Gesundheit!

With its air of exclusivity and mystery and its Mexican menu, La Esquina is sort of like Studio 54 with chipotle subbing for cocaine.

Frank Bruni visits a taqueria that fronts like it is Hernando's Hideaway, but is actually more  the Honeycomb Hideout:

The adjacent kitchen produces food not only for this netherworld hacienda but also for an attractive street-level cafe with an entrance around the corner. It operates under the same ownership and is clearly marked La Esquina.

Shit, this restauranting thing is easy. Open a run-of-the-mill Mexican joint, and have a an offshoot in the basement with an unlisted number and the Gimp as maitre'd. I'd consider pushing this hideout in the basement idea a little further and having a VIP area in a fort made out of sofa cushions. Seriously, this whole thing feels like a deleted scene from the unreleased sequel to Josie and the Pussycats. Also, Bruni must have forgotten to charge his iPod:

But those servers demonstrated considerable knowledge about, and enthusiasm for, La Esquina's spectacular selection of about 100 tequilas. After a shot or two, the smartly chosen music - Nina Simone, Soul II Soul, Nouvelle Vague - seems to swell louder, but not so loud that eavesdropping becomes impossible.

Tequila and "Back to Life"? This sounds like an ideal restaurant for sex-havers. 
Finally, a Gurgling Cod lapel pin for whomever can fill in the blank:
Studio 54/Cocaine is to Bianca Jagger as
La Esquina/Chipotle is to _________.

Comments

[sac]

Amanda Hesser.

[Rose's Lime]

This thread is way too obscure for my provincial palate, but I like the fact that when I google Amanda Hesser, the third listing that comes up says,

Amanda Hesser needs to be assfucked by the crew of the USS Nimitz. ...

[punisher]

Ethan Hawke?

[DoubleMan]

Patrick Bateman

[la_depressionada]

i feel so bad for this generation and their lame attempts at being hip. so lame. sr. bruni always seems borderline retarded, but the mongoloidism displayed in this review has gone so far as to make him almost endearing -- like the guy who bought the very last huckapoo shirt.