El Conquistador-Silverlake-March 29th, sunday

Mike and I recently found ourselves in LA on a cool but comfortable Sunday night. We decided to visit Barragan's, after having had such a pleasant time there before. Sadly, they had just closed their doors for the night and there are not a lot of options at 9:30pm on a Sunday Night. So, with bellies rumbling and a severe hankering for some Mexican food, we coasted down Sunset Blvd on a mission.

Much to our delight, a large OPEN sign hung in the window of one of our favorite hangouts, El Conquistador in Silverlake! It has a reputation for its friendliness, festive settings and surprisingly strong margaritas.

They sat us right away in a soft-lit section decorated with a new theme for spring time. I was delighted to take photos of the walls and our romantic table. Our margaritas were served quickly, but our main server took a few moments to work his way over to us. At first it was frustrating, but then much less so once we noticed that he was having a friendly conversation with another table. Once the order was placed, everything that followed was delightful. We were quickly greeted with chips, salsa and soup.

The presentation of our food was festive (like the surroundings) and quite tasty. Our server came back to check on us several times, and assured us to not rush even though they were clearly closing up for the evening.

Mean margaritas and a full menu aside, what is most refreshing about dining at a place like this is the fact that the staff are like family and you get the sense that they truly enjoy being there. That makes for a perfect dining experience that is hard to replicate.