West Hollywood's The Ivy Restaurant Vs. Laredo's Taco Palenque

The reason I compare these two is because these two restaurants are considered the 'hot spot' in their respective cities.

The Ivy:

• Restaurant attendees include stars such as Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Britney Spears, Demi Moore, Keifer Sutherland, Angelica Huston, Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Jennifer Lopez and others.
• Originally started in London and expanded to Hollywood.
• Reservations required
• Menu is strongly influenced by French and British cuisine but offers various dishes from all the continents.

• A lunch/dinner for two usually adds up to 70-80 dollars.
• Movies have been shot at the restaurant.

• It is an important place to 'be seen' or to clear things up. Need proof? In September of 2003, rumors were rampant that Bennifer had broken up after the called-off wedding and they set up a dinner to prove others wrong. J.Lo appeared red-faced (I'm guessing to keep the tabloids guessing...?) and the drama continued.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck having dinner at Ivy restaurant in Beverly Hills the day they cancelled their wedding. They had dinner with friends including Gilles Bensimon the photographer of theirnow postponed wedding. Source

Taco Palenque:

• Restaurant attendees include such notables as Luis Silva (my friend), the mayor, my h/s band director, Alex & Flor (married friends) and myself.
• First restaurant opens in Laredo, Texas and opens a Taco Palenque Jr. five blocks away.

• No reservation needed.
• The menu consists of tacos and menudo.





• Family of 4 costs around 20 bucks.
• No film has been shot as of yet but people are constantly shot.
• Is it an important place? Well, that depends. Do you want to be harrassed by an old security guard while your looking for seats? "Que buscan!"