OK, here's a cheaper option. The Roosevelt Tamale Parlor in San Francisco has been at the same location since before I was born. You want to talk urban food log: The single tamale (with rice and beans, $7) was about the size and shape of a nerf football. Nothing fancy here, but everything homemade and good, from the strawberry agua fresca to the green sauce on My Dining Companion's enchilada, which had a nice lemony bite.

To finish off, we went across the street to La Mexicana panaderia and bought two cream-filled swans, a gingerbread pig and an apple turnover. I should be ready to have my dessert in about a week.