Day 80: La Velvet Margarita Cantina

I arrived in Los Angeles with the Strategic Taco Undertakings Director on Saturday evening with just enough time to grab about 5 drinks at the hotel bar before heading across Hollywood to La Velvet Margarita Cantina for dinner with my sisters and the one and only Dash Nash. Camel had chosen this trendy spot for it's L.A. atmosphere as well as it's tasty taco offerings. After checking in with the pony-tailed matre-d, we headed to the bar to wait for our table. This place was covered in crazy blue and pink lighting, and above the bar was a strange collection of puppets encased in clear containers filled with some sort of liquid. The liquid was being circulated somehow, and made the puppets sway and gyrate in a very disconcerting manner. Slightly scary! I ordered a round of drinks from one of the midget bartenders (I'm not sure if they were actually midgets because the floor behind the bar was lower that the restaurant floor, but it looked like this might be a clever ploy to cover up their small stature and fool me into thinking the bartenders were regular sized people standing on a sunken floor) which arrived just in time for us to move on to the table. Chicken tacos were the order of the day, and came paired with beans and rice. Delicious. After our Mexican dinner feast was over, we headed to Republic (a persnickety Hollywood club that Dupe's roommate got us into. Thanks Chase) to complete the full L.A. experience. Sadly, there was no drunken Britney sighting, but there are some great pictures of Senor Salty out and about in Los Angeles. You can find them in the new "Photo Gallery" section on thedailytaco.com home page. All around a great weekend getaway for The Daily Taco!

Day 79: T-Bell

With a 2:15 departure from SFO to San Diego this afternoon, I figured it would be prudent to get a safety taco in my system in case things went awry in the Gaslamp District tonight (I know that sounds unlikely, but better safe than sorry when it comes to The Daly Taco). A quick stop by T-Bell in Millbrae after taking care of some business at Peninsula hospital was just the ticket for acquiring a tasty taco. I figured I would go for the gusto and had a Spicy Chicken Crunch Wrap Supreme and a bean burrito thrown in for good measure. Man, those crunch wraps really are good! That being said, it was really the taco that that stole the show. Crunchy, cheezy, and delicious, I felt confident I had made the right call by making a stop at T-Bell.

Day 78: Gordo

What else can I say about Gordo. Always exciting! Always tasty! Today: grilled chicken with black beans and guac! It makes ne wonder how I could ever let a month go by between Gordo visits!!!

Day 77: Impala

In case you are ever craving tacos on a Wednesday night, and only a fancy place with no wait will suffice, look no further than Impala. I had been to this club-like restaurant a few times before, but always for its late night party atmosphere (never for its food). As it had always been crowded on my previous trips (regardless of the day), I expected to find a moderately sized crowd tonight even though it was the middle of the week. You can imagine my surprise when, at 7:15PM, Impala was empty! Now, I'm not talking "20% of the tables were full and there were a couple of people at the bar" empty. I'm talking "there was no one in the entire restaurant except employees" empty. And it was just has empty upon departure at 8:45PM. I found this to be very strange considering the tacos were extremely tasty. I chose a fish and a pork, and both were very good. Perched on corn tortillas, and covered in Mexican queso, savory sauce, lettuce, and salsa, both of my dinner choices pleased my palate in a very satisfying manner.

Day 76: Casa de Senor Salty; Part Trois

Since Saturday nights meal with my sister, the leftover leftovers had been taunting me relentlessly from the fridge. Everytime I opened the refridgerator door, the pungent smell of carne, salsa, and crema would waft out, and my mouth would begin to water has thoughts of my delicious tacos danced through my head. Tuesday night I gave in to temptation, and made one last taco before my tasty creations outlived their edible-ness.

Day 75: Rico's

After a rough Monday at work, a quick trip to Rico's was all I had left in me. Seated at any outside table to enjoy the surprisingly warm evening (relatively speaking), the Executive Producer, the Hype Director, and I enjoyed a delicious combo of carnitas tacos and Mexican beer while relaxing under the pitch black night sky (it was 6:15PM).

Day 74: Tortilla Heights

After being berated by some very adamant Daily Taco fans for not having visited Tortilla Heights yet, Sunday provided a great opportunity to rectify the situation. After an early morning meal at Mel's (2:30AM to be exact), I was able to stave off hunger until 5:30 Sunday evening. This was a fortunate coincidence since that was the time I was supposed to meet my parents and sister at Tortilla Heights for tacos. My sister and I arrived at the restaurant (Divisadero and Bush) to find my parents already seated in the bar at a table with any unobstructed view of the football game. Has I ordered a Dos Equis and began to peruse the menu, I was surprised to see that the menu looked very similar to the offerings at Nick's Crispy Tacos! Apparently the same Dude owns both places. Needless to say, everyone ordered their tacos Nick's way, and Sunday night was a successful foray into uncharted (yet previously charted at the same time) tasty taco territory (that, my friends, is what they call in the Biz alliteration)!