Dining Review: Eatery offers sweet and spicy fare

Squeezed between storefronts on a busy stretch of Victory Boulevard, a cute little cafe draws customers with its stylish curb appeal and hand-painted window sign. Café de Olla is its name and café de olla, the house drink, is its game.

Café de olla (the drink) translates as “pot coffee.” It is a traditional way to prepare coffee in Mexico. Simmered and steeped in an earthenware pot, café de olla derives its special sweet, aromatic flavor from piloncillo or unrefined whole cane sugar, cinnamon sticks and other seeds and spices. Health codes make it impossible to cook in clay but they do serve the coffee in glazed earth-colored mugs. Our cupfuls ($2.95) tasted warm and nourishing on a recent cold morning. It is not for the sugar-intolerant, however. Café de olla is sweet with a capital S.

1/6

The Veggie tostadas come with tomato, bell pepper, red and white onions, cucumbers, Cotija cheese and Mexican sour cream, at Cafe de Olla restaurant, on the 2300 block of Victory Blvd. in Burbank on Tuesday, December 29, 2015. The Mexican and American traditional food restaurant opened in October 2015.

  (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

2/6

The Chorreadas comes with a base of pork rind, steak or chicken, pico de gallo and avocado sauce at Cafe de Olla restaurant, on the 2300 block of Victory Blvd. in Burbank on Tuesday, December 29, 2015. The Mexican and American traditional food restaurant opened in October 2015.

  (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

3/6

Diana España, left, and her husband Edgar D. España, right, hold the Del Norte Combo and Veggie Tostadas, respectively, at their restaurant Cafe de Olla, on the 2300 block of Victory Blvd. in Burbank on Tuesday, December 29, 2015. The Mexican and American traditional food restaurant opened in October 2015.

  (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

4/6

The Del Norte Combo includes steak fajitas, chilaquiles, eggs any style, beans topped with cheese and Mexican sour cream at Cafe de Olla, on the 2300 block of Victory Blvd. in Burbank on Tuesday, December 29, 2015. The Mexican and American traditional food restaurant opened in October 2015.

  (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

5/6

The cafe de olla has a sweet, cinnamon taste, at Cafe de Olla restaurant, on the 2300 block of Victory Blvd. in Burbank on Tuesday, December 29, 2015. The Mexican and American traditional food restaurant opened in October 2015.

  (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

6/6

The Del Norte Combo includes steak fajitas, chilaquiles, eggs any style, beans topped with cheese and Mexican sour cream at Cafe de Olla, on the 2300 block of Victory Blvd. in Burbank on Tuesday, December 29, 2015. The Mexican and American traditional food restaurant opened in October 2015.

  (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

Café de Olla (the restaurant) is far more than just a corner coffee shop. It’s a family-run restaurant with handmade authentic Mexican dishes like chilaquiles, sopes, and chorreada and crowd-pleasing American ones such as burgers, salads and pancakes. It all started when sisters Diana Espana and Carolina Osuana decided they wanted to bring their unique brand of cooking and design to the world. Diana’s husband, co-owner Danny Espana, helped find the space in Burbank and a few months ago, Café de Olla was born.

The menu itself is great-looking and fun to read. Some of the breakfast dishes reminded me of those on the menu at (Glendale’s) La Cabanita so I ordered my favorite from there — Huevos Divorciados ($7.95). It was just as delicious as La Cabanita’s. These fried eggs though were topped with Café de Olla’s unique brand of red and green sauces: one a creamy, complex poblano sauce, the other a brothy, red chile soup with onions and tomatoes. They use the same ranchera sauce on their popular Huevos Rancheros ($7.95).

My dining partner got the outstanding Chilaquiles Poblanos ($9.50). Normally I don’t get chilaquiles because I figure it’s just a way to get rid of old tortillas. These chilaquiles made sense to me — crispy, corny and eggy with that killer green poblano sauce, red onions and cotija cheese.

I really want to go back for their amazing-looking chorreada. Here they take hand-shaped corn masa pancakes, smear them with ground chicharron (pork) then melt some cheese on top. After that they add carne or pollo asada, pico de gallo and guacamole.

The service is friendly and the ambience very pleasant. There are only about a dozen tables so expect crowds on the weekend. During the week, why not treat yourself to a little “you time” with a sweet, cinnamon-y coffee and a spicy breakfast at Café de Olla? They open at 7 a.m. every day.

--

What: Café de Olla

Where: 2315 W. Victory Blvd., Burbank

When: Sunday to Tuesday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Wednesday to Saturday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Prices: Breakfast $5.95 to $12.95; lunch and dinner $7.50 to $13.95

Contact: (818) 588-3684; www.cafedeollarestaurant.com

--

LISA DUPUY has reviewed over 400 eating establishments in the 818 area code. She welcomes comments at LDupuy@aol.com.