Lare's

If there's one place that survives the LA nuclear holocaust, I hope it's Lare's on Pico. Best goddam carne asada taco I've ever eaten...and I've eaten a lot of carne asada tacos.

Looking at a Mexican restaurant menu is always a little misleading. Let's be honest, all the dishes are made with similar or the same ingredients - a carne asada taco ain't fundamentally different from a carne asada burrito, just the ingridients are mixed a little different. But chances are a place that makes a good asada burrito will also make a good asada taco.

Because of what I'll call the similarity factor, I often have trouble ordering at Mexican restaurants because it's almost like - well what's the frigging difference. I usually go for tacos over burritos at sit down and go for burritos over tacos at take out - just a little policy I've developed for myself.

Then there's the choice between asada, lengua, potato, chicken, and beef tacos. When the waiter comes I ask him, "What taco or enchilada do you recommend?"

Without hesitation he responds, "Asada. You want taco and enchilada?"

I say, "I didn't see that on the menu."

He said, "We make it for you."

"Perfect."

Great waiter. When I ask for the waiter to recommend a dish I loathe the response, "Well, do you like chicken or steak better?" or "It depends on you..."

Hey, fuckface, if I preferred one over the other, I would order it and not ask you. When I ask for a dish recommendation, I know what chicken is like and I know what steak is like....what I'm asking is whether your chicken a better chicken or is your steak a better steak. This waiter understood this implicity and had no hesitation in answering. I like this guy. I like people who know what they are talking about. And of course, when the taco comes, it's fucking unbelievable.