Congregation Ale House
LONG BEACH
NORTH HOLLYWOOD
INFO
By Joshua Lurie
For dineLA.com
Forget about Eastside and Westside. That doesn’t begin to cover the geography of Los Angeles, let alone the depth and breadth of our city’s food scene. Since the county encompasses 469.1 square miles, it’s a given that some great eating neighborhoods go untrodden by most Angelenos, but not if we can help it.
Antojitos Chilangos
Highland Park has become a hotbed for regional Mexican cooking, including the snacks from Mexico’s Distrito Federal known as antojitos. Antojitos Chilangos, the Martinez family’s café, features images with Mexico City provenance, including cactus-crowned pyramids and an Aztec warrior. The menu spotlights items like the gordita, a crispy, deep-fried masa pocket filled with molten queso fresco, crispy chunks of chicharron and cooling crema. Pambazo is another gem, a fluffy bolillo roll rubbed with sweet California chile paste and griddled on a flat top. The massive sandwich hosts a mess of potatoes and chorizo, crisp iceberg lettuce, more queso fresco and crema. A container of tomato-based salsa packs more California chilies, and a green counterpart with a spicy-tangy crush of jalapeno and tomatillo.
- 5528 York Blvd., Highland Park, 323.255.1042
Eibis
For the past four years, near the train tracks, Maria Avila, husband Abraham and daughter Evelyn have offered "una ventana a Puebla" – a window to Puebla. A painting of a bubbling guisado (stew) and tabletop photos offer more views of Puebla, including a snow-capped mountain and multiple churches. The family sells plenty of cemitas – hearty sandwiches that are ubiquitous in their home state. Even more compelling is the bowl of Mole de Panza, a flame red stew loaded with tender squares of cow stomach, flavored with both spicy Serrano and smoky guajillo chilies, and served with fresh-pressed corn tortillas. Tamal en Torta dares to fill a firm roll with a brick of pillowy masa that’s streaked with rajas (roasted Poblano chilies). They pour aguas frescas like tepache (fermented pineapple), and Jugos Energeticos (energetic juices) include Fibra 1, a blend of orange, pineapple, apple, nopales (cactus paddles) and perejil (parsley).
- 231 N. Ave. 50, Highland Park, 323.999.0109
Good Girl Dinette
A Highland Park side street isn’t supposed to house such a hip restaurant, but that’s exactly what Diep Tran delivered with her industrial Vietnamese diner. The space features a floor-to-ceiling glass front, wood tables and a reddish orange counter. A blackboard menu broadcasts their philosophy - "local seasonal sustainable" – and spotlights Kendor Farms chicken, Niman Ranch pork and Yang Farm, which provided cauliflower for the biscuit-capped vegetarian curry pot pie, Asian squash for vegetarian pho broth, and cabbage sprouts as the seasonal green accompaniment. A top starter involves discs of molded white rice topped with fried squares of tofu, crispy outside, creamy inside, dressed with soy sauce and topped with scallions. Vietnamese Pork Confit consists of peppery ground pork served with steamed white (or brown) rice and seasonal greens sautéed with minced garlic. They’ve even got some of the best French fries in town, golden, showered with minced garlic, green chilies and cilantro. House-Made Pop mixes sparkling water with pulpy farmers market citrus, during our visit, cara cara orange, Clementine or mandarin.
- 110 N. Ave. 56, Highland Park, 323.257.8980, www.goodgirlfoods.com
Congregation Ale House
When Travis Ensling and his wife debuted Congregation in September, they signaled the first wave in a Long Beach beer renaissance. Their Gothic space houses wrought-iron chandeliers, plenty of stained glass and communal wood tables. In keeping with the theme, waitresses wear Catholic schoolgirl outfits and a water cooler dispenses “holy water.” Despite the kitsch, Congregation offers one of the best beer selections in LBC, with 32 rotating taps pouring prized beers like Russian River Damnation, Belgian style golden ale. Their signature burger utilizes ground ribeye, white cheddar, roasted Roma tomatoes and rosemary garlic mayo on soft ciabatta. Several sausages (think pork and goat cheese, duck and bacon) are available in buns, or better yet, sliced and served on a wood platter with multiple mustards and triangles of glistening flatbread. Speaking of flatbreads, a particular crisp-edged oval comes with molten mozzarella, thin-sliced potato, Dijon mustard, blistered prosciutto, shaved Parmesan, arugula and radicchio.
- 201 E. Broadway Ave., Long Beach, 562.432.2337, www.congregationalehouse.com
Joe Jost's
Ken Buck carries on a Long Beach tradition started by grandfather Joe Jost in 1924. Nearly 90 years later, the tavern continues to satisfy neighborhood cravings in a relaxed setting. In back, customers shoot pool surrounded by wall-mounted animal heads – including deer and wild boar – as a vintage machine roasts peanuts at least once a day. Order in front at the bar from a seriously streamlined menu where nothing exceeds $3. The most popular option remains Joe’s Special, a steamed all-beef hot dog that’s split open and stuffed with a pickle spear, topped with a thick slice of Swiss cheese and served on rye bread. A bar jar houses pickled eggs, which are flavored/stained yellow with pepperoncini juices, dusted with pepper and served in paper on a nest of pretzel sticks. Draught beer (and root beer) is served at a frigid 29 degrees.
- 2803 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, 562.439.5446, www.joejosts.com
Kim Sun Kitchen
Mak Mean and wife Phik Kim Oun opened their Cambodian-Chinese restaurant 14 years ago, replacing an existing Chinese restaurant. Kim Sun means Gold Mountain in Chinese, but the restaurant consists of a small white cottage with only eight red tables, a photo menu and an ordering window. The couple’s from Siem Reap, home of the famed Angkor Wat temple complex, and their children help them run the show. Bypass standard issue Chinese options for Cambodian specialties like He Phnom Penh Noodle, a soup named for the capital city that contains chicken balls, sliced pork, ground pork, chicken liver, heart and more. Garnish with sprouts and a squeeze of citrus. Fried Tilapia is crisp skinned, savory and comes with a tangy tamarind dipping sauce. They also grill pork, which is seasoned with lemongrass, cut into lean strips and served on fried rice with pickled vegetables, including cabbage and carrots.
- 5449 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, 562.428.0337
Kayf’s Kabob House
Eduard Khachatryan, a native of the Armenian capital of Yerevan, offers specialties from his homeland and Russia. The only embellishment in the six-table establishment is a piano in the corner, topped by musician figurines. The food is similarly straightforward, including a number of kabobs, which are more or less mix-and-match. Beef, chicken, lamb and pork predominate, though they also offer salmon and tabaka, butterflied chicken cooked under a brick. Lamb chops arrive rimmed with a thin layer of caramelized fat and juicy pork chops sport a savory red marinade. All kabobs come with a heap of steamed white rice, tabbouleh and a tangy salad of eggplant, peppers and tomatoes. Kayf's also offers a quartet of hearty soups, including spas (yogurt), vosp (lentil) and borsh, a peppery, purple-hued beet soup that’s garnished with parsley and served with a side of cooling sour cream. Still hungry? Finish with a finger of baklava, pulled from a pedestal near the register.
- 11009 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, 818.761.7000
La Maria
Palm trees signal your arrival at La Maria, a pan-Latin restaurant with a Colombian focus on an otherwise staid stretch of Victory Boulevard. Inside, curved tile wraps around the upper edge of the dining room, imitating the look of a village. The look extends to a mural, which depicts families posing for a box camera in front of a church, and a donkey carting a sack of coffee beans. Medellin native Antonio Prado’s "cuisine of the Americas" includes Caesar salad and pesto salmon with mashed potatoes. Opt for House Specialties like Sobrebarriga, thick slabs of beef brisket slathered in salsa criollo, a savory onion-rich sauce spiked with cumin, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Better still, Patacon La Maria matches crispy fried cornmeal pancakes with minced tomatoes, scallions and a choice of meat (we recommend dark meat chicken). The lightest snack either consists of fried empanadas or arepas, white cornmeal pancakes served with a crisp-skinned chorizo. To drink, they offer jugos (juices) like mango and maracuya (passion fruit), plus the Colombian Pilsner called Aguila.
- 10516 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood, 818.755.8811, www.lamariarestaurant.com
Nica’s Kitchen
The vast neighborhood of North Hollywood draws on many Latin traditions, but Nicaraguan food remains rare outside this strip mall restaurant. Owner Reymundo Rodriguez hails from Tipitapa, and chef Evert Davila comes from Managua, the capital. The three-year-old restaurant sports canary yellow walls, a row of yellow booths, plenty of toucan imagery, and base-heavy music that bumps from a jukebox. If you’re lucky, they’ll have the massive banana leaf-wrapped nacatamal. If not, Baho is a top choice, a plate of red plantains and yucca, steamed to maximum tenderness, served with a chewy length of short rib and showered with a tangy vinegar-based slaw called curtido. Cerdo Asado involves achiote and orange juice-marinated pork tenderloin, rice and beans, wispy plantain chips, and a salty slab of fried queso fresco. Nicaraguan cuisine isn’t inherently spicy, though they do offer a jar of chile-soaked minced onions.
- 11640 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood, 818.762.0562
Antojitos Chilangos
5528 York Blvd., Highland Park, 323.255.1042
Congregation Ale House
201 E. Broadway Ave., Long Beach, 562.432.2337
www.congregationalehouse.com
Eibis
231 N. Ave. 50, Highland Park, 323.999.0109
Good Girl Dinette
110 N. Ave. 56, Highland Park, 323.257.8980
www.goodgirlfoods.com
Joe Jost's
2803 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, 562.439.5446
www.joejosts.com
Kayf's Kabob House
11009 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood
818.761.7000
Kim Sun Kitchen
5449 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, 562.428.0337
La Maria
10516 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood, 818.755.8811
www.lamariarestaurant.com
Nica’s Kitchen
11640 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood, 818.762.0562
