The Five Dollar Lunch That Beats Every Tasting Menu in Town

I have eaten a nineteen-course tasting menu. It was lovely. I remember about three of the courses and none of the conversation, because we were being explained to for four hours.

Here is what I remember perfectly: standing at a ventanita on a Tuesday, eating a croqueta preparada over a napkin, arguing with my sister about nothing. That sandwich cost less than the valet.

The case for the counter

A ventanita is a walk-up window. There is no table, no host, no wine pairing, and no version of the experience where you feel underdressed. You order, you stand, you eat, you go. The whole thing takes eleven minutes and you leave in a better mood than you arrived.

The economics are absurd in your favor. A colada — the little styrofoam cup of espresso meant to be shared with four coworkers — is a couple of dollars. A pastelito is a dollar and change. The croqueta preparada, which is a ham croqueta pressed inside a sandwich because someone in this city correctly decided a sandwich needed more sandwich inside it, runs around five.

What to order if you are new

Croqueta preparada. The whole argument, in one item. Get it pressed.

Pastelito de guayaba y queso. Guava and cheese, always both, never just guava. This is not up for discussion.

Colada, shared. Do not drink a full colada alone unless you have made peace with your afternoon. Pour into the little cups. Hand them out. This is the actual social technology.

Un cortadito if you want it for yourself, sweet and small.

How to find the good one near you

I am not going to give you a top-five list, because the correct ventanita is the one you can walk to, and because the second a list runs the line gets long and the abuelas get annoyed. Instead:

• Look for a line of people who are clearly on their break, not clearly on vacation.
• Check that there is a plate of pastelitos out and moving, not a plate that has been sitting.
• The best ones are attached to a market or a gas station. This is a feature.
• If someone behind the window knows the order of the person in front of you, you are in the right place.

We are not food critics here. We are food fans, and the difference matters: a critic ranks the tasting menu, a fan tells you where to stand on a Tuesday. Go stand somewhere.