Dining
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Rana Loca provides an exotic touch to Fourth
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Location: 411 W. Fourth St., 722-9911.
Web site: www.ranaloca.com.
Hours: Lunch: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Dinner: 4-10 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 3-9 p.m. Sunday; Late night: 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. Sunday brunch: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Reservations: Accepted.
Type of cuisine: Pan-Latin.
Alcohol: Yes. Full bar that emphasizes Latin cocktails, such as mojitos and margaritas, but also a wine list that is heavy on Spain, South America and Portugal.
Smoking: Nonsmoking, except for the outside patio.
Health-department rating: 96 percent.
Price range: Lunch: $3-$9 (tapas, soups, salads, sandwiches); tacos, burritos, nachos and quesadillas start at $5. Dinner: $3-$17 (tapas and entrees). Sunday brunch: $6-$8.
Credit cards: MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express.
Atmosphere: Doesn't match the food -- the inside feels like a mall food court. The outside, though, is a pleasant place to sit and a great spot from which to people-watch all of Fourth Street.
The wait: I've had to wait for an outside table, but no more than 30 minutes, and it's worth it, even if it means heading elsewhere for an aperitif.
Service: Eating in, no complaints, but I've had a take-out order garbled.
Be sure to try: Beef empanadas; Cubano sandwich; bistec palomillo de mireyes; plantain-crusted mahi- mahi; queso dip; pollo mojito (chicken seared with mint, sugar and rum); fried yucca sticks.
Stay away from: Seafood paella; ceviche; pernil de lechon (rum-glazed shredded pork); soft tacos.
Vegetarian-friendly? Oh, yes. In addition to many faux meats, there are stuffed peppers, mushroom ceviche, vegetarian paella, and vegetable and cheese empanadas.
Will I go back? Si, si, si.
The list
These restaurants received ratings of 98 percent or above during recent inspections by the Forsyth County Health Department:
• Subway, 2522 Somerset Center Drive, 100 percent.• Mayberry Ice Cream and Sandwich Shop, 114-D Reynolda Road, 99.5 percent (with two bonus points).
• Trido of Japan, 7838 North Point Blvd., 99.5 percent (with two bonus points).
• Burke Street Pizza, 1140 Burke St., 99 percent.
• Honky Tonk Pig BBQ, 145 Jonestown Road, 99 percent (with two bonus points).
• Jason's Deli, 1005 Hanes Mall Blvd., 98 percent (with two bonus points).
• O'Brien's Deli, 4001-C Country Club Road., 98 percent. Source: Forsyth County Health Department
Published: September 24, 2009
It is all well and good to like food that's pretty, tidy, pure. Oh, how noble to be a locavore. How virtuous to be in season.
But when it comes down to it, food that's really fun is usually messy.
Maybe that explains why my husband and I were such suckers for, all of things, a bowl of hot cheese circled by three different kinds of chips -- plantain, flour and corn. We, in turn, circled like vultures.
With a menu that slants sharply toward Central and South American, with beef and rice and plantains, and oh, Mexican, too, newcomer Rana Loca -- "Crazy Frog" -- spices up Fourth Street.
Here are homey, stewed black beans thick with tomato, and a tasty version of pulled-pork and ham Cuban sandwiches, sweet and salty yin-yang wedged in dense bread.
Owners John Cahoon, Derek Stamey and John Coates opened Rana Loca on the corner of Fourth and Trade streets this summer, taking over the plum spot that housed Cat's Corner Cafe.
Today, I'm still thinking about that cheese. I'm also thinking about the mahi-mahi, fried with a thick coat of plantains. The white-fleshed fish is a fresh canvas for the plantains' slight banana flavor. Underneath, there are more layers: roasted tomato; more plantains in a tangy-sweet mash; asparagus bundled in bacon.
And I'm thinking more fondly about the large beef empanadas, flaky pockets spiked with ground meat, golden raisins and olives, served with thin, spunky chimichurri sauce and ranch dressing. The ranch is an odd touch, but the empanadas are Exhibit A in how deft Rana Loca's kitchen is at balancing sweet, savory and spicy. Exhibit B? Fat ham and rice fritters with mango-raisin chutney and a sauce that tastes like a cross between ketchup and smoky chipotle peppers en adobo.
There's also bistec palomillo de mireyes, flank steak with a flavorful shower of onions, lime and parsley, and a tangy foil, chayote coleslaw. I'm thinking about deliciously messy, moist chicken seared with mint, sugar and rum, with thick yucca fries on the side. It's like a South of the Border Sunday supper of roasted chicken and potatoes.
It's hard to imagine dessert after this bounty. My picks are the dense, caramelly flan and an irresistible tres leches cake so soaked with sweet milk that it dissolved in our mouths like ice cream.
These are the winners. When I've had them, I've looked at Rana Loca through rose-colored margarita glasses. Then there are other meals.
The rum-glazed shredded pork doesn't measure up. It's far too sweet. The seafood paella was lackluster, mushy rice and no socarrat, the dish's trademark caramelized crust.
And you can get better tacos on Waughtown Street. Rana Loca's are heavy on choice (assemble your own tacos, burritos, nachos and the like from a list of salsas, vegetables and fillings) but short on flavor.
The ceviche also sends mixed messages. An appetizer trio -- tuna, shrimp and mushroom -- is bathed in a sauce that has more in common with a vinaigrette than ceviche's typical bath of citrus juice. But there's a fun surprise, too: Popcorn tops the shrimp, a salty-crunchy combination that works.
The best seats are outside along the sidewalk with the night passing in a warm blur. The drink menu matches North Carolina steam: mojitos, margaritas and a wine list heavily accented by South America and Iberia (an aromatic albarino, Portuguese vinho verde). The margaritas are stout and strong, but the menu's missing some made with fresh fruit -- watermelon in the summer, blood orange in the winter.
As the weather cools, your only choice is to sit inside, which, despite the open kitchen, lacks ambience. The bland interior doesn't match the feisty food and the full flavors -- though fresh paint, chalkboards and softly-colored blue and rust fabric panels have improved the feel.
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