Mexican food, while mouth-watering and comfortably familiar, rarely surprises. It also doesn't require much of a hike if you are looking for chewy tortillas and defrosted corn salsa with an air of gyro meat and feta wafting overhead. Although that certainly has its own appeal, there's a place up in NoLibs that you may have heard of already, called Pura Vida.
It's small, colorful and attractive, and beckons you with its slow-blinking homemade Lite-Brite installed in one wall. "Pura Vida," the pure life, provides a fresh and simple departure from the standard Tex-Mex.
It's not just a new burrito joint, and is more complex than a taqueria. Owner and chef Charles Alvarez exquisitely combines a variety of cuisines from Latin America, including his own Guatemala, onto a menu that screams hearty and original. The small set-up and bright colors all complement the warmth of this corner BYO and the smells of unusual spices, simmering black beans, marinated meats and fresh guacamole permeate.
It is all very simple. The chef, a veteran of El Fuego and Jose's, decided to venture out alone to produce quality food that just isn't out there.
But "quality food" isn't enticing enough. Imagine a wall of colorful Jarritos sodas among a variety of juices, including tamarind and hibiscus. These are used to wash down entrees like the savory ilachitas, a Guatemalan version of beef brisket, slowly cooked with a mixed bag of spices, including cinnamon. This tough cut is rendered tender, served French dip-style on a roll with more garlic spread and a side of horseradish. The meats in general are prepared with Alvarez's homemade dry rubs and are left to marinate for hours.
Ethnic ingredients like pumpkin, sesame seeds and achiote paste are far from lacking and combined with previously unassociated spices like ginger, mustard and bay leaf. Guatemalan tamales come two to an order, wrapped in banana leaves rather than cornhusks and filled with chipilin, an herb Alvarez likens to watercress. Released from their steaming jackets and squirted with an accompanying wedge of lime, they are aromatic and slightly bitter. A coveted Salvadorian dish, pupusitas, are homemade hot corn flour cakes. Cut into spongy triangles, they are lightly smothered with melted cheese and served with a little bowl of curtido, or pickled cabbage and carrots.
The menu of course includes a delicious, but unoriginal selection of tacos, burritos and thickly stuffed quesadillas that can be mixed and matched with veggies, steak, shredded beef, chorizo, citrus-splashed fish and shrimp, but for the more adventureous there is a lot to choose from beyond the above mentioned.
Lighter ethnic options include the queso frito, an appetizer of firm fried cheese rectangles served with slices of spicy pepper and onion, or the bountiful sopa de pollo, which is garnished with ginger, lime and fresh cut cilantro. There is also an amazing Cuban sandwich, with the usual dressings, and a thick cut of juicy roast pork infused with achiote and chili that rests between two light toasted and buttered soft sesame rolls. Not wanted to coat the flavors over with any profound sweetness, the horchata is highly recommended along with the meal or at the end for a glorious cooling and milky sensation. The toasted rice powder gives it a fine sandy texture and the cinnamon-y sweetness doesn't crowd the buds.
The price is right, with nothing over $12, for a casual fusion experience. And the hours are regular (11 a.m. - 10 p.m., 12 p.m. - 10 p.m. Saturdays), except that it's closed on Sundays and Mondays.
