When the sun sets, Breed Street becomes a roadside cafeteria

For a few happy hours each evening on Breed Street north of Cesar Chavez, Boyle Heights is lucky enough to have its very own night market. Makeshift food stalls selling homemade flan, pupusas, churros, sweet tamales, tacos and other Latin American specialties can be found throughout the week, albeit unpredictably (beginning soon after dark and going until about 10 p.m. on weeknights and later on weekends). Go on the liveliest nights -- Fridays through Sundays -- when an amazing variety of food stands pack the street and the neighborhood comes out for roadside dining and socializing. Some food stalls not to be missed:

The compact assembly line at Nina’s (designated by the eponymous T-shirt always worn by the chef) draws the biggest crowds. Homemade menus posted on a van behind the four-person operation let you choose a filling from the list on the left: asada, papa con chorizo (potatoes with sausage), chicharron (fried pork rind), tinga (shredded beef cooked in chilies), huitlacoche (corn fungus, or, euphemistically, “Mexican corn truffle”) and flor de calabaza (squash blossoms). Then pick the flour-based eating vessel to go with it: gordita (fried, then filled like a pocket), flauta (a fried, rolled taco), huarache (a flat, sandal-shaped concoction), tostada (a thick, deep-fried version of a tortilla) or quesadilla. The quesadilla frita ($2.50) is stuffed with cheese, thrown into a vat of oil until it puffs into an airy, crispy pocket oozing hot cheese with every greedy bite.

Across the street from Nina’s, another vendor dishes out homemade pozole ($5) -- a hearty, hominy-based soup - which is great for working up a sweat on a chilly night. Grab a seat along the communal table and order the “rojo” (a red, chili-based broth) or “blanco” (a clear broth) and specify if you want any meat (usually carnitas) from the lady by the massive pot/Dutch oven/drum. The soup condiments on the table -- lime, salsa, raw onions, cilantro, radishes and dried, crushed chilies -- pack an extra punch to the gut. A free-flowing supply of tostadas circulates around the table for sopping up soup and meat.

North of the pozole table, a vendor offers a healthier alternative to the traditional corn-tortilla-dipped-in-oil taco. Healthier in theory, anyway. With a taco al vapor ($1.50), the tortilla and meat are both steamed, but the only types of meat offered are the cabeza (beef head, but beef cheek is served here) and the extremely fatty lengua (tongue).

Healthy? Nah. Delicious? Si.

-- Cynthia.Dea@latimes.com