(This venue is closed.) "Baleadas: as typical of New York as chop suey." That's national pride talking, through an ad printed in the menu; in New York, the baleada is comparatively rare. (Patios, too; here you'll sit indoors.) But Honduras Patio Restaurant has good reason to be proud of its own soft, freshly griddled tortilla, folded over beans and cheese (the basic baleada; $2) and enriched with egg and sour cream (for all of 50 cents more). A bottle of hot sauce and an apothecary jar of pickled vegetables, tinted a startling magenta, also sit ready at every table.
"Pastel" signals a crisp pastry, usually one you can eat on the go, so I was surprised by the presentation of the pastelito ($2), piled with a cabbage slaw and sprinkled with grated cheese. Stick a fork in it, and you'll find potato, carrot, and lots of ground beef.
Honduras Patio Restaurant
194 Bay St. (near Victory Blvd.), Tompkinsville, Staten Island
718-816-4429
