*Updated, with new info on the bottom…
**Moved up, 'cause it's timely!
The colonization of downtown SanTana by Costa Mesan pioneering hipsters is complete. Both the Gypsy Den and Memphis have long successfully operated branches in the city's Artists Village, which always made us wonder why the other LAB stalwart, Habana, never set up shop in the most-Mexican city in America. That's about to change, as the owners of the Gypsy Den and Habana have teamed up to open Lola Gaspar in the space previously occupied by Pangea. We saw a copy of the menu (and will post it later once we convince our source to give it up instead of giving a mere peek), and it swings more toward Habana's Nuevo Latino menu than the Gypsy Den's hippy-dippy yummys–the entrees we remember were carne asada and Catalan flatbreads, and some other stuff. Another interesting, bold wrinkle about Lola Gaspar (who's apparently a Barcelona artist) is their claim that it will stay open seven days a week, until 2 a.m., in the hopes of becoming the Artists Village go-to place. The menu seemed interesting for the most part (but no prices yet), and we'll definitely offer a dispatch once the place opens (before the end of the year, according to sources). Just one quibble at this point: don't call your tacos “street tacos” when they're too gourmet for that moniker.
*UPDATE: I forgot to say where this restaurant will be! Address is 211 W. Second St.,
SanTana. According to this guy, they're set to open ma~ana…
**UPDATE NUMBER DOS: The message on their phone number (listed in comments below) says it was opening on Dec. 5. Today's the 11th, and rumor has it they're opening on Saturday. Uh, don't make promises you can't keep…
