Restaurant: Gloria’s Cafe
Location: 10227 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90034. (310) 838-0963
Date: March 28, 2017
Cuisine: Mexican and Salvadoran
Rating: okay
On this particular night I was on duty at my own restaurant, but the Hedonists were gathering for an informal dinner just blocks away and the assistant manager covered me.
Gloria’s is a Mexican Salvadorian (don’t ask) place on Venice Blvd. It’s a long street filled with cheap rents and ethnic eats.
There were wines here, but they weren’t anything worth photoing. Just the usual collection of mid levels.
Papusas. Typical Salvadorian papusas (fried corn pancakes) stuffed with cheese. These are to be eaten with the slaw below and red sauce.
Cabbage for the papusas.
On the Mexican side, chips and salsa.
Yucca con Chicharron. Fried cassava fingers with DEEP fried pork and curtido. The pork was tasty, if fried beyond recognition.
Cut up papusa bits or something similar.
Pollo frito. Quarter pieces of chicken seasoned with a Salvadoran style dry rub. Deep fried until crispy. Kinda greasy fried chicken.
Carnitas plate. Fried pieces of tender pork stewed in green tomatillo salsa.
Bistec Encebollado. Marinated Salvadoran style steak sautéed and stewed in salsa.
House special burrito. Our most popular burrito! We layer our house burrito with beans, lettuce, guacamole, & sour cream; then top it with salsa, fresh pico de gallo, and cheese.
It was well… a giant burrito.
Cocido. Tender pieces of beef with a mixture of fresh cooked vegetables in a savory beef broth. Tender in this case is a liberal word.
More fried pork.
Gloria’s was fine. I guess they execute okay on Salvadoran, but it’s a pretty sloppy cuisine and I remember better meals of similar food 10 years ago — but I haven’t been recently to sync up my memory (as it’s impossible to compare meals fairly across a decade). Gloria’s really loves the deep fryer, but I guess that’s the cuisine. The decor is cute and kitschy. And best of all it was nice to get away from work and see friends.