I ask for and receive a lot of restaurant recommendations from Bites readers. But one person whose opinion I always listen to is Ed King. You may know him as a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the
writer of that Southern anthem, "Sweet Home Alabama."Despite the fact that in my younger day I made a lot of money $50 at a time playing that song in cover bands (I guess I still owe Ed some royalties), I know him as a resource for finding some of the region's best small restaurants and greasy spoons. If I see a comment from Ed on Bites or Yelp, you can bet I'll start mapping out a visit.
Although he is still recovering from a heart transplant back in January, Ed continues to hunt down new restaurant finds with his wife Sharon. Knowing that he grew up in North Hollywood, where he was a founding member of the Strawberry Alarm Clock, when Ed emailed me with his latest Central American restaurant find, I was confident he knew of which he spoke.
Not that he made it easy, since neither one of us actually knew then name of the place, which is located deep in the Nations neighborhood of West Nashville. It had previously been known as El Mana, but had recently changed ownership and name. Fortunately, we could find the address by the old name and agreed to meet up for lunch. Now named Taqueria y Pupuseria Lupita, the tiny four-table restaurant is less than impressive from the road, and still difficult to find if you don't have the info that it's across the street from the West Dragon Kung Fu Family Martial Arts Center. So now you know. ...
The menu could hardly be simpler or more affordable, with tacos, sopes, gorditas, mulitas and pupusas available in several varieties, none for more than $3. There are also some more traditional gringo favorites like burritos and quesadillas available, but you'll pay more like six bucks for them, and you'd miss out on the highlights anyway. If you're looking for a place to buy a burrito and gorge yourself on chips and salsa preset on the table, there are plenty of other options in town for that.
