Long ago I was in a strange town and asked a local for a suggestion about where to eat within walking distance. “Best place is over there,” he said, pointing at a place with a garish neon sign advertising the availability of cocktails and pool tables. “Order a burger and any drink with no more than three ingredients and you’ll do fine.”
It worked that evening, and it’s worked many times since when dining in bars: go with simple things that can be done well at high volume. Save the ornate pasta for some other night and order steak and tater tots, and wash it down with a gin and tonic or something involving hops and foam.
This strategy worked well at a local place that opened as a fine dining restaurant called the Carousel in the 1950’s, but flourished as a bar called Critters’ in the 70’s and 80’s.  North End in Hermosa has at times pushed the envelope with regard to food — during football season they used to serve specialties from the defending team’s city. They’re less eclectic these days but still serve from a fairly wide-ranging menu and it’s still worthwhile to check the specials board on entering.
That board offered homemade split pea soup with bacon one evening, which we ordered along with a grilled shrimp and scallion quesadilla and onion rings from the regular menu. They aced it on the soup, the rings were freshly breaded and crisp, and the quesadilla was good but not great. The kitchen adds a bit of plum sauce for a pseudo-Asian effect, which can be a fine idea, but there was a bit too much and the sweet, fruity flavors dominated the shrimp.
We also ordered a Caesar salad, which was similarly decent – the dressing had plenty of garlic and they were a bit exuberant with the parmesan, but that’s not a bad thing. If you like lots of flavor, you have a kindred spirit in the kitchen.
While we snacked on our starters we found our eyes attracted to the TV screens, which were showing several different sports. I always seemed to be watching the wrong screen – one table or another nearby would erupt as something happened in the baseball game while I was gazing distractedly at hockey. Shortly thereafter I would be watching hockey while something remarkable evidently happened at a tennis game. I’m not a big sports fan, but the enthusiasm was contagious and I started at least trying to catch the moments of glory or loss as they happened.
For mains we got a safe item – a barbecue chicken pizza from the regular menu – and salmon picatta and a steak with asparagus, both from the specials board. I knew that ordering the salmon was breaking my own rule about simplicity, but I have already tried the burgers and paninis and know them to be dependably good. The experience with the fancier items was a bit mixed; the salmon was properly cooked, but the picatta sauce was decidedly odd, with a tomato and stock sauce for the capers and herbs rather than the usual lemon butter. As a picatta it didn’t work, but as salmon in a vaguely Italian-American sauce with a little caper tang it was fine, and the sautéed spinach and mashed potatoes with it rounded out the meal.
The New York steak in red wine sauce had some tough edges and should have been trimmed – but at $15 with sides included for a fifteen ounce steak one isn’t inclined to quibble. I had ordered it medium-rare and that was how it arrived, and the sauce enhanced the flavor nicely. Mashed potatoes were offered but I followed my bar rule (when you can order crunchy, salty potatoes, do so) and got tater tots. I may not order them again for another few years because they’re fantastically unhealthy, but they were exactly what I wanted.
And the pizza, that staple of bars everywhere? It was a bar pizza rather than an Italian restaurant pizza, with a premade medium-thick crust that hadn’t risen much, but they hadn’t skimped on the toppings. The barbecue sauce was tangy, in fact a bit too spicy for one person at the table, but she had just had one of their very spicy Bloody Mary so may have maxed out on peppery flavors. I prefer their burgers and paninis but if someone at my table orders one, I’ll have a slice.
The drinks were large but oddly inconsistent; the Bloody Mary and Whiskey Sour were fine, but the Old Fashioned and Manhattan were off. I ordered the Manhattan despite being warned that they had run out of cherries and now I know what the cherry adds to this drink, namely an essential balance. One person ordered a Fuzzy Navel, heavy on the fuzz, which apparently means to add more peach schnapps to a drink that already has plenty. I had never tried this silly 1980s cocktail before, and while I’m not in a hurry to have one again I can see how it would be a good hot day cooler.
Dinner and drinks for three at North End ran about $80, and we had ordered some of the more expensive items on the menu, not that anything on this menu costs much – the $15 steak was the most expensive thing offered. It was a jolly evening in the energetic atmosphere of a good watering hole, a reminder of the joys of a good bar dinner. Just remember the rule: order the simplest things you like, and you can’t go wrong.
North End is at 2626 Hermosa Avenue in Hermosa. Open daily 9 a.m. to 2 a.m., street parking only. Full bar, high tables so not wheelchair-friendly. No website. Phone 310-379-5379.
