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With its red Formica counter and four seats gazing out on a charmless intersection, Fresh Tortilla Express looks a lot like a Chinese takeout joint. And indeed, this restaurant’s progenitor—Fresca Tortilla on Lexington—was started by Chinese-Americans who continue to use a speedy machine (that shares its name with the original restaurant) to crank out tortillas that are doughier and less textured than the handmade Mexican variety. Tex-Mex or Chino-Latino? However you categorize the cuisine, the kitchen’s output can be spotty: a chicken fajita can be juicy and tender; a steak fajita, all too rubbery. Here, the simpler, the better: Nachos are loaded with real melted cheese and chunky guacamole; quesadillas come well-grilled to the point of being crunchy. When you want decent Mexi-Cali, but all you’ve got are the coins you’ve dug out from the back of your couch, you could do worse. — Krissa Corbett Cavouras

Chicken soft taco, $2.50; ground chorizo soft taco, $2; guacamole nachos, $5