Quick bite: Tonny's

All I knew about Tonny's was that it is a great favorite of Jonathan Gold's and somewhere, in the dark crevices of my brain, lurked a mention of their chile verde. I've been craving chile verde ever since someone (you know who you are) went to New Mexico last week and failed to cart home a vat of enchiladas covered in the stuff. Actually, it turns out that Mexican Mexican chile verde, like at Tonny's, is green mostly by virtue of tomatillos rather than the digestive-system-scouring New Mexican kind, which is made with large quantities of fresh green chiles. Nonetheless, Tonny's green chile with pork is a wonderfully tart yet rich version which pairs nicely with their homemade corn tortillas. It's not very photogenic, though, so the photo is of Matt's caldo de res, a simple beef soup which is comforting on a foggy night after you've just watch dour Joy Division members wandering around Manchester in Control. Tonny's is only open until 10 at night -- stodgy Pasadena didn't care for their former 24 hour schedule -- but the good news is that they open at 6 am every day, just in case you need some chilequiles or catfish 'n eggs at an early hour. Service is very friendly, and the aguas frescas with fresh fruit and fruit milkshakes are refreshing. We like Tonny's, and I'll bet the folks in Manchester wish they had one there, too.
Tonny's Restaurant
843 E. Orange Grove Blvd. (near Lake)
Pasadena
(626) 797-0866