A bona fide restaurant? The Real McCoy of Mexican Cuisine? I think not. What, though, I ask, is a burrito, truly?* (Also, how many commas can I fit into one sentence and maintain a semblance of grammatical correctness?)
La Bamba may not harbor the holiest molé or the choiciest of chilaquiles, but their burritos are Tex-Mex tender and their taco salads are, in fact, quite palatable.
Here's a story:
At some point during my youth, Carl's Junior tacked on the cryptic and vaguely narcotic-related moniker "Green Burrito" to its signs. Being a true California child, I often insisted that my mother take us there. My first mistake came in ordering a "taco" salad. The next mistake, eating the crunchy (read: sodden) taco shell. A horrible experience that shattered my ability to face up to the most TexMexican of Salad Spawn.
Until now. La Bamba, oft-critiqued for its "not Mexican" food, has got to serve the nastiest, sickest, most delectable taco salad ever. As a vegetarian, I usually forswear meat products. I was goaded, or rather, easily dissuaded from this goal as I met the meat, so to speak, of this salad. Nestled between black beans, lettuce galore, and a lovely bowl of spicy, vaguely thousand-island mayo, I said "yes" to Taco-Bell-esque ground beef. And what beef it was!
The service is great, if a bit offhanded at times (at times also on-handed, like when two waitresses admired my blond tresses by caressing them with delicate fingers, as I admired my 10-kuai burger before me--weird, but also endearing).
La Bamba is a fount of experiences and stories: like the time we sat next to a crying girl, who simultaneously gulped fries, sobs, and cigarette drags while her boyfriend watched helplessly. Or the time when our salsa came icey. That was a bit weird.
Overall, though--a casual and chatty place that's warm as well as ripe for conversation, chimichanga-munchin' (they're amazing) and people watching.
One note of contention: has anyone spied an American flag in the myriad national banners decorating the second floor? Uncle Sam's gettin' fretful...
Four stars for the ice-y salsa that needs more cilantro. Olé!
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