mexican for a birthday

last night's party was a success. we all gathered at shinjuku station and headed to El Torito. it's gotten quite a lot of "meh" reviews here, and here, and even here (though the second to last reviewer finally got it right:

"I've gone to El Torito restaurants in the States and I can easily say that when I'm in California I'd much rather go to some hole in the wall Mexican place to get an authentic experience...You can't possibly expect an authentic experience across an entire ocean, especially from a large chain restaurant. I find it amusing that other reviewers on here have so many complaints...Let me remind you, even though Tokyo's a very international city, probably only about 2% of Tokyo residents even know what Mexican food tastes like...Also, I've never had a problem with the service at El Torito. Maybe that's because I speak Japanese, though. After all, it is Japan! Why not look on the bright side?
Hell, without El Torito, you'd be stuck hand rolling burritos by your lonesome. Now you've got a place to congregate with other Mexican food lovers, kick back a few margaritas, and feel like you're back home again for half an hour. If the food's too "bland" for your advanced, superior Western palette, then guess what? You can always ask for hot sauce or just bring your own! [20 Sep 2007 14:30:13]"

while i will admit the service was a little on the bad side, i was with 8 friends, celebrating a birthday, eating (what this Ohio girl considers) decent mexican food, so i didn't mind all that much. i will definitely be going back. (one down on number 19!)

other tidbits worth mentioning:
i sat next to my crush during dinner.
i had tasty guacamole and unlimited chips and salsa.
we moved to the Hub for more drinks and stayed out until 2am.
May liked her present (and teared up when she read the message i wrote her!)
after that we walked back to May's apartment and crashed.
i didn't have the same luck from dinner in the sleeping arrangements.
(gotta leave something for next time, right? :P)
we all woke up ridiculously early and lounged around.
we ate toast and drank banana smoothies and tea.
and then finally we all went our seperate ways.
one of the guys is planning a bbq at his place next weekend.
that's all i need to make it through another week. (wink wink)