El Tapatio offers the first round of chips and salsa on the house, but since the hot tortilla triangles and tangy salsa, packed with back-palate heat, were totally addictive, there was no way we weren't going to pick up a second basket.
It helped, too, that we were washing them down with exactly the kind of margarita I'd been craving. I'd gone for the classic version, which tasted like lemonade and, deceptively, nothing like alcohol. It was certainly spiked, though: By the time I'd sucked down my fishbowl-sized drink, I was riding a buzz. My partner in crime had opted for a frozen strawberry version complete with a sugared rim. It was as sweet as dessert, but it made for a good patio drink while we watched a first date and strange interaction with a homeless man transpire as the night unfolded.
It's no Federal Boulevard taqueria, but sometimes a little white-washed Mexican food on a deck is exactly what you want.
