Loud, bright, and walk-in

Crown Cantina is the loudest room in the group and the only one that does not take a reservation. That is on purpose. Walk in, put your name down or take a seat at the bar, and the night starts faster than it would anywhere else on this list.

The kitchen cooks regional Mexican rather than a single-state greatest-hits reel: birria that has been going since morning, snapper a la talla, tacos built on tortillas that are pressed in house. It is bold food, seasoned like it means it, and it does not soften itself for the room.

The bar is the other half of the argument. Mezcal and tequila are treated as the point rather than the base — a long agave list, cocktails built as carefully as anything in a steakhouse, and an avocado margarita that has outlived every attempt to take it off. Happy hour runs the first hour of service every night, which is the cheapest way to find out whether this is your kind of room.

It works for a group that has not decided how long the night is going to be. Celebrations land well here, so does a Tuesday two-top at the bar, and the patio on Broadway opens the moment the weather allows. No reservations, ever — walk-ins welcome is the whole policy. Menus and ordering live on the Crown Cantina site; this page is here to get you in the door.