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East Los AngelesAntojitos Guerrero. Bathed in the deafening roar of a jukebox and the Atlántico game playing simultaneously at top volume, Antojitos Guerrero is a small family restaurant specializing in the dishes of central Mexico’s Guerrero state, which is to say barbacoa, beef steamed with chiles in maguey leaves until it is tender as an Usher ballad, heaps of it with thick, homemade tortillas and extra chile if you happen to be into excess. 5623 York Blvd., Highland Park, (323) 254-6118. Open daily 8 a.m.–7 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Street parking. Mexican. JG ¢El Borrego de Oro. In the neighborhood of Boyle Heights, which is thronged with businesses selling carnitas, fried seafood, grilled beef, El Borrego de Oro — the Golden Sheep — stands out as a specialist in mutton, specifically mutton pit-roasted with maguey leaves in the style of the central Mexican state of Hidalgo, a savory mess known by the rather generic term barbacoa: slivers and shards and nubs hacked from a steaming carcass, some of it attached to the bone and some of it not, some crunchy, some soft, some greasy, luscious and dark. This is pungent, powerful stuff, sweetly reeking of the gamy underbrush, like lamb that bites you back. 2403 E. Whittier Blvd., Boyle Heights, (323) 780-4213. Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.–5:30 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 6 a.m.–8 p.m. No alchohol. Takeout and catering. Lot parking. AE, V. Mexican. JG ¢El Chamizal. The basic unit of currency at El Chamizal is the parrillada, a squat iron brazier shimmering from the heat of the charcoal within, brought to your table piled high with thin grilled steaks, pork chops marinated in chile, hunks of chorizo sausage, fried bananas, whole jalapeños burnt black, and little ramekins of melted cheese and scallions bronzed and wilted to a superb sweetness. The meat is terrific, well-marinated, very nice folded into a little taco with the house’s fine smoked tomato sauce and a spoonful of the smoky bacon-stewed beans. 7111 Pacific Blvd., Huntington Park, (323) 583-3251. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days, 8 a.m.–2 a.m. Full bar. Takeout. Street parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Mexican. JG $

Burbank/Glendale/Eagle Rock/Pasadena

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Edendale Grill

2838 Rowena Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90039

Category: Restaurant > American

Region: Northeast L.A.

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Gingergrass

2396 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90039

Category: Restaurant > Vietnamese

Region: Northeast L.A.

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• Asia (Band)
• Santa Monica
• Ed LaDou
• Main Dish Recipes
• Eating Out

Café Atlantic. This Cuban café from Xiomara Ardolina serves authentic, gently priced Cuban cuisine with a high-quality sheen that may provoke some Versailles die-hards to quibble with the term authentic. But Cuban cooking in general, and this menu in particular, are a rhapsody of garlic and onions, sofrito (sautéed aromatic vegetables), and mojo. Here, the flavors are as bold as the Cuban jazz on the tape deck. Don’t miss the fufu de platanos con chicharrones, the rich mash of semi-ripe plantains and crunchy pork rind. 53 E. Union St., Pasadena, (626) 796-7350. Breakfast, lunch and å seven days, Mon.–Fri. 6 a.m.–10 p.m., Sat.–Sun. 7:30 a.m.–10 p.m. Wine and beer. Street parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entrées $11–$14. Cuban. MH $$

Canadian Cafe. Until a few months ago, poutine was on a longish list of foods, from creole cream cheese to real Tuscan lardo, that were simply unavailable in Los Angeles. Even if there were a place in town that sold the cheese curds that are a necessary component of poutine, the implicit heaviness of a dish composed of French-fried potatoes smothered in gravy and molten curds seems more appropriate to the endless gloom of Quebec winters than to Surf City, USA. But the Canadian Cafe, in Monrovia, is a divey temple to all things Canadian, walls emblazoned with moose and Mounties, pennants and maps. Poutine may not be as useful a Montreal import as Eric Gagné, but it’s nice to know that it’s around. 125 E. Colorado Blvd., Monrovia, (626) 303-2303. Tue.–Sat. 11 a.m.–7 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Street parking. D, MC, V. JG $

Europane. A good croissant is a joy forever, crisp, airy and saturated with butter, large enough to take the sting off a double cappuccino but not so large that you’d be tempted to use it for anything so vulgar as a “croissandwich.” On a good day, Europane’s magnificent croissants could be mistaken for France’s best in a police lineup — the crisp, buttery chocolate croissant could make you swoon. Toss in the homemade granola, the epochal bread pudding and the gooiest egg-salad sandwich in town, and it’s no wonder that Europane’s regulars treat the bakery more as a permanent residence than as a café. 950 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 577-1828. Mon.–Sat. 7 a.m.–5:30 p.m., Sun. till 3 p.m. No alcohol. Street parking. MC, V. California Bakery. JG ¢

101 Noodle Express. This restaurant is home to the Shandong-style beef roll, a splendid object of desire, a massive, bronzed construction of crisp Chinese pancakes, slivers of stewed beef and a sweet, house-made bean paste that bears the same relationship to ordinary hoisin sauce that a L’Orangerie’s demi-glacé might to a slug of canned brown gravy. It is a simple composition, and yet not; ordinary street food, but raised to the transcendent level of a great carne asada taco or a Modena housewife’s very best homemade tortellini. 1408 E. Valley Blvd., Alhambra, (626) 300-8654. Mon.–Fri. 10 a.m.–3 p.m. & 5–10 p.m. Sat.–Sun. 10 a.m.–11 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only. Chinese. JG $