Cafe Floridita

From the outside, Cafe Floridita looks like any dilapidated downtown takeout joint - a scraggly awning and smudged display are nestled into an extremely busy coffee window where servers are more interested in speed than stellar service. The inside is nothing fancy either - a bright and clean Formica lunch counter surrounded by no-frills tables. But it offers a calmer, far more pleasant respite, and waiters less likely to throw pastelitos at you as they dash to the espresso machine. Food is touted on the menu as "fusion" Latin American, but it's really traditional Latin-Caribbean cuisine with some innovative wraps ($7.95), if you can call stuffing Cuban food such as picadillo and ropa vieja into a spinach tortilla and adding yellow rice, black beans, cheddar cheese, and guacamole innovative. Maybe it will dazzle the senses of some, but this neighborhood mainstay is more likely described as a convenient and satisfying, but not mind-blowing, lunch stop. Tostones rellenos ($8.50), fried green plantains shaped into cups and stuffed with either marinated ground beef or creole-style shrimp, are crisp and flavorful, though overly greasy. A traditional Cuban sandwich ($6.95) consisting of sliced pork, sweet ham, Swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles is well-prepared and comes with a side of plantain chips. Oh, and that rushed espresso machine lady? She might not be the friendliest, but she brews a mean cortadito ($1.50).