TERRY’S PICKY PALATE /A Frita burger and chocolate shake at Frita’s Cuban Burger Cafe

BY TERRY SCHMIDA

I have to admit, I’d been looking forward to this meal for a long time.

Every time I’ve walked by Frita’s Burger Cafe, located at 425 Southard St., the succulent smells of spicy Cuban and Mexican foods has drawn me to the door, like a moth to a light bulb.

And though I’d stopped in for a quick bite now and again, I’d never actually sampled the restaurant’s eponymous offering, the Frita burger.

And so I was pleased as punch to discover upon my most recent visit that it was just this menu item that owner Marcia Weaver had selected for me to feast upon.

The Frita, in its purest form consists of a beef and pork patty, served upon a freshly baked Cuban roll, and seasoned with onion, a tomato-based sauce, and homemade potato sticks. Variations available at Frita’s include a vegetarian option with a panko-encrusted portabello mushroom, a crispy fried chicken offering, a Frita Garlic Shrimp Burger, and a Gaucho Burger, featuring all-beef patty with chimi churri sauce and guava ketchup.

There’s also the “Frita Confundita,” or “Confused Frita,” which adds mojo pork, and Caribbean slaw to the original recipe.

For my dining pleasure, Weaver ordered me the original Frita with a fried egg on top, as well as a chocolate milkshake.

She couldn’t have chosen better.

The addition of the pork in the patty contributes more flavor to the burger than the straight-up beef variety, and truly does complement the Spanish spices and onions adorning the roll. It’s delicious, and truly lives up to the “explosion of flavor” billing mentioned on the menu. The house-made potato sticks are savory and crunchy.

“It really does contain layers of flavor,” Weaver said. “That was what really struck me about the Frita when I had my first one. It’s a little sweet, but also has some heat.”

The milkshake too is fantastic, crafted as it is, with locally-made Flamingo Crossing ice cream. One taste, and I’m back at the soda fountain of my youth, in 1970s Toronto. It was rich, creamy, and splendiferously sweet.

A sign on the door at Frita’s states “Come on in . . . We’re awesome!”

And that’s no lie.

See you next time, Marcia!

Frita’s Cuban Burger Cafe is open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday; from 8 a.m. to midnight, Friday and Saturday, and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.