For me, the happy bite would be more about the skin! And maybe in learning the magic of a dab of hoisin sauce. 
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This taqueria in my hometown. It closed a few times over the years but the family always found a way to reopen. I believe now it’s three cousins/siblings running it who were always there since I was a kid.
There would be long periods where we’d have it a few times a month or even once a week, then periods of silence. Most times the space would stay empty but once another restaurant opened in its place. That was the saddest, when I thought it was gone forever.
As a child it was easy to forget but those cravings would come and go, and I’d wish the taqueria was still there. I would realize it had been many years since I last ate there and wonder how time went by so fast.
Then my dad or mom would come home out of nowhere and say, guess whats open again!
And it felt like a great mystery of the universe was solved
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@butteredwaffles These little things connecting so deeply in our memories, it becomes a special part of us. They also make good stories!
I came back to my hometown in Asia hunting for places I still remember when I was little, and somehow a few things still tasted somewhat the same. No need for truffle, nor caviar at all time, just some very, very precious memories so close to my heart. The ultra delicate but simple rice dumplings, or tiny bowl of tofu pudding with the best texture and clarity that doesn’t exist in the U.S, or the plain and simple but fresh AF seafood grill on charcoal with a bit of salt and lime… Sometimes, the simplest and possibly very cheap/ordinary things stay in our memories so well 
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exactly 
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Yeah baby!
As usual one of @Dommy’s posts is giving me lotsa recs & ideas. I like living near her, lol.
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Yep, you’re giving me something (besides beans) to do with the leftover birria consommé sitting in the freezer.
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Oh that’s a good one.
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Crostini! Canapé! Whatever you want to call it. Stuff on top of toasty rounds of bread and rich savory things stuffed in bite sized pastries are my jam!
Reading early food memories from @butteredwaffles @Armillaria @hungryhungryhippos et al makes my happy bites a two-parter…
Moving from a suburban bedroom community in Connecticut (Swanson TV dinners, cube steak & mashed potatoes, Oscar Mayer, all things Stouffer’s) to the coast of Cape Cod - my happiest bites were discovering big belly fried clams, lobsta rolls, clam chowda and linguica! 
Describing happiest bites since moving to the melting pot that is L.A. would take a whole other post! 
Good thread @Armillaria.
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I just had a flashback to being in middle school and thinking, I should probably start eating Hungry Man frozen dinners now.
I had moved beyond Kid Cuisine
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I remember very clearly what many of my favorite foods as a kid tasted like, except I recall them with my adult taste buds, so instead of nostalgic they’re mostly disgusting.
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Thank you @TheCookie
It’s my favorite time of the year to savor all the happiest bits I can remember. I hope that more family gatherings will talk about these good memories instead of any troubles or dramas 
I can go on and on and on about all my favorite bites and stories about them until the end of time 
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@lectroid growing up in Asia, I was so foreign to it when I came to the States. Learning about these a bit too late, I couldn’t find a tangible connection to some of the classic nostalgic food. I have a lot more to experience!
Just for fun, I lived walking distance from this madness. Taka does has decent sashimi comparing to others around the area.
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The first time I have guacamole, my life was literally changed. My dad only smashed them with ice and condensed milk as a dessert in Asia. I lost interest in avocado growing up because there were too many interesting fruits around… until I found out about Guac. That and the moment I discovered Tacos! It’s so great growing up sometimes.
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This!! Is this the place? Primos Tacos
(Nope, it’s not!!)
The right place: https://www.instagram.com/primostacos_la/
I didn’t grow up with chicken pot pie as a baby but always remembered it as my favorite while being a expired teenager in the Midwest 
Soup and Pie, and chicken, what a happy marriage 
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I was ten years old . Mostly raised by the Italian family across the street. Papa worked . Mama was continually in the hospital with heart issues.
Sparrows stuffed with herbs and bread . Served over polenta.
Prepared and cooked by nonna.
Birds were harvested with bb guns.
Never forget the taste.
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Funny!
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I was too, raised by my neighbors… Who did the harvesting with that bb guns?
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A part of me denies to grow up so I still eat some of my kid cuisine stapes from time to time 
I don’t think I can move on without them. Steam flat rice dumplings with shrimps, steam bun with pork and Chinese sausage… Sometime I just crave for plain rice balls fresh and hot from grandma hands, dipping in a mix of sesame, salt and sugar, oh, and fried Asian sesame hollow donut…
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Doug , David , the sons of the matriarch.My best friends and myself.
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