Los Bravos

I have tried other places in the area for Spanish food but it was my first time here. It was a good thing that i have been to places like Fernandez in Holyoke because their menu here was totally in Spanish, so i knew what to order. All their choices are visible to you at the counter, so you can basically point to what you want if their is a language barrier.
I chose Spanish pork along with rice and beans.
Pork was a little dry and not very flavorful as i have been accustomed to in the past with Spanish pork. Rice and beans were average.
I should warn others who may try this place that the oversize jars that they keep on table, which are full of garlic, peppers, oil, is very spicy.
I was having a heck of time getting oil to come out of jar, and decided to take stopper out and pour oil on top of pork. «Two bottles of water please, to go»

Being an Arizonan desperate for Mexican food, I figured a stop into Los Bravos would abate the cravings. I don’t/didn’t know too much about Puerto Rican cuisine, so I was definitely in for a surprise.
The parking is very limited (right off of a BUSY St. James Avenue), and the seating inside is small, but accommodating. They are handicapped accessible. You can order off-​menu or off the hot food line, not unlike your local grocer’s deli. Since I had no idea what to order, I simply pointed to something on the hot food line– is this pork? beef? «No, chicken.”– and got a side of rice to go with it. I did recognize the words «Tres Leches» on the menu, and asked for a slice of that… though the language barrier required several attempts.
What I think I ended up getting was pollo asado and white rice (can’t be sure, due to the point and pick). The pollo asado was nicely flavored and the sauce picked up an otherwise bland pile of rice. There were quite a few tiny chicken bones scattered throughout the to-​go box, so eat with caution! The tres leches cake was «OK», definitely not top-​notch, but passable. I also got an India grape soda– a bit different than Crush in that it has a coconut flavor to it.
For a little over $ 10, I got a pretty tasty bite to eat for lunch (including dessert). I may not be back that often, but Los Bravos is still an A-​OK place to check into, in my book.

I got a tip from a Puerto Rican chef working in a local college about this place so naturally I was intrigued and paid Los Bravos a visit. I was there that day only for a quick snack, nothing major and ordered an alcapurria which is a fried ground meat fritter of the following tubers: yuca, green bananas or green plantains. I can’t say for sure what the mixture was but I can tell you for sure that it was very good. The exterior was extremely crunchy and the meat filling very nicely flavored with Island spices. I ordered a Malta India soft drink to wash it down and was particularly pleased with the delightfully subtle malt beverage flavor. I will go back for lunch one day as I was very interested in the large verity of prepared beef, pork, chicken, goat, fish and rice dishes I saw on the serving line. This place is destined, I believe, for a Four Star review and should be considered very Auténtica comida Puertorriqueña.