Day 18: 1900 (Elizabeth Ave location)

Today's review is brought to you by the good folks at Restaurant.com, who assisted this Goles y Frijoles visit to 1900 Mexican Grille & Tequila Bar by providing a $25 coupon. ¡Muchas gracias! Their generosity allowed GyF veterans, Christy and Ben, to come too.

The Elizabeth Ave 1900 is a stunningly appointed space on the corner of one of the street's newer edifices. The ceilings are high with ornately decorated tiles and hung with enormous light fixtures. At 1:30 pm, we were one of two parties dining. After nibbling on chips and a very fresh pico de gallo with corn, we brought on a spinach queso dip. Delicious.

In typical form, I could not get a handle on the large menu, asked our Costa Rican waitress for a recommendation, and was basically rebuffed. I ended up getting a beef chile relleno, if only because I hadn't yet eaten one during the previous few weeks. Like most chile rellenos in my past, this one didn't really do much for me. The rice and beans were not my favorite either. My compañeros fared a but better. Christy's Veggie (that's right, it's not Tuesday) Fajitas received a score of "awesome," with particular praise being given to the mushrooms. Ben's Enchiladas Verdes were likewise "a good move" on his part. Ben also provided the insight that his sour cream was "awesome," but then rescinded that statement in favor of the observation that "sour cream in general is awesome." What a critic.

We ended our little lunchtime fiesta with a sopapilla, a large version of the flat, fried pastry covered in cinnamon and cream that often comes gratis at a Mexican restaurant. Though difficult to manage with a fork, ours was the best sopapilla these lips have ever tasted, in no small way due to the scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. After struggling with his first few bites, Ben continued his string of epigrams by voicing the discovery that there is an inverse correlation between one's desire to eat sopapilla and ability to get it in one's mouth. Someone should graph that.

The Score: Great ambiance and well-priced, but hit and miss.