A recent article in a popular men’s magazine noted the importance of leaving the office for lunch. Sure, snagging a seat at the crumb-dusted table in the employee lounge and unwrapping whatever sandwich you slapped together that morning is perfectly fine—we’ve all been there, after all—but getting out, sucking in a bit of fresh air and enjoying an inexpensive meal outside the confines of the office not only does wonders for the psyche, but it also, according to the writer, is likely to make you more productive when you return.
In a city like Philadelphia—in most any big city, for that matter—dining al fresco (you know, outside the office) can be as humble an affair as buying one of those sausage and pepper sandwiches that always smell so much better from a block away than they do waiting in line at the sidewalk cart, or as extravagant as a multi-course feast at Le Bec-Fin. But sometimes what you really want are stick-to-your-ribs standards served in a convivial, unforced atmosphere. And maybe, if your boss is out of town for the day, a nice beer to wash it all down with (again, we’ve all been there before).This, it seems, is the lunchtime role that Jose Pistola’s is playing in its neighborhood. And, from the looks of it, it’s a role that the ‘hood’s worker-bees desperately needed.
The food, after all, is keyed perfectly, even if it doesn’t always hit its intended mark. Fish tacos, two soft flour tortillas with a spine of crispy tempura-fried grouper filets running down the middle, worked well by virtue of their bold flavors (though I could have done with less of the spicy mayonnaise; it came precariously close to obscuring the flavor of the fish and, more insidiously, the lovely golden crust) and easy eatability. And at $8 an order, I can imagine all sorts of tempting justifications as to why a plateful of them and a nutty, fruity pint of North Coast Brewing Company Scrimshaw Pilsner constitutes a healthy meal (it provides grain, protein and vegetables, the latter in the form of the pickled cabbage bringing much-needed crunch and acidity). Healthy eating rarely comes in such handy and appealing packaging.
Bigger eaters will do well to gravitate toward the burrito section of the menu. The carnitas al pastor, while weighed down by a touch too much cheese, benefit from the unexpectedly deep, savory character of braised pork, an earthy note from the black beans and a sense of balance from sweet grilled pineapple and tingly jalapeno. The cilantro crema adds herbal lift, and red onions guarantee that no one will want to stop by your cubicle the rest of the day for fear than you’ll breathe on them, thus allowing you to get more work done. This, then, is a dish that, even on its own, will improve your productivity.
Beef nachos (and though it’s not on the menu, I desperately want to append a hearty grande to the end of the name) are standard-issue on the surface but stand out because of the almost sinfully succulent beef tucked throughout. Pork empanadas—perfect with a Sly Fox Prima Pils—are a cheese-moist, aromatic beauty, all the necessary flavors carried by the ground pork and wrapped up in a shell that reminded me of a perfectly fried egg roll wrapper. Gorgeous.
For the amount of food provided, the richness of each bite and the bold flavors that run throughout the menu, I’m having a difficult time thinking of another quick-stop lunchtime destination in the neighborhood that provides quite so much for so reasonable a price.
And if the exposed brick walls and understated rock soundtrack don’t wrest you from the office-space malaise that inevitably sets in by lunchtime, I fear that nothing will. Either way, you’ve earned a beer, a nice lunch and an hour-long timeout from it all. When you justify it properly, mental-health breaks can be an awfully tasty thing.
AroundPhilly Staff
