Camino

You walk into Camino and immediately feel the purposeful hum of a place that knows what it's doing. The vibe is deliberately unpretentious—high ceilings, bare brick, the kind of space that works just as well for a solo drink at the counter as it does for six of you clustered round a tall table with too many small plates. The menu pivots around proper Spanish cooking: croquetas that actually justify their existence, Ibérico pork that tastes expensive without being insufferable, and cocktails that take themselves seriously enough to make you reconsider the gin-and-tonics you usually default to. It's the sort of place you end up recommending because you've actually had a good night there, not because it photographs well.