JC Fandango

Photo by Jack GouldI can spend just one week leaning against the marbled bar at JC Fandango and see the entirety of the human experience pass: metaleros with enough steel on their torn jackets to warp a compass; nervous gabachas overdressed for their first salsa lesson; skanker misfits dressed in the postmodern Chicano wardrobe of Chucks, a Che T-shirt and Buddy Holly glasses; hip-hop heads in FUBU and pink grinding to the latest reggaetón smash; Mexican immigrants decked out in Stetsons and epidermally tight jeans; Asians, blacks, whites, Jews—all Latinos. It all depends on the date, as JC Fandango remains the country's pre-eminent Latin music spot, with nights devoted to salsa, merengue, hip-hop, rock en español—if the lyrics are in Spanish and involve heartbreak and drunkenness, JC Fandango plays it. I hear the JC Fandango bartenders mix great drinks, but I wouldn't know—my booze here is double Cazadores tequila on the rocks, pounded always with owner Javier Castellanos, who has yet to talk to a customer for more than five minutes without also buying the next round. Great bar tacos too!

JC FANDANGO, 1086 N. STATE COLLEGE BLVD., ANAHEIM, (714) 758-1057; WWW.JCF.COM. FRI.-SUN., 9 P.M.-2 A.M. CALL FOR SPECIAL EVENTS. 18+.

Where do you love your liquor the most? Send a 200-word essay on your favorite bar to garellano@ocweekly.com. Entries must include a name and telephone number, and we reserve the right to shoot you—with a camera—at said booze barn.