Parada 22 is a brick and mortar in the Upper Haight that neighbors its cousin, Cha Cha Cha. And cousins they are, literally, for Cha Cha Cha (and Boogaloos) is owned by restaurateur Philip Belber who is a cousin of Parada 22 owner, Gloria Pinette. For the last six months, Parada 22 has been setting up camp in hungover hipster vegetarian favorite Sunday morning Mission hangout, Boogaloo’s. Parada 22 has taken over with their pop-up, serving Gloria Pinette’s Comida Puertorriquena recipes to the Mission masses. 

A little taken aback by it being 6PM and the joint empty, I had no option but to review that statement as, “just before the rush.” No sooner had I sat down had customers started trailing in, some stopped in their tracks by the sight of a myriad of bright PR flags throughout the premises. As their curiosity struck, they glanced at the menu placed in the window, and came inside. They were swiftly greeted and seated by the sole front of the house employee who was working his magic throughout the restaurant, his FOH abilities impressive.

As many of my experiences in PR restaurants, the pillars of our cuisine — our national dish and another that we only consume on special occasions — were not present on the menu. No pasteles and no arroz con gandules. My dining companion’s mofongo de camarones came molded, but free of its usual miniature pilon (wooden mortar) serving vessel, and we settled on it being served with shrimp…as chicharrón wasn’t on the menu. The five shrimp on the platter were incredibly flavorful, relying mostly on the sofrito, and cooked well. The masa was bordering on heavily saturated near gummy texture.

I had the $12.50 pernil asado. Slow roasted pork shoulder marinated in garlic, oregano and sofrito. Sofrito is the base of Puerto Rican cooking. I always have sofrito on hand; frozen in ice cube trays. No one could possibly argue that sofrito defines our nation’s cuisine. Almost every recipe begins with sofrito. Hell, I’ll add sofrito to a stir fry or a curry in a blink. Also on the plate were braised red kidney beans, white rice, maduros and a mixed green salad. When the troupe of rice, beans (with their smokey ham chunks) and pork shoulder were eaten together, it was a good match. Solo, not so entertaining.

Unfortunately, I’d have to tip my hat towards Borinquen Soul Food Truck at their achievement of the utmost satisfying circumference of crispy on their maduros. The maduros (fried ripe plantains) were supple, sweet and savory, but lacked their optimized potential to achieve crispy edges, offering only a minimal amount of crispyness. The plate lacked texture. And this could have possibly been casted aside had the pernil’s cuero (leather), its crowning glory, had made an appearance. This layer of fat that sits atop the roast mutates itself into a brittle and viscous protector,preventing the meat from drying out, but providing maximum porky flavor! This element sent my family members into a Darren McGavin caricature in A Christmas Story, sneakily tiptoeing into the kitchen to steal fragments of the roast holiday beast. I was beyond disappointed when I didn’t receive any of the cuero. Surely, if a food stand in Ireland can reserve chopped cracklin’ from their spit- roasted pig to garnish their pork sandwiches with, it is a known fact that people love crispy bits of pork and we deserve them!

All in all, I’d not only come back, I’d recommend Parada 22′s pop-up. If not to specifically request the cuero — that they’re hiding in their socks — but, to gobble down their solid tostones with mayo-ketchup. I felt a slighty internal pride eating here, but I think it mostly came from the abundance of PR flags.

Parada 22 Pop-Up
Boogaloo’s
3296 22nd St @ Valencia
[The Mission]