Quesadillas
Flour tortillas and melted cheese: Add a bit of this or that and you’ve got one of the great snack foods:
* Cafe Montana: This always jammed “California grill” features a quesadilla with grilled vegetables, avocado, jack and cheddar cheeses, sour cream and a roasted pasilla chile, with optional chicken. (Quesadilla, $8.25; with chicken, $9.50.) Cafe Montana, 1534 Montana Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 829-3990.
* JiRaffe: Only at lunch can you enjoy Citrin and Lunetta’s famous quesadilla, a golden-brown envelope of chicken, poblano chile and melted cheese with grilled scallion salsa. The char on the chile lends a most tantalizing whiff of smoke. (Chicken quesadilla, $6.) JiRaffe, 502 Santa Monica Blvd., (310) 917-6671.
* Hugo Molina: At his new restaurant, Chef Molina serves a trio of quesadillas as an appetizer: One’s filled with chicken, one with barbecued duck and the third with leeks and portabello mushrooms. (Trio of quesadillas, $6.50.) Hugo Molina Restaurant, 1065 E. Green St., Pasadena, (626) 449-7820.
* Border Grill: The Too Hot Tamales, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, start with delicious homemade flour tortillas, then fill them with cheeses and poblano chiles. You can embellish them further with salsa, guacamole and/or chicken. (Quesadillas, $5.25 to $6.50.) Border Grill, 1445 4th St., Santa Monica, (310) 451-1655.
* Poquito Mas: A small chain specializing in fresh Baja-style Mexican food, Poquito Mas will fill a quesadilla with just about anything you want: Starting with jack and cheddar cheese in a flour tortilla, you can add charbroiled or stewed chicken, carne asada or carnitas. All quesadillas are served with fresh guacamole and your choice of a dozen salsas. (Quesadillas, $3.75-$4.55; mushrooms 75 cents extra.) Poquito Mas, 2635 W. Olive Blvd., Burbank, (818) 563-2252; 3701 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Studio City, (818) 760-8226; 10651 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, (818) 994-8226; 8555 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 652-7008.
* Sonora Cafe: In addition to the menu’s two perennial quesadillas--a brie and a leek and goat cheese--the chef offers a special quesadilla of his own devising daily. (Quesadillas, $6.75.) Sonora Cafe, 180 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 857-1800.
* Senor Fish: Part quesadilla, part pizza and part seafood free-for-all, the open-faced seafood quesadilla at Senor Fish makes aficionados out of all who try it. A flour tortilla is spread with a piquant red sauce, then topped with crab, shrimp, fish, cheeses and a hefty dollop of guacamole. (Seafood quesadilla, $8.50.) Senor Fish, 422 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, (213) 625-0566; 4803 Eagle Rock Blvd., Eagle Rock, (213) 257-7167; 618 Mission St., South Pasadena, (626) 403-0145.