WHY To experience an L.A. landmark, drink a large, sweet margarita and, in season, have green corn tamales.

WHAT If you’re a native Angeleno, you’ve been to El Cholo at least once. It’s a formula but a fun one: Waitresses in hokey Mexican get-ups swoop through the many stuccoed, frescoed, Mexican-kitsch rooms taking orders for margaritas, substantial plates of enchiladas (‘Careful! The plate is hot!’), smoke-spewing fajitas and the famed sweet green-corn tamales. It’s not the best Mexican food you’ll ever have, but it’s an essential L.A. Cal-Mex experience.

WHO Big groups of friends celebrating birthdays, tourists, families that have been coming here for generations.