"La Serenata, West La. It’s not easy for a Mexican restaurant to stand out in LA. Let’s face it: we’re spoiled with Mexican food. That’s why it’s always extra special when you find a spot in your own neighborhood that really nails it with superbly authentic food (not Tex-Mex mind you), a plethora of homemade salsas (they’ll serve you one with your chips when you sit down, but don’t be shy to ask for a variety), all in a bustling setting with a décor that provides a nice ambient texture without being annoyingly thematic. Indeed, the restaurant is an LA institution: The late founding chef, Jose Rodriguez, opened his first restaurant with his wife in Boyle Heights in the 1980s and has been credited as being one of the first to expand what was then LA’s more basic notion of Mexican food. The LA Times once referred to Rodriguez as a “genie of sauces.”"