Thanks to “Top Chef,” Paul Qui is sitting on top of the world—and Uchiko diners are sitting in ninety-minute lines for his food. To be fair, those waits are nothing new, having begun in 2003 when Executive Chef Tyson Cole opened Uchiko’s juggernaut ancestor Uchi, a few miles south. The spawn bears the crest of a slightly newer, sleeker generation, having been built from scratch in a building with space-age curves. The inside is chic and subtly decorated to evoke… [More]

This is our most often-visited, most reliably delicious, and—coincidentally—cheapest Mexican restaurant. We don’t even care that it’s wedged up north, inconvenient to any freeways, or that it’s bland and cramped inside (although the no-frills patio is protected from grackles by see-through plastic curtains, a nice touch). The service is unfailingly nice, and fumblings at Spanish are met with patience. Its consomé de cabrito is maybe the best deal in the city, a fantastic, spicy, deeply goaty experience that we have… [More]