Thriving restaurants are dime-a-dozen; especially within the business districts, and often where you choose to eat is based on convenience of when hunger strikes. Most every establishment has a posted Menu of the Day which will include eight varieties of meats, the same number of side-dish accompaniments, and at least two soups to choose from. A loaded plate, with meat and two sides, usually costs $5 from 10:00am-4:00pm, and sometimes includes drink. These selections are in addition to extensive menus offering poultries, fish, meats and seafoods ranging from $7-$25 per plate with choices of rices, beans, and any number of Caribbean vegetables and fruits.

Menus are bilingual, and most everywhere has daily items laid-out on steam tables. If it eases comfort levels, find a restaurant where the displayed foods are within close viewing range. This allows seeing what looks good as well as pointing if you don't know what you're ordering, or the clerk doesn't speak much English. Most every establishment has counter-top service which I highly recommend. For what islanders excel in for hospitality, they lack in customer service, and waiting for a server to appear at a dining room table may take forever.

One of my favorite restaurants is 27 de Febrero named after the Dominican Independence Day. It's conveniently located at 1242 St. Nicholas Ave., between 172nd/173rd, and a welcomed stop when indulging the shopping district. You can't go wrong with their pernil asado (pork roast), and a pile of yellow rice, salad, and boiled yucca or fried plantains for $5. Tropical fruit shakes are $3, plus there's a full-service bar. The place is usually quiet on late-afternoons, and also makes for an interesting browse with artifacts decorating walls.

However, don't be surprised if you never make it into one of the local restaurants. Dominicans have an engrained tendency for gorging in the streets, and there's certainly no shortage of opportunities; especially along St. Nicholas Ave. Crowded amid sidewalk merchants, vendors peddling any number of frituras (deep-fried fritters), hot dogs and kabobs, and homemade dulces; milk fudges, candied fruits, and other mouth-watering sweets. Nothing rarely costs over $1, and is definitely a junk-food splurge which can be a meal unto itself!

For those looking to munch healthier, tropical fruits are sold in abundance already prepared for eating on-the-spot, or for taking home. Coco frio are the chilled coconuts vendors will hack with a machete, and insert straw for slurping the refreshing waters.

Sandy Restaurant, located on the northwest corner of 116th St./2nd Ave. is one of the few local eateries with ample space for sit-down dining. Serving huge portions for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the only thing deterring from this diner''''s island ambiance are city views out the windows.

Daily lunch specials include a free drink and range from $4.75-$6.00. My favorite stand-bys are the Pernil Asado; marinated roasted pork for $6.50, or the Chicharron de Pollo; marinated fried chicken chunks for $7.50. The menu, in Spanish/English, has no less than 18 other meat selections and 17 seafood dishes including several varieties of shrimp and lobster - priced a bit more between $12.00 - $17.00. All entrees are served with your choice of rice and beans, or tostones/fried plaintain chips, or french fries, and salad.

For those with smaller appetites, hearty soups with meats or seafoods can be more than a meal; a small bowl costing $2.50 or large for $4.00. There''''s also a long list of sandwiches made from deli cuts, or the roasted pork or chicken for an average of $3.00. And don''''t forget to save room for dessert: Flan de Huevo (Carmel Custard) which costs $1.00.

Selecting your beverage of choice should also extend beyond the usuals of soft drinks or tea. Large tropical juices including pineapple, tamarindo, ajonjoli (sesame), coconut are $1.00 a glass, or have a papaya, mango, mamey apple or guanabana/soursop milk shake for $2.50.

During this last visit, I''''d already eaten when rediscovering La Fonda Boricua; a once hole-in-the-wall diner which acquired the building next door and has expanded remodeling into a very chic and trendy restaurant that looked all but out of place for East Harlem. The interior was dark with exposed brick or hardwood walls; a long wooden bar for countertop dining or plenty of tables available, too.

They have no printed menu...which might discourage patrons not familiar with the typical types of Latino cuisine, though one can stand outside on the sidewalk and see basically everything that''''s being served.

The restaurant is located at 169 East 106th St. (between Lexington/3rd Ave.) just behind Blockbuster video.