most shrimp tacos, exploding with intricate tastes as each meets its fate under a blanket of sauce, shell, and secrets. I’m not sure what the geniuses at Baja Ensenada do to them, but it works. The batter again is super-light and airy, making everything go down as if the tacos are made of the same substance as the clouds. They are mouth-wateringly delicious, and the freshness of everything is discernible with each bite. $5 makes for a fantastic, unforgettable feast.

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Money Saver’s Meats, Inc. ~ 3233 W. Florence Avenue ~ Los Angeles, CA 90043

Welcome and thanks for visiting the “home of the best chicken sausage” in Los Angeles. For more than 17 years, Money Saver’s Meats, Inc. has been supplying families, restaurants, hotels, caterers and institutions with premiere chicken and turkey sausage products.

Murals by Joseph Giri