Torta Boyz

At most Mexican tables the torta is a supporting act — the thing you add when the tacos alone won't carry the meal. Torta Boyz was built on the opposite premise. The pressed, overstuffed sandwich is the headliner here, and the name says so plainly: come for the torta, and let the rest of the order arrange itself around it. The kitchen runs out of a compact dinner room on Preston Street, in the middle of Ottawa's Little Italy, where Mexican street food has set up a few doors from the neighbourhood's Italian dining rooms and made the corner its own. It is street food given a proper sit-down evening — handhelds you would expect from a truck window, served with reservations, cocktails and a table to settle into.

The torta lineup carries the argument. The Carne Asada Torta is the flagship — grilled steak, melted cheese, avocado spread, onions and a creamy sauce on a crusty bun — and it makes the clearest first-visit case for what the kitchen is after. The Tinga De Pollo Torta runs softer and smokier, shredded chicken in a chipotle-tomato sauce that keeps the bread saucy without surrendering its structure. The Al Pastor Torta leans on marinated pork, and the Colifl Torta opens a plant-forward lane, crispy cauliflower under green and red sauces. The fries pull their own weight: Asada Fries come loaded with queso, pico, guacamole, crema, cotija, cilantro and onion, a fork-first order that works as a shared opener or the whole reason for the visit. Tacos fill the edges — al pastor, campechano, carnitas, fish — and churros with dulce de leche and fresh fruit close things out.