LAReview
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
El Bacano
Included In
As of this writing, LA has one Dominican restaurant. One. And it’s next door to a Subway in North Hollywood. That makes El Bacano something of a novelty, but you can’t eat novelty for dinner. What’s more important to us (and hopefully you, too) is this 16-seat restaurant’s simple, delicious Dominican staples that are perfect for a casual weeknight meal when all we want is a nice fried pork chop.
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: El Bacano
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Oddly, whether you dine in or order your plantains to-go, El Bacano serves all of its food in styrofoam containers. Our suggestion: eat there while the food is hot and enjoy the reggaeton booming from the sound system. El Bacano’s menu is big, but most meals follow a similar pattern: beans and rice (a.k.a. habichuela), a side of chewy tostones, and your protein of choice, which can come fried, stewed, or sauteed. It truly comes down to personal preference because we’d give the thumbs up to everything on the menu, from tomato-y bacalao guisado lapped up with red beans to the extra crispy machi chicken wings marinated in tons of garlic to the deep-fried pork chops that you should absolutely drench in lime juice. But if you’re the indecisive type, order the sancocho.
This glorious soup is only available three days a week (Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday), and it’s worth planning your whole trip around. The rich broth is slightly cloudy from rendered pork fat, perked up with fragrant spices and lime juice that make it delicious enough to drink straight from the Big Gulp-sized cup it’s served in. This is a jumbo portion of sancocho, so split an order between you and a friend, which will free you up to snack on tostones and mojo and bob your head to whatever Karol G banger is playing.
Food Rundown
Moro de Habichuelas
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Empanada
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Machi’s Chicken
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Sancocho
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Bacalao Guisado