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Let me preface this post by saying that this was previously my favorite restaurant. I loved it and had been there tens of times, including on several birthdays, before this most recent visit. This fact is what makes it so hard to accept the horrible service and mediocre food I received.
However, the chips are pretty good. Make sure to get some of the tomatillo salsa (it's free; just ask for it) and mix it with the regular salsa for a fantastic and delicious flavor combination. Even though I had to ask four times to get it on this last visit, it is worth the hassle!
I always order the same thing - crispy chicken tacos. They usually (I hate that I have to include 'usually' in all my claims about this restaurant ) have a superb mixture of textures. The crunchy outer shell perfectly envelopes the soft chicken, fresh lettuce, and slightly spicy pico de gallo. On this visit, there was also some cheese. This is unusual and didn't add anything to the taste. The accompanying rice is also usually quite delicious, although they rotate through different kinds. On this trip, the rice had some vegetables in it, such as corn. A couples others I regularly encountered were mint rice and one that seemed garlic-infused. 
My friend ordered the sopes and enjoyed them. 
The decor is quite regal, as well. Try to bypass the first room and sit in the main space for views of the street and beautiful chandeliers such as the one pictured above.
La Serenata Gourment
10924 W Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310| 441-9667
All right, so it's high time that I write up this baby. I was invited by our esteemed web hostess to write a review of local Pico favorite Lares. We were at a party. There was an awkward exchange. She divulged her secret hobby of chronicling the culinary delights of Pico Blvd. Oh, that's fun, I remarked, Lares and all that. No, she said, what's Lares? I found myself inches from her face. WHAT? You haven't covered LARES?!?! She had found herself a contributor.
Google Lares and you will find a wealth of commentators from Yelp, Chowhound, City Search, and all the other review sites I hate to love get down with the perennial argument in Los Angeles: what's the best Mex in town and who the eff does Lares think it is in the pantheon? Many claim that the old Santa Monica establishment hasn't been the same since "the fire." I google "Lares restaurant fire" and discover that on May 17, 2005, a kitchen fire forced Lares to close its doors. Post-fire, a Chowhounder with the apropos username "critical" reports that a recent trip to Lares yielded only limp quesadillas, watery cheese, rubbery shrimp, dry pork. Matthew R claims that the ceviche and margaritas ain't what they used to be. Even the most ardent fans of Lares concede that the service is sub-par. Defenders of the Westside point to Monte Alban, Juquila, and Don Antonio's as the last bastions of Mexican greatness beachside of Western.
Of course, note the date-stamp on these comments and you'll see that they hark from 2006. A lot can happen to a restaurant in two years.
Stepping into Lares, I feel like a world weary traveler in the 19th century happening upon an old hacienda on the high Mexican plains. Whitewashed walls supported by sturdy wood beams echo beer halls of a past age - for me, located in one of Juan Rulfo's ghost towns. Framed portraits of Emiliano Zapata and Frida Khalo evoke a recognizable enough history, matched by the opposing Lares family crest that adorn the restaurant entrance and interior. I later recall half melted candelabras, but I'm pretty sure that's a false memory. The scent in the oil however is very real: steaming meats and moles suffused with the crisp snap of frying dough. For all the negative web presence regarding Lares, the haters got nothing on the restaurant's atmosphere.
It is a surprisingly roomy Friday night on the first floor. While chips and a surprisingly bold salsa are set before us, I sense that speaking with the waiter in either Spanish or English would be comfortable. The choice is important to me. I don't like to be lingually handcuffed when I enter a Mexican joint. All the non-hispanic hispanohablantes out there understand. The waiter takes our order and within minutes - minutes! - our food arrives. Now, some may take this as an offense. The same thoughts pass through my mind: This shouldn't be fast food. I imagine real abuelas in rural Oaxaca who must take hours - if not days! - to slow cook a pig with fire, wood, sweat, and tears until it is melting off the bone for la familia. Nope, it's clear that things are ready to go in the Lares' kitchen. Especially when you're ordering the typical fare of enchiladas and tacos.
But enchiladas and tacos of great quality. Like the real start of any good Mexican meal, the chips and salsa are abandoned and I dig into a moist, non-rubbery, non-flabby enchilada that loves to love me. The carnitas are far from dry, rehydrated hunks: they are little pieces of Mexican heaven dancing all over my palette. In the past I enjoyed a few of the restaurant's regional mole slathered specialities, but it is clear that Lares can get down and dirty with an all-American gringo crispy as well. This economical taco-burrito-enchilada special is framed, like all loving combos, by a rich-but-not-too-rich side of beans and rice that I imagine was just spooned from a pot overflowing with heavy caldron steam. I surprise myself at the end of the meal by returning to the lure of the meal's origins: Lares' salsa is the most astonishing equilibrium of savory and spice that I've encountered in a long time.
While future trips will have to be taken to determine the current state of the restaurant's shrimp and margaritas, I can declare with confidence that Lares' basic fare can stand against any of the standards of the Westside with extra style to spare. The menu is varied enough to deter diner's boredom and breakfast is even offered, stretching the hours of Lares from 8AM to 1AM - 17 hours of potential Lares! The mid-range prices are typical of any Mexican sit down and some combos are down right deals. Not deals like Del Taco's $2.99 Two Bean and Cheese Burritos, One Taco, and a Drink Del's Deal deal, but still a deal.
I look forward to squeezing in a few more Pico Blvd Food posts before I move this fall. Maybe they have a Pico Blvd tucked away somewhere in the streets of Shanghai?
Lares Restaurant
2909 Pico Boulevard
Santa Monica, California
310) 829-4559
Okay, I apologize about the effort I have withheld from this blog. I bring you today Tacos La Flama, the establishment which neighbors the previously discussed Chutney's. The two main things I learned from this restaurant are: - Some people say 'cilandro' instead of Cilantro or Coriander.
- Less than satisfying restaurants may have beautiful murals inside.
Thus, the review of the actual food will be short. It was okay, nothing special. I had a burrito and it was sufficient but not delicious. I guess you could say it's pretty good for 'westside Mexican food,' but I think it's really lame to lower standards based on location. This is the kind of restaurant where you order and pick up your food from the counter and then you can eat at a table or not; no service, though. So, all the personality had to come from the woman of the counter, and she was less than happy, that's for sure. Moreover, their neon sign was incredibly uncreative. On the other hand, they do have some market that sells particularly disturbing-to-me cuts of meat. If you are 1) Mexican and/or 2) carnivorous, I may have just unwittingly found you a really great spot for your butchering needs. 
The mural, however, was stunning. So vibrant!
Do be warned that the parking at this mini mall is a mess!
2404 S Barrington Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90064
What a gorgeous photo, if I may say so myself. This photo belies the outward appearance of Don Antonio's, however. It's in the middle of whatever-land, very non-descript and then you get here and it all seems very Disney's-idea-of-Mexico. But, the neon sign is glorious and I heard they have $1 tacos on Wednesday nights. So we venture in.
First, be warned, it is fairly difficult to find parking around here so you might have to pay for valet. Second, if you go on one of these Wednesday nights, you may have a substantial wait. We were willing to sit outside, so we only waited about five minutes. It was actually very pleasant outside--a good choice. The inside had some super cheesy non-fitting aquariums (what?) and was very crowded. Outside, it was only slightly lit with candles and christmas lights, plus some nice tiling.
Okay--to the important stuff. They give you chips and salsa, as to be expected. I couldn't tell if there were two distinct salsas or if one was just way watery. Either way, they were sufficient but not great.
This $1 taco deal is fairly limited. Or at least we thought from the extremely unclear answers the waiter gave us. We each ordered different tacos. I ordered two crispy chicken tacos because I was led to believe that a soft taco was more expensive (even though that didn't make that much sense). Anyways, they tasted mediocre and were dripping with grease. I was still hungry, and, since the first two were only a dollar each, I decided to order a soft taco even if it wasn't a dollar. This taco was delicious, much better than the crispy ones. Highly recommended.
It turns out the soft taco was a dollar, as well. The waiter was crazy. He also was a bad waiter--very slow. Plus, our water was never refilled! Tsk tsk. I know we're in a drought, folks, (run-on sentence alert!) but the law is that you can't serve water until someone asks for it, not that you shouldn't ask if we want water, which I most definitely did!
Don Antonio's 11755 W Pico Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90064
I'll try to go back soon to try non-Wednesday night fare and report! Especially something with fish, since their sign says glowingly, SEAFOOD.
You get another chance to see their beautiful sign. Now from the other side, later in the evening. All together now: Oooooo.
