By Charly SHELTON

Though I review lots of new restaurants, I think restaurants that have been around for a long time are just as worthy of a good, thorough, deep-dive as any new place. Take for example La Cabañita.

It’s a Montrose-Sparr Heights staple and, for nearly 30 years, the Jimenez family has been serving up authentic Mexico City flavors. Much of the Crescenta Valley is familiar with La Cabañita and everyone has their go-to dish. With hometown favorite places, diners almost don’t have to think anymore about what they want to order; there’s just a go-to that never gets old and, time after time, year after year, this is the reason they come back. I know I’m that way. I’ve been to La Cabañita countless times since I was a kid, and I don’t think I’ve ordered anything but the mole enchiladas since I discovered them around age 8. It’s the best mole I’ve ever had anywhere in the world – why would I order anything else? That’s my favorite; it’s what I came in for. But on a couple of recent visits to La Cabañita, I was invited to try a lot of different things across the menu and I was very pleasantly surprised.

Take, for instance, the house margarita. Every Mexican restaurant has a house margarita and they’re all pretty unimpressive. Specialty margaritas are a different story, but the plain house margarita is usually just a low-rent well spirit (cheap tequila) and sweet and sour mix or triple sec. Across LA, they’re fairly uniformly boring. I don’t even order house margaritas because I know what to expect.

But the house margarita at La Cabañita was something different – it is a drink I would order on purpose. It isn’t just laziness in a glass as so many other restaurants prepare, it is a carefully crafted margarita meant to enhance the overall dining experience.

Beyond that, the ropa vieja – beef with cactus – is a fantastic new favorite. Its smoky, rich, salty flavors belie a fantastic, subtle spice that only shows its hand about halfway through. It’s not overpowering with heat, but it doesn’t leave diners flat either. The puerca y salsa verde is a green chile pork stew, a staple among Mexican restaurants, and done up right at La Cabañita. It is very fresh, almost tangy and tart with a hint of spice as well to kick the marbled pork into gear.

Speaking of pork, there is a new (to me) twist on my old favorite. The mole is still my favorite, but the chuleta is almost a spiritual successor to the dark, roasty, chocolatey dish. The chuleta is a pork chop smothered in a dark, roasted, spiced gravy that, while similar to the mole, is just a bit different. Whereas the mole covers all and becomes the dish itself, the chuleta gravy doesn’t overpower the pork chop so the fresh pork taste still comes through. But just like the mole, the chuleta’s gravy is too good to waste and the house-made extra thick tortillas come in to mop everything up.

In a place as frequently visited and well-loved as La Cabañita, it’s rare to be taken aback by something. But their old favorites are being enhanced and showcased more by updates in the restaurant to give it a bit more of a modern feel. Hopefully guests like me will notice something new and try something new, instead of just their old standby.

Okay, maybe not instead of the old standby. Alongside. I like a lot of things on the menu now, but I got to have my mole.

La Cabañita is located at 3445 N. Verdugo Road in Montrose-Sparr Heights, and is now open seven days a week.

  Charly Shelton