MIXQUENIO: ASK FOR IT BY NAME.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

After having taken over the former Carlito's, a North Hollywood Mexican restaurant, Silvestre O. Orellana and his wife, Aura Marina, decided to gradually introduce Guatemalan fare. They renamed their restaurant Mixquenio while continuing to use the Carlito's menu for their Mexican food.

Consequently, you have to specify that you want Guatemalan dishes - a few of them are listed on a board daily - because customers are automatically presented with the Mexican-only menu.

At the first visit, a trio of Guatemalan offerings were listed: jocon de pollo, chiles rellenos and pepian de res con arroz.

But wait a minute - isn't the chile relleno Mexican?

Not this one.

In Guatemala, the chile is often stuffed with a pork mixture, not just cheese, as is favored in Mexico, and not cooked with an eggy batter.

It was also apparent that day from a table tent card that pupusas from El Salvador and another Salvadoran dish called picado de rabano con buche were also available.

Sitting in one of Mixquenio's comfortable booths, two of us figured that as newcomers here we might as well try all three Guatemalan efforts and start off with a couple of pupusas, the chicharron-stuffed little turnover ($1.69) and the queso y lorico-stuffed pupusa, ($1.49) filled with a cheese and Guatemalan vegetable combination. And they arrive with a deliciously refreshing curtido accompaniment, a sort of Central American vinegared coleslaw.

With the chunky, red salsa (delivered earlier with crispy tortilla chips), the pupusas provided welcome pacification.

Chicken jocon ($6.95) comes forth in a savory dark green tomatillo sauce, and the pepian ($6.95), a tender beef dish in a rich, dark brownish sauce, has a stewlike quality with its occasional chunks of potato and squash.

Entrees here usually have a well-made portion of red sweet pepper- flecked rice and a pastelike dollop of refried black beans on the main- course plate.

And the beverage of choice is often an efficiently crafted Guatemalan brew, with a choice of at least four on hand at Mixquenio. Famosa, Moza bock, Cabro lager and Dorada draft are $3 each and all worth trying.

The beers go well with both a Central American salpicon appetizer dish ($3.95) of finely chopped chicken mixed with onions and cilantro and flavored with vinegar, and a similar mixture with chopped pork called picado de rabano, ($2.95).

From the Mexican menu, there's everything from shrimp or oysters Rockefeller to steak and lobster. Half a lobster in a fiery red sauce - called langosta a la diabla ($13.95) - provides a worthwhile diversion. But in my estimation the best fish dish is afoil-wrapped creation of both fish and shrimp in a wine sauce with cheese ($10.95) known as combinacion marinera.

Nothing much yet in the dessert category other than platanos fritos ($4.95), fried plantains with whipped cream and black bean frijoles.

And cheesecake.

Which must be kept on hand for those ordering steak and lobster.

MIXQUENIO

The restaurant: Mixquenio.

Where: 10929 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood.

When: Open for breakfast from 10 a.m. to noon daily, for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, for dinner from 3 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, from 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday, and from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday.

Recommended items: Pupusas with curtido, salpicon of pollo, pork-stuffed chiles rellenos, chicken jocon, pepian of beef, fish and shrimp cooked in foil with wine sauce and cheese, Guatemalan beers.

How much: Breakfasts from $4 to $7, special lunch menu with everything under $8, dinner starters from $1.69 to $18, entrees from $7 to $40, dessert $5. Beer and wine. All major credit cards except Discover.

Wine list: Limited. Server tells you what's in stock. Suggest Guatemalan, Salvadoran or Mexican beers instead.

Reservations: Helpful, especially with large parties. Call [phone].

Our rating: Three stars for food; three stars for service.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Dishes from Mixquenio include, clockwise from foreground left, the tomatillo-sauced chicken jocon, a fiery lobster a la diabla and the stewlike pepian of beef, all complemented by a variety of Guatemalan beers.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer