Brushed aluminum furniture, a viewable kitchen, and quite good Brazilian fare are the hallmarks here. Start with an empanada bursting with steaming chicken or beef, or the frito misto de peixes, delicately fried seafood with pepper sauce. Tender short ribs (braised for four hours) come over fried polenta and pão de queijo (cheese bread), and a shrimp-and-whitefish dish in coconut milk is served with rice, plantains, and farofa (toasted yucca flour). Modestly priced wines by the glass.

 

Best Sandwiches, February 2006

 

The Italo-Brazilian Braziribs sandwich at Tropicalia rates high as one of L.A.’s most intemperate edibles. On a foundation of crunchy-crusted bread from Bauducco’s (a popular Westlake Village bakery) sits a tower of rich, fall-apart-tender short ribs, the result of a three-hour braising in a chile-infused broth. A generous slice of provolone gilds this hefty lily.