Prairie S.
Yelp
Garish, brassy, ear-shatteringly loud, but equally, a well-oiled machine where servers quickly and accurately turn around orders to a huge floor.
My fish tacos at $4 each were really well done, with great crust on the fried fish, nice cabbage pico de gallo, a stunning bright green salsa that sang in the mouth, and all packaged efficiently (yet too much plastic and styrofoam!)
The menu consists of a run-of-the-mill selection of trite Mexican standards, by which I mean seafood cocktail in a glass, or ceviche, or fish tacos, or fried fish. Yet they have managed to draw these basic four plates into a four-page menu. Nothing much innovative, but enough feel-good classics and combination plates that make the Mexican patrons want to break out and serenade with the band! (They could stand to tone the volume down a bit!)
You go to soak in a vibe of a lake-side cabana in Mexico, and you surprisingly can get it here in south-central LA. The patrons and staff are charming and polite. The cooks are fast and plate up huge quantities of seafood.
It's just a shame that the seafood is such poor quality these days. We have emptied the sea with our unsustainable fishing practices and you can see the result in seafood restaurants like this. The seafood is farmed not wild, much less flavorful and frankly, pallid and unhealthy looking. Real fish like I had forty years ago was muscular, musky, and firm-fleshed. What does that say about seafood restaurants longterm prospects?