Chips, Salsa -- and Merengue

Of the entrees, my favorite was huachinango al mojo de ajo almendrado ($14.25), red snapper brushed with garlic butter and sauteed with almonds. The almonds form a protective crust and look like the scales on an armadillo. Good, too, are puntas al albanil ($10.95), tender strips of beef served with chipotle chile, tomatoes and onions. It's not an elaborate dish. But this is part of its appeal. Pretentious food is so off-putting. I'd rather eat a grilled cheese sandwich.

I also enjoyed chuletas de cordero ($12.95), six miniature lamb chops expertly seasoned and nicely grilled and served with roast potatoes and a nondescript salad. I become an animal around lamb chops, seizing them in my hands and worrying them until every last morsel of meat has been stripped from the bones.

The shrimp in garlic butter ($16.50) are butterflied and pan-roasted and, I should warn you, absolutely huge. I hadn't realized that shrimp came this large. There was something prehistoric about them. Where, I wondered, had they been lurking all these years?

The only entree I didn't like was the ropa vieja. The term, meaning "old clothing," refers to the practice of recycling leftover meat. In this case, it was shredded beef, which arrived in a glutinous, overly sweet and altogether sickening sauce. Avoid it at all costs.

Elvia's, 2727 Fondren, 266-9631.