‘Tortas’
Torta is Mexican for sandwich and there is a sweet semi-new spot in Pasadena that deals pretty much exclusively in that hand food from south of the border. It’s called Tortugas, and is either a reference to turtles, an island in Haiti or a national park (the dry one). Regardless, the place has a great variety of Mexican sandwiches and one in particular screamed out to my unvegan belly.
Sandwiches are not all created equal. Sometimes they aren’t even called sandwiches. Take the torta, for instance, which is Mexican for sandwich and is different from your normal sandwich because of the flatbread they use. At the Fig at 7th shopping center in Downtown LA the whole food court has been revamped in the past couple years and one of the new places is the Torta Company, from the makers of Loteria Grill.
What happens when you put a Philly cheese steak joint in North Hollywood, north of Victory Boulevard? Apparently an amazing place to grab a torta. At least that’s what I was told when I set out for an adventure during lunch at work one day. I found myself at a tiny little standalone building with just a handful of tall tables and a great looking selection of sandwiches. It was called Philadelphia Steaks & Hoagies and I was pretty sure I was in for a treat.
The name Pink Taco is something of a shock. You’d think you were walking into a strip club or something, but lo and behold, you end up walking into a restaurant. The Pink Taco in LA is at the Century City mall and although it’s not part of their glorious food court, it was still a place worth checking out. As you would expect, once you realize Pink Taco is actually a restaurant, the place serves up Mexican food in a trendy way.