RICE “N” BEANS

744 9th Avenue
[C, E to 50th & 8th; 1, 2 to 50th & Broadway]
http://ricenbeansrestaurant.com/media/websiternb.html
Between my passion for all things Brazilian (Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Portoguese) and my passion for all things Thiago (who was – and still is – Brazilian), I got mad about this place. Thiago and I kept trying to meet up for lunch (and not lose our jobs or go broke) while working during the summer. Also, Thiago was trying to show off his country to me – or at least, their cuisine. After a false start (notably a super expensive and way haughty Portuguese restaurant that shall remain nameless), Rice N Beans became our mainstay; not to mention a running joke we held against all Latinos forever.
Its narrow, intimate and cheap; kind of reminds me of me. Oh – and I LOVE their hot sauce; I almost had to sing about it. But I won’t.