Ode To Dos Caminos

There comes that time every year, where my friends ask me that inevitable question- Should we book Dos Caminos for your birthday yet again? It has become a mocking joke to some and an endearing idiosyncrasy to others, but around the last week in June, the reservation must be made. It never gets old, it never disappoints, and even if I dined there just the day before, I will accept your invite there today. This propensity has paid off, as I recently tried to book a 9 pm reservation and was told that this was impossible, only to give my name for the gross 7 pm slot to which the hostess "found" an opening at 9. Oh hey to the first time my name has helped me score a table.

As summer winds down, I also find it necessary to spend as much time as possible in their outdoor patio, frozen prickly pear margarita in hand. Thus, this past Friday, when faced with the question of where to reunite with my best friends from SF, everyone knows what venue I chose. The margaritas are always just strong enough to prevent awkward pauses, the guac is the perfect size for sharing (though may lead to embarrassing moments scraping the stone mortar for the last, it's so perfect that I need to have more, bite... me? no...), and the atmosphere somehow always leads to flirting with cute men (so often British. Weird.) Our desire to live up one of the last nights of summer left us shivering into our margs, pretending that we were comfortable just to snag some more enjoyment out of the whole affair. I can clearly never get enough, and neither could they. :)

Other favorites: I tried the sour cherry margarita for the first time ever. Just right. Perfectly cut any tequila taste and no gross sweetness. The blueberry pomegranate margarita (old favorite, now often displaced by the prickly pear... apparently I'm not too particular on the margaritas, am I?), and the shrimp quesadilla.