The true test of a restaurant’s authenticity is if the type of food being served (i.e. Italian, Vietnamese, Thai) attracts a following of the same type of people (i.e. Italian, Vietnamese, Thai). Why would an Italian family go to a mediocre Italian eatery if they could just as easily make their order ten times better for half the price at home? They wouldn’t, which is why the test is true. The Gay Village Mexican hotspot Chipotle & Jalapeno is always full of Spanish-speaking diners. Needless to say, the food is to die for. I’m sure the smoking hot male servers do their part to keep the clientele as well, but let’s not get distracted.

Big meat sandwiches with avocado, black beans and tons of cheese washed down with cold Coronas do the body good. For a lighter route, the soups are meals in themselves. The tortilla soup is full of chicken morsels, chicharron curlicues, deep fried pork rinds and a big juicy avocado half. Mexican favourites like queso fundidio, nopales and pozole soup bring you straight back to Mexico with their fragrant authenticity. And the most you’ll spend on any one dish will be $7.50 with most dishes going for about $5.

Chipotle & Jalapeno is cheap, cute, and authentic. If you don’t mind the odd tranny or hungry hobo lurking in the corner, or the resident cockatoo squawking you into submission, you’re in for a treat. –J.T.