Dominican frying at counter speed. The menu is built around pica pollo, chicken marinated and fried to order with a side and salad, and around yaroa, which layers fries or ripe yellow plantain under chicken or beef and then buries the whole thing in melted cheese and pink sauce.

Comparisons to poutine are unavoidable and roughly fair. Past those two: picalonga, a plate of mixed fried pork, chicken and beef with ear and tripe in onion sauce; chicharrón; breaded chicken fillets; empanadas; and juices pressed from passion fruit, tamarind and lemon. Group formats run to a fried chicken order sized for four and a fritura platter stacked with pork, sausage and beef. Where the city's other Dominican kitchens work in stews and sit-down plates, Melo stays on the street-food side of the tradition.