Though it’s in the type of high-ceilinged narrow space that typifies so many upmarket Seattle restaurants, El Mestizo has an even better vibe than most. It’s a touch modern, with its chocolate-and-butter color scheme and shiny stainless-steel open kitchen, and a touch traditional, with Diego Rivera’s calla lilies and a few crafts hanging on the walls. El Mestizo isn’t the only place in town doing region-hopping traditional favorites in a date-friendly atmosphere, but nowhere else do all the pieces of that particular puzzle fit so well together.

At lunch, El Mestizo sticks to tacos, burritos, and a few soups (including a good sopa Azteca). The burritos may be a better value, but we prefer the tacos: they’re cheap, and the savory fillings like the cochinita pibil (probably the best version of this we’ve had in a sit-down restaurant) don’t get buried under rice and sour cream. The dinner menu is a well-edited list of iconic dishes like chile en nogada. We recommend the alambres, a deceptively simple preparation of sliced beef and peppers topped with cheese that picks up a nice bit of a salt and smoke from bacon. The mole poblano is also noteworthy: El Mestizo’s mole is thicker and sweeter, which may not be to everyone’s liking, but it is more complex than its competitors’ versions.