El Guapo...a.k.a. The Frat House

El Guapo Mexican Cantina
7250 Melrose Ave
Hollywood, CA 90046
Phone: (323) 297-0471
Hours of Happiness: 4:00-7:00, M-F
Taco Tuesday: 5:00-10:00

Food - 7
Prices - 10
Service - 7
Bonus points: +/- 5 depending on how you feel about the LOUD frat boy, sports bar atmosphere. If that trips your meter, then this is a 29. If not, it's a 19. Can't comment on parking because I walked from home, but they have a valet ($5) and if you get there early enough, you can find a spot on, or just off, Melrose, just be sure to read the street signs. I live in this neighborhood and I still get ticketed now and then!

First, (and I am not really holding this against El Guapo, but it was annoying), we went last Tuesday with a large group to get a sampling of both the half-price Happy Hour apps and Taco Tuesday dollar tacos all at once. Turns out, we have this little hometown B-Ball team that was trying to make it to the finals on Tuesday, and since El Guapo is, first-and-foremost, a sports bar, they cancelled Taco Tuesday. Now that's a pisser. For the record, I have been there on Taco Tuesday and the tacos are pretty damn good and impossible to beat for a dollar, so I would just say - call first. Who knows -- the Avengers may have made it to the Golden Toenail Cup and the carnitas taco will be full price. Bastards!

Alright, bitterness aside, this place was cheap cheap cheap, the portions were HUGE and the food was full-on edible. My dining partner and I thought we'd start with two orders of taquitos (one beef, one chicken) and the melted queso dip then go on from there. Amateurs. We couldn't finish any of it. The appetizer taquitos are large and come with full portions of rice and beans, plus generous scoops of sour cream and guacamole. This would be a meal for me on any given night. They also tasted good - not amazing, but not bad - and arrived at our table piping hot. The melted queso was very good, but it needs to be served in something that will keep it warm. By the time we got through the portion of the taquitos that we could eat, the cheese was starting to congeal a bit. My tip - order this first, then when you are sick of it, move on to other tastes. Others in our group got the nachos and claimed they were decent. From my vantage, they were the size of Mount Whitney (and also half price).

So - three giant appetizers, one beer, one iced tea (which never went empty) and with our usual big tip, the total was twenty bucks. That's right - a double sawbuck for two people to be stuffed and happy.

The atmosphere in that place is very young and very male and very frat-boy (not just during Laker play-off games), but it is a really good sports bar - lots of TVs and lots of seating. Of course, to watch my beloved Golden Bears, I do require the big screens and comfort of Hollywood Billiards, but if you need a place to watch a game, you could do worse than El Guapo - especially if it's on a Tuesday.