Another restaurant?!

Yes. And it was awesome.

My friend Trevor works at Toro in the South End (corner of Washington and Mass. Ave next to Mike's Diner). Even though he works at Toro he never really gets a chance to eat their amazing food, so my friend Beth and I met him for drinks and Tapas on the patio.

Drinks wise, Toro is known for their Sangria, but they also have great wine and cocktails. I had the Summer Smash which included Hendrick's Gin (my favorite!) with cucumber and mint. Crazy good.

OK, here's the thing: back in middle school when, like, 90 percent of the students signed up for Spanish, I signed up for French class. So I was in the one class of kids repeating, "Ou est, Jacque? Jacque est a la piscine avec Madeline," while the other 5 classes of 13-year-olds were making "Devil's eyes" and learning the Mexican hat dance. I'm still not over it. Anyway, for that reason, I don't remember the Spanish names of the plates and will describe them in English. Starting with...

Corn on the cob smothered with cheese and spices! And shrimp with a sweet and spicy creamy red sauce! And in a cross-town date-wrapped-in-bacon smackdown...date, stuffed with an almond AND stuffed with cheese, wrapped in bacon! OK, I must admit that the cheese adds a certain something. But the value at Orinoco is superior (4 dates for $4 vs. 2 dates for $6. Ouch.) but still-cheese. We had green peppers roasted in salt and olive oil and cod cakes with a fried candied lemon peel garnish. Everything was fantastic and just the right amount to share with friends.

There is typically an hour wait (even on a Monday) so when you go plan on having a drink at the bar while you wait for your table. It's a great date place because of the fun of sharing all of the dishes. The decor is simple which is fine when all you can do is look at the food glistening in front of you.

Oh, and Churros. Churros, people!