This used to be one of my favorite restaurants, good flavorful food, moderate prices, friendly helpful service. In the evenings the place is LOUD almost brainsplittingly so, but for the yound and nervous, that energy is great.
The food has seriously gone south over the last year. Tasteless black beans, overly salted pintos. Meager portions of soup (the "bowl" would be a cup anywhere else). The kitchen provides tiny almost useless amounts of sides like cilantro and cabbage (5 strands of cabbage for a soft taco plate? Clueless in the kitchen? Yes.).
Flat barely flavored fajitas, greasy "roasted" vegetables that also taste flat.
The only part of the meal that seemed truely authentic was the coffee. It reminded me of the sort of coffee that you came across along a remote section of Route 40 when you stopped at a dust covered souveneir mart and gas station, the coffee that has been cooking all day in a Westbend maker. Concentrated, bitter, foul. The only thing missing was a dead fly floating in it. Quite possibly the worst coffee in LA.
On the plus side, the chips are good as is the salsa that is served with it. The staff in friendly and helpful, if overwhelmed. They will all be deaf in later life.
There is a fun energy to the place despite the food. But hey, few people are really going there to eat.
We used to be regulars and used to recommend to our friends, but can't do that now. We may stop back in a few months to see if the owners have made corrections as all of these problems are due to management decisions.
But I suspect that management really doesn't care if the meals are good, just so long as the bar keeps generating money.
Pros: Lost of energy at the bar, lots of happy young people
Cons: Poor quality food, the worst coffee in Los Angeles (I hope)
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