Each year as spring comes and warm weather and sunshine abound, diners fill sidewalk tables and cheerful window seats at many of the Hill’s Latin restaurants. Others wait for an annual pilgrimage on May 5 also known as Cinco de Mayo, which is a Mexican holiday celebrated more in the US than in Mexico. (Very amusing, considering most of Capitol Hill’s Latin restaurants are run by folks from El Salvador.) Whatever reason finds you perusing the menu at one of these restaurants, my advice is that venturing deeper into these menus – and farther from the tried and true – is rewarding each and every time.

La Plaza
When I visit La Plaza at 629 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, I begin my meal with the chips and salsa brought promptly to the table. While dipping is sometimes obligatory or even a time filler, at La Plaza, it is a joy. The warm, salty chips go very well with the slightly spicy salsa offered here. The onion chucks and flecks of fresh cilantro really make this salsa a joy to eat. But go a bit farther. Order the guacamole and the queso. Each is perfect on its own carefully burdened chip, but I am happiest when mixing that wonderful, crunchy salsa with each of the others: a little salsa and queso in one bite followed by salsa and guacamole in the next. For me, this is a ritual organized around sips of sangria because La Plaza’s is the best in town. The rich red color is punctuated by lovely, chunky fruit, and while the aroma is one of tangy fruit juice, the taste is very much celebratory alcohol. Order a pitcher and dip away.

Of course, you can’t get so distracted that you miss the main courses. My personal favorite is the charming, classic cheese enchilada.. The tangy green sauce gives a nice, acidic contrast to the gooey cheese. I have had good meals here with everything from mussels to chicken soup, though this is certainly a menu where the “homey” items that could be comfort food are the best bets. La Plaza now serves a weekend brunch and you can’t go wrong with any item on the menu. You might even be able to share a dish. The portions rather than the prices would encourage this, as I have brunched with three friends for $50 with mimosas.)

La Loma
When I find myself a bit further north at La Loma at 316 Massachusetts Avenue, I always want a patio table. Dining under a big umbrella as traffic wends by is the kind of experience I live in the city for. I can often be found there sipping margaritas (rocks and salt for me) and munching a quesadilla, which are excellent filled with anything from this kitchen, or the crisped flour tortillas that arrive with an order of guacamole. Of course, everyone wants a patio table, but don’t fret if you can’t stand the often-long wait for such seating. The inside of La Loma is just as charming, and the service is excellent and quick.

After your quesadilla, give the fajitas a try. Yes, it is a classic choice, but here the offerings are diverse: everything from veggies only to chicken and pork ribs together. I would suggest the ribs --  the rich, wonderful smell of the smoky-sweet sauce arrives even before you hear the well-known sizzle of the skillet. And the meat slides right off the bone and into a waiting tortilla. This dish, like all the fajitas here, arrives with beans, tortillas, peppers and onions, as well as the sour cream, salsa and other items you might want to roll up to make your fajitas.  If you’re on the Atkins Diet, you don’t need a tortilla to enjoy any of these, as the flavors are strong and worth eating with a fork. In fact, at a recent dinner, a friend devoured the shrimp fajitas without any tortillas at all.

If you want to squeeze in a few veggies with the cheese and salt, try the spinach enchiladas. The spinach from this kitchen is well-flavored, gently spiked with a few onions and absolutely unbeatable when wrapped into a tortilla, sauced, and covered in melted cheese. My sister can’t come to La Loma without ordering that dish, and I have never seen her eat it anywhere else.

Las Placitas
When on Barrack’s Row and seeking a hearty, square meal, I like to stop in at Las Placitas. Here, the dishes that feature protein accompanied by rice and vegetables are the stars, and any visitor must carefully consider these options, perhaps side-stepping the perfectly acceptable burritos, and tacos. Why? Because Las Placitas offers a perfectly cooked and flavored salmon fillet in saffron broth with scallops and shrimp. On the large plate with this centerpiece are buttery rice and crisp, perfectly soft-but-crisp broccoli and cauliflower. The cup of black beans are clean-tasting and pure, which I love in a bean. These same sides arrive with all the protein-centered plates, including the Las Placitas steak that some people swear by and the “surf and turf” offering that combines that steak with tasty shrimp.

Two other seafood offerings that are worth noting are the mussels appetizer and the Mariscos (seafood soup). While everyone has mussels these days, the ginger-infused bowl of fresh, plump mussels in a rich, gingery broth is unique. The portion is large enough to share or have as a main if you munch too many chips. I have never had any like them in restaurants claiming any type of cuisine. The Mariscos is chock full of  many forms of seafood swimming in a saffron broth – everything from shrimp to tiny, tasty tentacles and more of those yummy mussels. The broth for both of these starters makes me wish for dipping bread rather than chips, though I get along just fine in the end.

So, as you venture out for a celebration at one of the Hill’s many delicious Latin restaurants, consider wading through the menu for the gems that can take your meal from good to great. Finding those favorites can help make you a regular at one or all of these great places. I promise that you will want to go back for more far more often than warm weather or Cinco de Mayo allow.