Appetizers Live Up to Their Name at El Dorado

If you’re thinking about buying a pair of those noise-canceling headphones, I know just where to test-drive them--El Dorado, a new Mexican-themed bar and restaurant on San Vicente in Brentwood. On a Friday night, even before you reach the guardians standing watch at the door, you can detect the roar of the crowd. Inside this cavernous space at the bottom of an office building, any attempts to hear and be heard (as in normal conversation or communication) are swept away by a humongous wave of sound. My advice: Bring flashcards or brush up on your sign language.

Maybe talking is beside the point with this relentlessly trendy crowd. Will Karges and company, who also own Rix and Blueberry, both in Santa Monica, know how to get young Hollywood out in force. And why wouldn’t they? The drinks are strong and delicious. The bar menu includes a mind-boggling list of premium tequilas, and the margaritas (on the rocks, with salt) are particularly noteworthy. Baskets of warm, freshly fried tortilla chips arrive with alacrity and seem to disappear at an alarming rate. Our gamely attentive waiter, however, is quick to replenish chips, blistering salsa and, of course, drinks.

Despite a full menu, El Dorado is not so much restaurant as bar, and as such, the appetizers are the way to go. A tomatoey shrimp ceviche is laced with cilantro and lime. Flautas stuffed with machaca (shredded beef) are prettily decorated. Dos frijoles is a bowl of black and white bean soup embellished with crema fresca. But the single most addictive item may be the freshly made tortillas, simply griddled and presented with salsa and habanero butter. These I could eat all day, though the sight of the Latina women in embroidered costumes patting out the tortillas in this setting verges on the surreal.

Main courses need some work, but from a look around at neighboring tables, not many diners are zeroing in on the more elaborate choices, such as red snapper hauchinango. Chile colorado is the ruin of a good piece of sirloin: The lean beef cooks up dry. It takes a more humble cut of meat, preferably pork, to make this rustic satisfying dish. The combinaciones may be the best deal: your choice of taco duro (hard taco), soft taco, enchilada or Oaxacan tamale, etc., price based on number of items you choose, $7 for one; $9 for two; $12 for three.

By the time we get through our main courses, the assault on our ears has been so unrelenting that no one at my table opts to stay for dessert. Instead, we visit a few minutes outside while waiting for the valet to bring our cars around, and make a date for dinner somewhere quieter next week.

* El Dorado, 11777 San Vicente Blvd. (at Montana), Brentwood; (310) 207-0150. Appetizers $5 to $11; main courses $7 to $22. Open for dinner daily; for lunch Monday to Friday. Valet parking.