It felt like a betrayal of our trust and hopefulness. Just one week after we celebrated its advent, 2025 stabbed us in the back. And kicked us in the balls. Then it stuffed us in a garbage bag, dragged us into a ditch, and left us for dead. Given the bad beginning to 2025, especially for us Angelenos, Charlie and I decided that this January provided no justification at all for anything even remotely fun or indulgent, so we decided to skip our monthly dinner. It would simply have been in bad taste, pun intended. Hence, our first restaurant review for the year is about our dining experience in February at the fancy Mexican restaurant, Descanso.

In a perfect world, one would spend a perfect day that begins with meeting Glen Powell at the SAG-AFTRA headquarters for lunch and a chat (and yes, in this scenario the actor is available to meet in that building with any fans who want to hang out; just text him whenever and he’s there), then visiting the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum for a relaxing yet educational stroll, and finally culminating in some bomb-ass cocktails and delicious Mexican fare at the restaurant across the street. Aside from that bit about Glen Powell, my fantasy doesn’t seem so unattainable, and in fact, when I walked into Descanso after my leisurely stroll through the Tar Pits, I was encouraged by the restaurant’s inviting décor and welcoming vibes to hope that my meal would reflect fantasy-level quality. Having been greeted by the friendly host, I made my way towards the spacious and attractive bar to grab a spot. At 5:00 PM on a Sunday, the restaurant was only about half full, and there were plenty of spots to choose from around the bar, for which no reservation was necessary.

As I waited for Charlie to arrive, the cocktail I tried my best to sip, rather than gulp, further intensified my hopes for a delightful dinner. Spoiler alert: the dinner turned out to be more disappointing than delightful, but the cocktails salvaged what could’ve been a very annoying evening. Descanso’s inventive and well-mixed cócteles are in and of themselves enough of a draw to make me want to go back again; if I do, however, it would be to grab a drink or two at the bar before going elsewhere for my meal. Not that I would be able to recreate the exact same experience; checking the drinks menu on their website today, it appears that the restaurant has changed its cócteles list. The “Mil Plantas” that I started with—a jade green concoction that arrived in a highball glass and was as refreshing as it looked–is no longer heard on the current menu. Notwithstanding my own motto of “Don’t mess with something that works great,” the new list of cocktails includes several alluring ones too, strengthening my resolve to revisit this restaurant just for the drinks. The “Mil Plantas” that was downed way too soon was followed by “El Conde,” a mezcal-based drink whose flavor profile was more complex and cloying, but not in an unpleasant way.

The food, as revealed earlier, was frankly, no bueno. As an aperitivo, Charlie and I shared the “Ceviche Campechano,” which, while nothing to blog about, was actually the least disappointing item we had. In fact, as someone who has never been a fan of ceviche in general, who am I to judge this particular rendition? Perhaps it was even quite good, as ceviche goes. But I can confidently say that the next two dishes we had were not. Before our entrada, we each had a taco; at least, that was the plan when we placed our order, but since the food all arrived together, I decided to eat my entrée first before it got cold, which meant that my “El Dorado” taco (consisting of mahi mahi with chamoy sauce) had become soggy by the time I got to it. The entrada, which we shared, was the $42 “Enchiladas Langosta.” You know how sometimes you take a perfectly good, if mundane, dish, and you try to elevate it by adding another digit to its price? And you completely ruin that dish in the process? That’s exactly what happened in this case. Mira, I love lobster as much as the next person, but it absolutely does not belong inside an enchilada. I am as yet a novice when it comes to Mexican cuisine, and unfortunately, the dinner I had at Descanso has not whetted my appetite for more of this ethnic food (but I should add, that Charlie assures me the meal we had was not a good representation of the cuisine).