Casa Adela

You'll find this Puerto Rican gathering place where East Village meets Lower East Side and Hispanic roots still hold tight.

At a recent edition of the annual Loisaida Festival, the liveliest action was just south of the festival proper, outside Casa Adela; at the impromptu jam session on the sidewalk, I took in the crowd over a piña colada ($4). Later, on a quieter day, I found a seat in the tiny restaurant for an afternoon meal of rotisserie chicken (half; $7.50) with rice and beans. Unlike Casa Adela's esteemed pernil, or roast pork shoulder, the chicken isn't prepared in a traditional island style; the recipe was brought to the restaurant long ago by a worker from Peru. Don't give it another thought: Slice into that that exemplary crisp skin, and just be glad this chicken found its way to New York.

Casa Adela
66 Ave. C (4th-5th Sts.)
212-473-1882
At the annual Loisaida Festival

Comments

[David]

This venue was featured on the Food Network's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" last night. Chef Aaron Sanchez touted the pernil.