Los Feliz, Please

Saturday night, we headed to the LES to celebrate Matt's last year in his 20s.  Jen, ever the superior restaurant/location scout, chose Los Feliz as home to the festivities.  I knew I was in for a big night when I grabbed what I thought was an extensive wine list to discover that it was a list of the nearly 100 tequilas served.  Since tequila seemed to be their specialty, I figured it was not time to monkey with tradition and started the night with a hibiscus margarita (or three).

The restaurant is divided into three floors, each with a unique feel.  Go down one flight of stairs and you'll find yourself in the cavern-like dining room; one more flight down places you in the small, trendier lounge that somehow reminded me of Havana with the pink walls and beige couches (not that I've ever been to Havana, but I imagine/hope that's what it looked like in its heyday). 

Before toasting to the birthday boy in the lounge area, we ate a wonderful meal that I feel the need to describe to you.  We started with some chips with guac and creamy salsa for the table.  Dave and I then split a huitlacoche (pronounced: we-la-co-chay) soup.  Huitlacoche is a Mexican truffle that grows between corn kernels [best] during a drought.  Dave and I became obsessed with a similar soup at a wedding we attended in October so when we saw the dish on the menu, we couldn't pass it up.  In one spoonful, my happy tastebuds were taken right back to that fabulous San Diego wedding.  This version kicked it up a notch with some jalapeno and crab meat, very welcome additions.  After the soup, we split two orders of tacos (from a list of about 10 varieties).  Each order comes with two small tacos, in our case, filled with scallop and chorizo.  For the first time in my Mexican eating history, I was full but not overstuffed, which is a pleasant feeling before a night of partying.  The best part is that the pre-tax/tip food bill only came to $28 for the two of us!  Of course, the drinks increased the bill substantially, but I still thought it was a very good deal for such yummy food.