Ocotillo

Ocotillo is a West End breakfast-and-brunch spot doing Tex-Mex with real specificity, not just huevos rancheros and a hot sauce bottle. The masa pancake shortstack with caramelized-pineapple syrup is the kind of dish that justifies a special trip on its own, and the Tex-Mex egg and hash plates back it up as a running strength rather than a one-off. Burger and brisket cover the lunch crowd without feeling like an afterthought bolted onto a breakfast menu.

The room works in its favor. A wooden bar staffed by bartenders who actually talk to you, a chatty crowd that treats the place as a regular hangout rather than a destination to check off — that's the atmosphere doing real work alongside the food. Service holds up under that kind of volume, which is its own achievement for a brunch spot.

Portions run small, and it's the one real complaint on the table. It doesn't undercut the case. Ocotillo, sister to Terlingua, has built a tight, confident menu around a cuisine that's easy to do lazily and hard to do this well. Local press has taken notice, and the notice is earned.