Yael D.
Yelp
There is a certain punny, prolific, polarizing (so what if I like alliteration?) Yelper who is prone to bemoaning the dearth of love lavished upon humble Mom & Pop eateries, serving up honest, delicious food at real people prices. He may be on to something. Indeed. I am shocked to see that only 37 reviews have been posted for this spot, going all the way back to 2008. It deserves so much better:
Anyway, hubby, kid, and I were here to try a Pastel. Since it was our first time, we had zero idea what to expect. Should you feel similarly, I'd describe a Pastel as a GINORMOUS deep-fried cross between a hot pocket and, with its pockmark-dappled dough, an egg roll.
Since we'd stopped beforehand for uh, appetizers at Union Square Donuts, which for the record, is a short drive away, hubby and I decided to share a Vitoria Pastel, filled with chicken, ham, beef, cheese, and hearts of palm. It turned out to be the best thing we ate in a long weekend filled with some stiff competition from the likes of Lamejun, a Matcha Cream & Azuki Bean Paste-filled Croissant, an Acai Bowl, and Posh Seafood.
The kid, who much to Mama's chagrin, often orders the most boring sounding thing on the menu, stayed true to form with a ground beef-stuffed Pastel, aka Pastel de Carne. Admittedly, the filling with this one could've used some pizazz. Luckily, when hubby had requested hot sauce earlier on, a friendly staff person brought that over, along with mayo and ketchup, yes, ketchup, to jazz up our Pastels.
We washed all this down with Pineapple Mint Juice, which tasted almost like an elevated slurpy to me, but with chunkier and less ice. I appreciated that it wasn't overly sweet, but the mint was too subtle, imo, so I'd probably order something different next time.
Word to the Wise: A huge reason why these flaky, non-greasy Pastels are so spectacular is that they are fried-to-order. So be prepared to wait. Your patience will be deliciously rewarded. Also note that seating is minimal and there is no restroom as far as I could tell.
ps Shhh... Don't tell Buzzfeed, but when it's freezing out, and you just happen to be roadtripping, you can hack your car trunk for use as a 'refrigerator' to transport perishable food back home. We got another Vitoria Pastel to-go and did exactly that. My only regret is getting just one.