The main thing we miss about moving away from Chicago is proliferation of taquerias there – you could pretty much throw a stone and hit a taqueria on every corner. Sadly, we had pretty much given up on the taqueria-style Mexican food in the area, but we found a shining beacon of hope in the unlikeliest of places – Akron. It’s true – La Loma Taqueria (459 Darrow Rd, Akron, OH 44305) in Akron makes some of the best al pastor this side of Clark street. La Loma is located in a nondescript strip mall on the outskirts of Akron, a pretty unlikely location for crazy delicious and authentic tacos.
What led us to La Loma were reports of a trompo in this location – the gyro-esque spit that is required to make a proper al pastor taco. Surely enough, when we entered the taqueria we were greeted by the fully loaded trompo! In terms of tacos La Loma delivers on value and variety. At a very reasonable $1.50 each, it is feasible to try all of the meat options: carne asada, barbacoa, chorizo, chicken or tongue. We tried both al pastor and chorizo, our go-to taqueria order. Other options available with the same meats include burritos, tortas on homemade telera bread, quesadilla, flautas, sopes and tamales. 
The tacos were the real deal – served on small, fresh corn tortillas, they were topped with the requisite onion and cilantro. Plus, there was a healthy slice of fresh pineapple – the holy grail of al pastor tacos – which is sometimes left off at other taquerias. The pork was spicy and the outside was well-charred, like we prefer. As a plus, there is even an impeccably clean store attached to the taqueria selling a variety of Mexican and other Latin American foods and sundries. We snagged some dried guajillo peppers and Mexican cinnamon sticks, staples we needed for recipe production. La Loma’s one flaw is that it is located a bit of a drive from where we live. However, we know we will be back when the inevitable, insatiable taco craving hits.
We are serious about our coffee (well at least one of the two of us is) so we were extremely excited to hear about the opening of Sawada Coffee (112 N Green St, Chicago, IL 60607). The small coffee bar, which is actually located inside of the BBQ spot Green Street Smoked Meats, is a collaboration between restaurateur 
Rincon Criollo (
There is nothing we love more than a bookstore/cafe combo, and though they are already popular in other parts of the world, it seems that more and have been popping up in the US recently. A good example of this trend is 
Today is celebrated Scottish poet 
One thing we love about NYC is that there is food from literally corner of the globe. However, even for us, finding a Bhutanese restaurant is something of a coup. Bhutan is a notoriously difficult country to enter and doesn’t have a very large population, but there is a small Bhutanese community in NYC, as evidenced by Bhutanese Ema Datsi (67-21 Woodside Ave., Woodside (Queens), NY 11377).
When we are traveling, there is nothing we like more than checking out the top spots in all the towns we visit. We drove to New York this fall, and on the way we stopped in Philadelphia. And as we heard, the top place to go when in Philadelphia is Zahav (237 St James Pl, Philadelphia, PA). Zahav has gotten a lot of 
Yemeni cuisine sits at the crossroads of Turkish, East African and Arabic culinary influences, which proves to be a delicious mix. There have been a few Yemeni restaurants in Chicago that have come and gone, however, we heard consistently good things about Shibam City (4807 N. Elston Ave., Chicago), formerly known as Salah & Said). Shibam City is named after a
One of our favorite carb & filling combos is the Salvadorean pupusa, which just may be one of the ultimate comfort foods. Katerina’s Pupuseria (1409 Brookpark Rd., Cleveland, OH) is certainly located off the beaten path, and it seems to do double duty as a banquet hall and a bar. There is even a pool table, which was empty when we got there at 1 PM, probably a little before typical party time. The inside is very cute, filled with little seating coves, decorative blue and yellow tiles and Salvadorean trinkets.
This was also our first time trying Salvadorean horchata, which is different than the Mexican version, and is made from 
No. 1. One quart (pompkin) stewed and strained, 3 pints cream, 9 beaten eggs, sugar, mace, nutmeg, ginger, laid into paste No. 7 or 3, and with a dough spur, cross and chequer, and baked in dishes three quarters of an hour.
At first glance, Bedouin Tent (405 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217) looks like any other Middle Eastern restaurant tucked into a corner of Brooklyn, but if you look a little closer at the menu you will realize that it also has an assortment of Jordanian specialties, marked as “Bedouin.” The inside of Bedouin Tent is reflective of its name, and is brightly decorated with orange textiles. There is also a pleasant outdoor area, which we found slightly too cold to utilize, though others braved the chill. Glass lanterns leant a nice ambiance, though you can see it was still a bit dark.
Eating The World 