@Ns1 @bulavinaka - I agree with both of you. If I like a pastry, cupcake, etc. price be damned. But when you’re like my OC cousins - mentioned above - and are constantly throwing parties, inviting 20-30 people, Portos is the answer.
Plus, I’m into nostalgia. It takes me a long time to realize something just isn’t as good as it was and throw in the towel.
I respectfully disagree. Have you tried the cubano at El Criollo? I think its better than Porto’s while still not close to a Florida version.
I’ve been to the one in Van Nuys but not the one in Burbank. I thought it was pretty lackluster, resembling some of the picture on Yelp for their Burbank location. I’ve had probably 10-15 different iterations across the city and a place called La Cubana in Glendale is the only one I’ve found that rivals Porto’s, for my tastes at least.
Almost QPR of Russian/Armenian bakeries. Always welcomed here at the office. I’ve never been in the line myself though.
their cubano isn’t even the best in burbank, and foodwise, burbank ranks 142nd
when it comes to southland communities.
and ns1, does everything have to be compared to something else?
standing alone, as foodstuff, porto’s product, for me, is rarely worth eating.
Luckily, the people I buy these pastries for aren’t as picky.
BS. Let’s get your cubano list, since it sounds like you have a very extensive one.
i am pleased to give up my place in line for you.
This is becoming highly amusing.
The scenario is not unlike a nature documentary where one of the parent birds arrives with food at the nest. Other parent bird and two dissimilar-sized nestlings are hungry and eager to eat what I’ve “caught” for us. The larger of the two nestlings is like the cuckoo chick in a host bird’s nest - totally dominating the other chick and parents in size and appetite.
I go to wash my hands and by the time I sit down, everyone else in the nest has already staked their respective claims on what ever I’ve brought back.
Luckily, I got more than the other three can eat in this short time so I am assured at least one whole pastry and probably a sampling of the other stuff. If I’m ballin’ it’s only a strategy for “survival.”
I’m a little confused about the direction this conversation is taking. But, my friend in Connecticut took these from her bedroom window. I don’t know… It seems apropos.
As I have only had the Burbank one I guess we are apples and oranges. If you are ever in Ann Arbor Zingerman’s deli does a great hybrid;
I love Zingerman’s and they can do no wrong. I will have to give that a shot, although I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to a good Cuban sandwich (something resembling proper Cuban bread is essential, good balance of pork and ham, well pressed, etc). That’s why I’m so very excited to work my way through Linus’ list.
They are a class act. I ordered an Iberico pork shoulder from them and it arrived room temperature. I emailed them a note about it, and less than five minutes later I received notice that a replacement was being overnighted.
Agree about the bread, which is why I am not a huge fan of Porto’s cubano. Whatever they do to Cuban baguettes in Florida just doesn’t seem to work here. Maybe the soft wheat southern flour, or perhaps sneaking a little lard in but the crisp crust and light interior are so good. Probably a Vietnamese baguette would be a good substitute.
they opened during my undergrad years.
That makes me a lot older than you. What did you study? My dad taught applied math. As an interesting personal aside, after my mother died he took over the cooking. He was obsessed with Chinese cuisine. When everyone else in America was eating TV dinners we were having tomato beef (with homegrown tomatoes) over pan-fried noodles and phoenix and dragon. It was a research project for him. I remember Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (he was writer-in-residence at the UofM) coming over for Chinese food. As a result my brother and I are good cooks (my brother is a great Chinese cook) and my sister mostly bakes cookies.
Enjoy your posts btw. Wolverines have to stick together!
LS&A, though my goal at the time was to write and arrange for the marching band. unfortunately we changed directors 3 times in my 4 years in the band and it never panned out, though the s–t band played my arrangement of time warp for a while after i graduated…
.
i changed majors more often than i want to admit. i eventually finished with coincentrations in CCS & econ which did its part to enhance the status of unemployment until i went back and did some grad school.
we have a couple more wolverines on the board in tonyc & (IIRC) linus…
You really are a crackup.
