Gracias Madre was closed for a private event the same day as the twins’ 21st birthday, so I scrambled for reservations at an equally cool spot. With Toca Madera, we overachieved.
We almost missed because we had to get across half of LA, during Thursday night rush-hour traffic in about 40 minutes. Think of James Woods in a black Ferrari down Sunset Blvd, but in a Lexus SUV with the girls doing their make up.
Toca Madera not only has a great vegan menu, but they also have a really good alternative menu including meat & dairy items. So inclusive.
I veered off vegan and ordered the Queso Fundido at our server’s recommendation. Awesome!¬†The chorizo was soyrizo, so I wasn’t a complete vegetarian apostate.
Places that make for happening night spots sometimes take the quality of their food as an afterthought. Toca Madera’s lively scene is at least matched by the quality of their modern, tapas-style mexican cuisine. Same for the beautifully made, quality cocktails.
On your twenty-first birthday, what do you want that you absolutely never wanted to happen before? Get carded. Unless you’ve been out drinking earlier that afternoon with your co-workers and left your ID behind at the last bar. Fortunately, she’d had enough at her last stop that she could coast for awhile.
Summing up: Toca’s a great scene, great food, great drinks. Will definitely go back there. But we’ll remember our ID’s. Right Julia?
Postscript: we picked up the forgotten ID and finished off the evening at The Perch.
Leave a Reply