Coyote Howls

We are the regular customers of El Coyote. Some of us have been coming for decades. Others of us are just fans. We protest the contrarities and gratuitous insults in Jonathan Gold’s Counter Intelligence review (“Coyote Calls,” March 7).

First, the food is excellent. The fajitas are a great dish; the Fiesta Salad at less than $5 is one of the best salad meals in town. Sure there may be better somewhere else for $20, but El Coyote’s regular customers come a few times a week. There are the unequaled chicken and rice, the great burritos, the famous enchilada Howard, the first-rate quesadillas. . . . The great margaritas and wine from great bartenders at one-half the price or less of anyplace else in town. Seven nights a week, the lines outside El Coyote and the bar packed with an unbeatable cross-section of L.A. tell of more than great food at real inexpensive prices--they tell of great camaraderie among the customers.

25 REGULAR CUSTOMERS

Los Angeles

I knew Blanche March, the late owner of El Coyote, for 40 years. Her only purpose in life was to see that her guests were happy and having a good time and that everything was to their liking. Your columnist was quite sacrilegious to a cultural part of Los Angeles. I hope he does not do a review on the Ramona play or the Pageant of the Masters.

DAVID A WITTIG

Los Angeles

Thank you, Jonathan Gold, for giving me a way to explain to my friends exactly why I love El Coyote. It’s true that the food isn’t great, but the waiters are terrific and an El Coyote margarita really is an essential part of living in Los Angeles.

JULIE REYES

Silver Lake

It’s good to know my family wasn’t the only budget-conscious clan to adopt El Coyote. I haven’t been back to the restaurant for years, but Gold got the feel of the place just right. Maybe it’s time for another visit.

FRED ALVAREZ

Arcadia

The confusion over the age of El Coyote restaurant, mentioned in the Letters column of March 14, is due to the fact that the restaurant has not always been in its present location on Beverly Boulevard. It was originally on La Brea Avenue. It moved to Beverly in the early ‘50s. There used to be a photograph of the first building in the lobby of the present location. It may still be there.

J.E. HICKS

Hollywood