The Happy Hour Tour: Tortilla Republic

616 N. Robertson Blvd.

West Hollywood, CA 90069

310-657-9888

www.tortillarepublic.com

twitter.com/ilovetrweho

Parking: Valet & Pay Lots Available

Days: Daily

Time: 4-7pm

Drink Deals: $4 Modelo and Corona’s, $6 Margaritas and Wines

Food Deals: $2 Salsa Flight + $6 Select Appetizers

It was a rainy evening in the City of Angels (and so begins our Film Noir)...

JG and I share a Happy Hour Tour e-mail account where we receive lots of interesting mail – like job applications to be a bar-back (seriously) and requests for dates (though in my opinion, we don’t receive nearly enough of these!). We also subscribe to quite a few bar & restaurant e-mail groups; one of these is the Taste Group, proprietors of the delicious Taste restaurants (check our review of the Melrose location) and now Tortilla Republic in West Hollywood. This group has an excellent e-mail team with excellent graphics and timely specials.

Beautiful WeHo Park to pass through on your Happy Hour Tour!

After seeing these e-mails for months, I finally decided to check it out after an “American Horror Story: Asylum” marathon with my pal, Andy. Sometimes, I really wish I had cable – those times, I appreciate having friends who do! Time-out: AHS is delightfully WACK!!! Time-in: After wining and watching AHS at Andy’s WeHo abode, we took an early evening stroll in the rain to Tortilla Republic. Andy walked me through some new additions to the neighborhood – a beautiful little park across from the Pacific Design Center, the awesome West Hollywood library with a bona fide tennis court on the roof, and then finally we made it to TR, located on Robertson Blvd.

Tortilla Republic has taken over the space of the beloved and missed Fat Fish. Luckily, the Taste team has done right by the space; the restaurant is pretty gorgeous. Not to be stereotypical, but those West Hollywood fellas know how to design the hot damn shit outta their lounges. This one was a nice mix of cool and warm furniture and accents – but most of all, I dug the lifelike tree sculpture and the dining tables built around it and the bar that was lit from within. Can’t argue with a lit bar.

At the Tortilla Republic Bar, all lit up!

We met up with our pals - Tony, Eric, and John - who had been to Tortilla Republic before and were able to help make some recommendations. For drinks, Andy had the $6 House Margarita while I tried the $6 Jalapeno Margarita. The guys were right that it had a little kick, but the spice was just right for me.

House & Jalapeño Margaritas ($6 each)

Speaking of just enough spice, we also enjoyed the salsa flight with 3 salsa samplers and tortilla chips for $2 (their version of complimentary chips & salsa – not a bad idea, I am totally happy to pay $2 to sample 3 different salsas!). And for our final appetizer, we tried the the Jalapeño Croquetas (charred jalapeños folded with potatoes and goat cheese and fried - served with cilantro crema) for $6. Yum!

Chips & Salsa Flight ($2)

Jalapeño Croquetas ($6)

The thing about the West Hollywood bars is that even as nice as they are, you kind of don’t want to stay in one for the whole night. This is perfect for a Happy Hour Tour so that’s just what we did, finding our way to St. Felix, Eleven, Micky’s, and I don’t even know where else – one of those kinds of nights. I did perform a dance routine to “Singing in the Rain” and hit myself in the head with my umbrella (comment from a passerby: “I wish I had a camera for that”). And we did see this exotic species though: