Sonora Cafe

Whether it's for happy hour or dinner, Sonora Cafe on La Brea has some damn good food and drinks, albeit a little pricey. It's more interior Mexican cuisine though, or rather "sophisticated Southwestern" as it calls itself, so don't expect to get a plate of greasy tacos with refried beans and rice. It's hard to come here and not drink since their margaritas are so delicious, so I usually get the LA Lemonade, which tastes similar to a Trudy's Mexican Martini for those Austinites out there. For those unfamiliar, it's a margarita on the rocks-type concoction with several kinds of alcohol that gets you really drunk and pretty much tastes like green Powerade. What more could you want out of a drink? No calories I guess (but what great thing in life doesn't have it's price?!). Sonora's other specialty margs are also delicious and they do offer quite a selection of Mexican beers. For appetizers, the mussels are to die for. Perfectly steamed mussels come to you on a skillet with melted butter for dipping. There are two kinds of ceviche on the menu, but you'll be happy with either - or both for that matter! The Romaine salad is light and fresh with a lime vinaigrette, but don't let yourself believe that just because it's a salad, it's healthier! All of the entrees I've had are terrific but some of my family's favorites are the Texas BBQ Pork Chop with a sweet potato tamale and mango-papaya chutney, the blue corn chicken enchiladas, and the jumbo prawns with a goat cheese and black bean quesadilla. With the exception of the steak items, most entrees are $20-30 and appetizers generally live in the $15 range. While at some restaurants the $30 entrees are big enough to share, this is unfortunately not the case at Sonora and it's really hard to have dinner and even just one drink for under $40 a person. If you want desert (which is probably worth it) tack on another $10 or so. Though they don't have sopapillas, Sonora's menu consists of other Southwestern-inspired sweets (trio of creme brulee, yum!). If you want to try a few items but don't want to dish out that much cash for dinner, Sonora has an excellent happy hour, scratch that FIESTA hour. Tuesdays-Fridays from 5:00-7:00PM you can get $3 off mussels and tacos and get $6 ritas. It may not be much, but every bit helps, right? To participate in happy hour you do have to sit at the bar tables (all of which have umbrellas on them for some reason), but you do get a nice view of the street and at night they light tons of little candles and put them in the little cubby holes on the patio - very cute and romantic. If it's nice out, definitely try to get an outside table to enjoy!

http://www.sonoracafe.com/