El Coyote Spanish Cafe

Contributor

Citysearch

The Scene
Born of the gringo Mexican craze of the 1930s (which also spawned Olvera Street's tienda look), this joint has all the trimmings: black velvet paintings, Christmas lights galore and waitresses in embroidered folk dresses. Families, college kids and gay dinner dates keep the place packed at all hours.

The Food
The cuisine is firmly grounded in canned beans, salsa roja that resembles stewed tomatoes and limpid pools of cheddar cheese. It's far from authentic Mexican--that's the point. It's big, it's cheap, it's fun and it's there to buffer the effects of damn fine margaritas. Entrees run the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime. Named after the restaurant's first regular customer, the enchiladas Howard are two burly cheese enchiladas drowned in chunkified chili con carne. Instead, order sweet, buttery green corn tamales that are available year-round and easily give El Cholo a run for its pesos.