Los Compadres ~ Downtown Los Angeles

I've caught a couple observations over the past couple years about Spanish speaking people's in the service industry.  Whether it be at a restaurant, a bar, a trainstation or among new faces, speaking their language automatically bumps you up in the respect and friendliness scale.   

I have a million and one stories to validate my point, but I remember one specific time while in Playa Del Carmen.  I went to find a fellow American in our hostel, and found him out in the veranda attempting to speak to our roommates, who happened to be Argentinean.  He was glad to see me because we could actually have a full conversation.  So we went at it full force with the metaphors, heavy american slang, and shit talk...basically about what was gonna go down that night out at the bars.  Outta nowhere one of the Argentineans I met earlier said to me, "I like you better when you speak spanish."

hahahaah, he was just fuckin around, but I could tell he loosened up the second I responded in spanish about what my fellow american and I were speaking about.

Another instance I caught a shift in attitude was here...at Los Compadres.  Literally, "The Godfathers." But with the service I received, I'd say it means, "The Friends."

LOS COMPADRES

I came into this place freshly back from Mexico (literally had gotten off the plane late the night before) and with a Spanish speaking tongue ready for the unleashing.  I went the normal, most obvious route...

"Hola! Coma Esta?"

"Bien! Y tu?"

"Muy bien, muy bien!"

I followed by ordering my taco's in spanish, as well as asking her about the pastor(which I ordered) that was advertised as on a spit, or "trompo," out on their sign.  She could tell I was a baby rookie in spanish, so I explained that I had just come off the airplane the night before from Cancun, and how I mobbed deep to Isla Mujeres, Tulum and Playa Del Carmen.  I told her the reason I'm speaking spanish is because I want to be able to order taco's better :)  She smiled and went on about how she's learning English at the adult school up the street, so she could serve taco's better.  hahah, good times.  

She must have liked me because I straight up got the VIP treatment.  How you say?  Let's just say she didn't give me the pastor that had been cooked earlier in the morning and was sitting in a heat pan.  She went straight for a little fridge and pulled out freshly marinated pastor that was sitting in a little tupperware and threw it on the grill.  

Did you hear what I said?? I said she straight up got the REAL shit outta the VIP SECTION and cooked my food FRESH TO ORDER.  Hot off the fucking grill, straight into my buddha belly. 

She even brought the plate to my table with two different salsas.  What a sweetheart. 

I think she marinated this pastor in some magical sauce and kept it cold in some sort of wizards fridge, then cooked it on a sorcerers stove, because everything about these taco's were magic. 

Seriously, I love this.  I've said it before, but this right here is what this blogs all about people.  Finding a spot in the middle of nowhere, a random place that totally takes you by surprise and when you come out of it you feel ....happy.  

Pro's

-Friendly mom's and pop's service

-Pastor on spit in the AM thru lunchtime

-If you're friendly enough, she might give you the VIP treat

Con's

-Ninguno (none)

Taco's ~ $1.25

Los Compadres ~ 633 N. Spring St. Ste 8  Los Angeles, CA  90012

Brisa Mexicana ~ Isla Mujeres

This fucking place.  God, I could turn this post into one fat rant about how bad mexico can be when it comes to taking advantage of tourists.  But I'm not going to do that here.  I'll stick to the food.  But I will add this.  FUCK BRISA MEXICANA!  If I could drop a bomb on you, I would.  Everyone there can suck my fat hairy balls.  

ps- The host was cool though, he came thru with a late night smoke out at our hostel's beach bar.  

BRISA MEXICANA

Located at one of the busiest intersections in downtown, this spot has the location bit in the bag. At night the downtown area comes alive with tourists walking the streets and hosts hounding everybody and their mom about coming into their restaurant to eat.  That's pretty much how this place got Matt and I.  I should have known better though, what happened to my criteria about eating at non fancy, hole in the wall spots?  Ugghhh sometimes I never learn.

While Matt felt like a burger and fries, I of course ordered three taco's de carne asada.  It seemed like a good idea in retrospect, but I should have followed suit with Matt and gotten the burger.  I heard many a praise about the burger throughout our meal, while all I could think about my taco's were, "Fuck, could they have cooked this meat any worse?"  Besides the poor cooking, I noticed something I've experienced before with other mediocre restaurants.  They tend to put a shit load of whatever on the taco to make up for how bad the food really is.  Brisa put way to much cabbage on top, the tomato was thick cut and big, and they overloaded the taco with that poor excuse of what they call "asada" on top of a single store bought quality tortilla.  

This place kills me.  I thought I would never run into a place of this calibur EVER while in Mexico.  Well, I guess I was wrong.  Thanks Brisa...for making me realize that even mediocre mexican food does exist in a country where good food is around every corner.  

Pro's

-Location

Con's

-Service

-They will take advantage of you if they can

-FUCK YOU BRISA

Three Carne Asada Taco's ~ $67 pesos / $4.50 usd

Brisa Mexicana ~ Isla Mujeres

Rica Comida ~ Isla Mujeres

After a long day at the beach, we decided to do a little food tour through downtown.  Our stomachs only allowed us two spots...this place being one of them.  Our criteria for selection was simple, nothing fancy, more on the cheap side and must have taco's.  From experience, we noticed going to spots that don't seem so touristy or fancy usually provides the best food and service.

RICA COMIDA

You'd walk right by this place if you weren't on the lookout.  The decision to come here was simple.  Look at this place.  It screams authentic.  

*Click to enlarge.  It's all about simplicity people.  Easy menu..good food.

These taco's were good.  I wouldn't say the best...or anywhere close to that...but definitely dependable.   What really stood out was their pollo taco.  It tasted so fresh...I wouldn't doubt that they killed the chicken yesterday and had it ready for cooking that day.  The grilled onions added a nice flavor to the taco, while the tortilla was fresh, homemade and a bit crunchy...a first for me when it comes to "soft" taco's.  

My only drawback to this place was they only provided salsa verde.  A little tidbit about salsa verde in mexico...if you see any salsa thats green, it's going to be HOT.AS.SHIT.  Spicy spicy spicy ass salsa.  I only put a dab on my taco to taste, and that was enough for me to keep the taco salsa-less.

Pro's

-Cooked to order

-Friendly service

Con's

-Only comes with spicy salsa verde

Taco's ~ $12 pesos / .80 cents

Rica Comida ~ Isla Mujeres 

Aqui Estoy ~ Isla Mujeres

As much as I love me taco's, this pizza was a welcoming break from the constant barrage of mexican food my stomach received.  Aqui Estoy translated means, "Here I Am," which is perfect because when we arrived on Isla Mujeres (a little island 20 km off the coast of Cancun) I was thinking of all the food I would be eating within the next 3 days.  There was a bit of foreshadowing with this place.  As we were exiting off the ferry I saw a man on the dock wearing an "Aqui Estoy" shirt.  At first I thought he was some kind of worker on the ferry letting visitors now, "Here I am if you need any help!"  Ya right.  The service in Mexico is something else...but that's a whole different topic all together.

AQUI ESTOY

*Note the cost for the cuadrada piece:  $20 pesos! That's like $1.50 us!

I ordered the pepperoni cuadrada...which is the square piece.  

The pizza was surprisingly really good.  I had a feeling it would be after numerous times walking passed this place going to and leaving our hostel, with each pass the smells wafting from the place piquing our interest.  

Despite having to reheat the pizza since it had been sitting in that glass case, the square had a great fresh taste.  It was perfectly toasted and the dough had a nice flavor to it.  The cheese and sauce were proportioned perfectly and the pepperoni was just icing on the cake.  After eating just one of these slices, I more than satisfied my hunger.  *side note, I tend to not eat as much as I would normally when out of the country.  I don't know what it is...but you really don't think about food that much when you're having a good time.  And that say's a lot coming from this fat ass.

All in all, this place gets my stamp of approval.  On top of the great pizza, the guy's who run the joint are super nice and were more than happy to let me take pictures of the pizza, as well as them in action.

PS - Did I mention a square piece cost 20 pesos?!  Come on now!

Pro's

-Friendly service

-Multi-lingual workers - Spanish, French, Italian, English, and I'm sure some others...

-Nice variety of toppings on the "ready made" slices.

Con's

-Hmmmm....???

cuadrada/square ~ $20 pesos/$1.50 usd; redonda/round ~ $35 pesos/$2.50 usd.

Aqui Estoy ~ Downtown Isla Mujeres