When I was in town and wanted to treat a friend to a Mexican dinner (a cheap dinner as I'm not currently flush with cash), my mom suggested El Bravo. She knows me well - I like clean tasty Mexican dives and this was perfect. Note that when I say dive, I still want to eat on a real plate and sit at a booth with a modicum of cushioning.
When you walk into El Bravo, don't be fooled by the window you see and the line of people standing there. (I was - until a nice woman standing in line told me there's table service.) Those people like the place so much they're picking up tortillas and meals to go.
The food was tasty and cheap. A winning combination in my book! The chips were thin and crispy with just the right amount of salt. The salsa was chunky and fresh-tasting. They're definitely not opening up jars of Pace in the back. We both ordered the chili relleno dinners. My friend loved the rice. I thought it was fine but he really liked it. So you might really like it too. The beans were creamy with the requisite melted cheese on top. I like my chili rellenos a bit plumper with more egg coating but the benefit of the size of these rellenos is you could finish your whole meal and not feel like a total pig.
When you pay, you look directly into the kitchen and they run a clean, tight ship there.
All in all, a great place to grab two dinners with chips/salsa and one soda for $25 and change. ($21 something for dinner plus $4 tip)