If ever a restaurant could be called Az-Tex, it’s Taco Haven—not so much for what comes out of the kitchen but for the fabulously kitchy calendar art that dominates the dining room. We suspect that’s not what motivates allegiance on the part of local politicos and other movers and shakers from the ‘hood, but we’ll admit it of ourselves.

We also admit a certain fondness for breakfast specials such as chilaquiles con huevo with fried potatoes and refried beans, and even occasionally come to crave breakfast tacos such as the chorizo con papas and the “special” tacos of morcilla (blood sausage) and machacado (dried beef) and huevo. If suffering from a crudo (hangover), then menudo’s your cup of, er, tripe—which is not the same thing as tripas (they’re small intestine) that can be had fried. They’re less scary than you may think.

The “Special Mexican Dinners” such as the tripitas fritas and “Isabel’s Monterrey Chicken” we find less rewarding than the Mexican dinners without the “special” tacked on. Take “Tommy’s Carne de Puerco en Chile Colorado,” for example. Or “Patsy’s Puffy Tacos,” a San Antonio specialty. They’re cheaper, too.