Velvet Margarita

With its Día de los Muertos décor replete with purple neon lighting, flickering candles, and enough eye candy to fill the largest of plastic pumpkin pails, Velvet Margarita dips guests' chips in ambience as much as in salsa. To keep things simple, all dishes are $16.50 during dinner (4 p.m. to close), $11 during lunch (11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.), and can be made spicier upon request. Nosh on the pollo ala parilla con piña (chicken topped with pineapple and pico de gallo) or the salmón de Martin flopped heavy with white-wine pico cream sauce on a pillowy bed of rice and sautéed greens. Hedge your hunger-related bets with a chile relleno burrito, slow baked and topped with red serrano cream salsa and guacamole.