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El Quetzal

P  206.329.2970

A little more than a year old, El Quetzal on Beacon Hill is about the friendliest restaurant I've come across in the city. One of the ways the Monteil family shows its friendliness, besides welcoming you into their cheery dining room with a big hola, is by feeding you vast amounts of food. A big sign in the window advertises the restaurant's tortas gigantes (giant sandwiches), and indeed the sandwich buns are gigantic, stuffed with big flavors like cactus or flank steak ($7.50 each)-or if you are truly hungry, a combo of ham, flank steak, scrambled eggs and beef ($8.50). For novelty, try the pombazo ($7.50):a gut bomb of the highest order but a lovable one;a big bun filled with mashed potatoes and sausage, then doused in a brick-red salsa. El Quetzal's all-day breakfast offers other comforts: Give the chilaquiles ($7.50) a try, a sort of lasagna made with tortilla chips enrobed in a tart tomatillo-chile sauce served with fried eggs. Another El Quetzal specialty is its 'huaraches' oblong corn cakes thicker than your average tortilla, with black beans, cheese and your choice of skirt steak, ham and eggs, or mushrooms cooked with the pungent Mexican herb epazote ($7.50). It's never too late to expand your definition of comfort food. Lunch and dinner daily. Reservations accepted/recommended.