Y is for Yolanda's bakery and Y is for YUCKY
YUCKY----adjective. Slang. thoroughly unappetizing, disgusting, or repugnant. That's what http://dictionary.com says and that is the best word to describe my meal at Yolanda's Bakery.
Even though Yolanda's is a bakery, they are also a quick serve restaurant offering Mexican and Central American fare such as Burritos, Tamales, Rellenos and Mariscos. They have 4 tables and some awesome looking pastry cases. Coffee is either 99 cents or $1.49 a cup depending on the size according to one sign. They also sell bags of ice for $1.49. Other than that, I have no idea what the price is for anything else as the wall menu does not list the prices, nor are there any paper menus to be seen.
Also it was hard to get a look at the food on the steam table due to condensation on the windows of the display case and on the lids. So since I was ordering blind I ordered a Burrito Pollo. They didn't have fountain soft drinks, just various bottles in cans in a cooler. These were all imports for their Latin American clientele. Things like Jarritos in several flavors, coconut water, and several shelves of glass bottles of Mexican Coca-Cola. AKA the good shit. If you don't know the difference, they don't use High Fructose Corn Syrup south of the border. They use sugar. And although Coke's official position is the there is no difference in taste, they lie!--- everyone knows the sugar in the Mexican stuff is much better.
Anyways, I was surprised that the burrito and the Mexican Coke came to $6.04 including tax. The burrito was humongous, about the size and shape of one of those 23 ounce cans of Diet Arizona Ice Tea that they don't offer for sale there, and when I opened it to add some salsa verde looked like it might be a world-class burrito.
But alas it wasn't. It actually was kind of yucky. While there was plenty of cubed chicken, much of it white meat; there was also plenty of evidence that no one took the time to properly trim the chicken. About 4 or 5 times I had to grab a napkin and remove gristle from my mouth, and I did find one piece of bone.
The chicken didn't seem to be marinated or flavored and was still lukewarm, although the beans and rice were piping hot. Speaking of the carbs, they appeared to have been applied diagonally. While I started the burrito from one end, it appeared there were way to many beans and not nearly enough rice. Towards the middle of the burrito the ratio was just right, but as I worked my way to the finish, the rice overwhelmed the beans. Although the menu promised cilantro and cebolla (onion), those flavors were lacking as well.
At the time I was there about 130 pm on a Wednesday), 3 of the 4 tables were each occupied by a single day-laborer looking guy all watching a European soccer game (Barcelona V inter Milan) on a Spanish Language station. Judging by the reaction when Barcelona scored, I can only assume that these guys had some serious dinero riding on the game.
I am giving these guys a 2 rating because, although I didn't order any pastries, they looked delicious. Of course everything covered in frosting looks delicious. Based on the burrito alone, this place would only earn a 1. Also, I think that the lack of posted prices and Diet beverages are major flaws as well.
This is the 25th in my string of 26 reviews A to Z in the Los Angeles area. If you want to suggest a place further down the alphabet you want me to try, feel free to drop a note read more