El Bacano

🇩🇴 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC / Little by little, the tiny Dominican footprint in Los Angeles continues to expand with this new fast casual counter and very ambitious menu in North Hollywood.

🇩🇴 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
📍 13009 1/2 Victory Blvd.,
North Hollywood, San Fernando Valley.
🅿️ Ample parking in plaza
🥤 No Alcohol

If you have ever traveled to the half of La Española that calls itself Republica Dominicana, you will have no doubt heard folks using the term bacano or bacana when they find something they like. Generally translating to cool or awesome, the Dominican slang is thrown about ubiquitously, whether talking about food, the song on the radio, or a new friend.

This is also the name of one of the Valley’s newest restaurants, which adds to a very small but hopefully growing market of Dominican spots in Los Angeles. Sandwiched between a poke spot and a Subway, the colorful world and flavors of this Caribbean island nation have hit the ground running.

The shop is tiny with seating for about a dozen people and sets up as a fast casual counter order spot. Despite this, the menu is expansive and quite ambitious for a town that is not really acquainted with Dominican cuisine to this point.

Just like the country and its people, the food that comes from the kitchen at El Bacano is quite beautiful. It must be apologized that this full order was takeout, it took place after eating far too much for lunch at another restaurant. A professional photo shoot was taking place at the time of this order, so make sure to take a look at their Instagram page in the future to see better representations of everything.

Bright video menu boards with good descriptions of the dishes and some photos make ordering easier, but if you look a little bewildered by all of the options the staff is ready to help. The owner, named Santana, might even come out and guide you if needed. He takes great care of his new place and turns fast casual into white table cloth in spirit.

If you have spent too much of your life in New York City, the chimi burger ($15, below) will immediately pop off the board. These Dominican burgers are normally working class favorites, served from the windows of food trucks or the flattop grills of humble restaurants in Washington Heights and all throughout the Bronx. Santana and his chefs have created something that is worth its “leveled up” price though.