La Cabana in North Fork, CA (Near Yosemite)

A simple question--"Where should we eat tonight?" Having a local to recommmend a restaurant is often a gift. Karen and I were at the SERCAL conference at Bass Lake, and her colleague Regine (who lives up there), answered our question with "La Cabana." We drove about 10 miles on a windy road weaving through the Sierra's, and found the restaurant. The small parking lot was full, and half the building was a counter for take-away (open during the day). The restaurant was on the left side, and we entered to discover only about ten tables. It took awhile to be seated, but it was worth the wait. You can look right into the kitchen, where a few lively chefs/sous shefs are working, and see all of the pots and pans stacked up and ready to go. The waitress was extremely friendly, and after we noticed a dirty fork--she took it away and returned with a clean one and a basket of fresh chips with sea salt and a spicy homemade salsa. We were going to order the sopes or some of the other tasty items on the menu--but the specials sounded too good to pass up. I had pan seared orange roughy with olives & peppers, a mound of apple & pineapple salsa, black beans, rice, and green beans with bacon (which I didn't eat). Karen's chicken was rolled around cream cheese and spinach. Very tasty, although I only had one bite. All entrees on the menu were about $5.00, but the specials ended up being $16.00 for the orange roughy and $13 for the chicken. Well worth the upgrade. Cash and checks only.