Cocido is the Mexican version of beef stew. It uses the same soft meat used in american pot roast, which accounts for 85% of its irrefutable tastiness. The other 15% is a combination of vegetables, spicy salsa and rice. It looks a little sum'sum' like this:
I asked her if she wanted any.
"No thank you", she hastily said, completely oblivious to the deliciousness she was going to miss out on.
After I had taken a few spoonfuls she changed her mind and asked for a taste. Once the broth hit her lips she was hooked, and in the following days she developed full blown Stage 3 Cocido Fever. I received two (maybe even 3) calls from her that week asking me to reccommend a place to satisfy her recently acquired addiction. I thought long and hard about it and there was only one place that I could recommend knowing that it would be JUST as delicious as my mom's: Teresita's.
Teresita's Restaurant is located in between the 710 and 60 freeways in East L.A. The food is authentic enough to appeal to the the most pretentious of purists AND clean and nice enough to invite your Gringo boss to. To sum it up (because I need to do laundry)
Salsas: 3 different kinds on your table, all delicious
Service: Friendly, attentive, friendly, amiable, nice, sweet, tender.
Food: Everything I've had is good. Portions are large. Very homecooked feel.
Decor: Modest and clean. Fresh flowers on the tables.
How welcomed you'll feel even though you aren't Mexican: VERY
Prices: Higher than most Mexican restaurants but lower than a mediocre American diner (Coco's, Norm's, Denny's)
Willingness to honor free dessert coupons that I printed out from the website: VERY
So there you have it. It's kind of a drive for those of you on the west side but it's definitely worth it. If you are REALLY lucky you might even see the aging, yet regal, Señora Teresita herself walking around in the back kitchen.
2 comments:
Something is fishy... the past four inspectors from the Dept. of Environmental Health have awarded a score of exactly 91 to Teresita's. Not a single point variation in the last two years. Perhaps she reigns over her kingdom with an iron-clad fist.
-->Ravi
I think she might be a ghost.
Post a Comment