

After Dark
Cocktails in sand buckets with plastic shovels, a legendary double-crunch taco and 2am closing on Blood Alley in Gastown.
Gringo is tucked into cobblestoned Blood Alley Square in Gastown, which already sounds like the opening of a very good Friday night story. The cocktails arrive in brightly coloured sand buckets with plastic shovels, which is either the best idea or the second-best idea depending on how seriously you take your drinking, and either way nobody at the table maintains a straight face for very long. The Mexi-Cali kitchen is genuinely good: the double-crunch taco has achieved what can only be called menu-legend status. It runs until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays. Order the bucket. Split a pile of tacos. Use the plastic shovel with complete sincerity. Let the night get a little gloriously unserious in Blood Alley, which turns out to be exactly the correct setting for it.