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Review content:
My girlfriend and I have been twice, and it's been pretty good each time -- nothing mindblowing. We go for the strong garlic oil, for health reasons -- because the garlic seems to help clear minor infections. I had the pesto on linguine tonight, and didn't really like it. It was overcooked, and the pesto was either ground up too much, or something weird was up with it, because it's an eerie, watery green color. Be sure to request al dente, or it'll come out soft like I got it. I suspect this squishy-noodle is an LA thing, because it's happened to me before. Maybe I just look like someone who likes mushy noodles. (Yech. Get with it.) Despite these gripes, I suspect I'll be back, because, so far, it's been pretty tasty. Even this pesto, I ate 80% of the plate.\r
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Previously, I had the eggplant Parmesan, and it was very good. The garlic oil is good - it's just mediocre olive oil with garlic, but it's so strong that the overwhelming spicyness disguises the plain oil. Likewise, the bread is so-so, but it's so fresh that it trumps other breads. A 30 minute-old loaf of any bread will beat an 8-hour old bag of expensive artisinal bread, almost every time.\r
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That's the genius of Alejo's, and why it tastes homemade: it's simple, but gets to you as it's made, just like at home, or at a good restaurant. Unfortunately, there are too many restaurants that fail on that count, serving up cold bread, old pasta, and otherwise don't go through a final stage of prep and heating.
Pros: no surprises, nothing that bad
Cons: nothing superlative
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