Modern Mexican Restaurant Descanso Arrives in Los Angeles From Orange County | Eater LA

"Taking over the massive Callender’s Grille in Mid‑Wilshire that closed in 2018, this LACMA- and La Brea Tarpits‑adjacent space opened on January 23 and occupies a 9,000‑square‑foot room that greets diners with a massive brick entryway leftover from the previous operator, a small foyer leading into a 20‑foot‑high bottle shelf, and a circular bar that dominates the center of the dining room. Operator Rob Arellano first opened Descanso in 2018 in Costa Mesa and says he was inspired by childhood trips to Mexico City and Guadalajara with his father, though the food more closely reflects Sinaloan cuisine. The kitchen emphasizes plancha/steel‑top grilling—acknowledging that plancha‑style tacos are prevalent in Mexico City while charcoal‑grilled meats tend to rule the roost in Sinaloa—and notes that in Southern California street tacos are often prepared on steel top grills, where taqueros finish off meats including lengua, buche, suadero, and tripas, making the main cooking method more than familiar to locals. To the far right of the central bar there’s a set of teppanyaki‑style planchas in a semi‑private space where cooks prepare meats in front of diners over steel top grills; that semi‑private plancha room has its own menu format, with two starters of Caesar salad or fideos soup and mains such as carne asada, pork loin alambre, blackened halibut, or rajas con quero, which are paired with blue corn or flour tortillas and Mexican‑style fried rice. ThinkBenihana’smeetsJavier’s(Benivier’s? Javihana’s?). To the left, a more casual section with hanging lights conjures Mexican‑style al fresco seating (though technically indoors) with another bar‑height counter and solo plancha that feels like a private taco stand; an additional private plancha dining room seats groups of up to 10 who can get their own personal chef for the evening. The rest of the dining areas feature a typical à la carte menu with tremendous variety—nachos, guacamole with chips, ceviche campechano with octopus and shrimp, shrimp taquitos, and short rib birria empanadas—and about a dozen kinds of tacos priced between $8.50 and $18 that come fully assembled (but without salsa, which one will need to request), including roasted Anaheim chile, garlic‑marinated ribeye, morita chile‑marinated octopus, and spit‑roasted al pastor over blue corn tortillas. A dozen or so entrees reuse many taco components as composed plates, such as braised short rib estofado swimming in pinto bean jus or saucy lobster enchiladas covered in a poblano‑mango‑habanero salsa; most dishes tend to pile on micro cilantro, crema Mexicana, and cotija cheese. For dessert, the almost‑runny flan dusted with hibiscus “could be one of the better versions in town,” and a coconut‑topped tres leches also stands out. The room’s size, central location, and broad menu position it among Los Angeles’s modern Mexican scene—alongside Mexico City‑influenced Damian, LA Cha Cha Chá, and Alma at the Grove, as well as Loreto, Ka’Teen, and Casa Madera—while not being as regionally specific as Loreto (Baja California) or Ka’Teen (Tulum/Yucatán), and offering a convenient alternative for diners unwilling to venture to Century City for their Javier’s fix. Open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday–Thursday (until 12 a.m. Friday–Saturday), it opens earlier at 11 a.m. Friday–Sunday and closes at 10 p.m. on Sunday." - Matthew Kang