WE WON — AND SO DID YOU! 
California Tortilla was voted “Best Mexican” in the DC area in the Washingtonian Magazine “Best Of” reader’s survey! We can’t even begin to tell you how much we appreciate that you took the time to vote.  It really  means the world to us and we promise to keep up our end of the bargain (and bring it up every couple of minutes).   Stay tuned for more info about how we plan to celebrate. Thanks again.

SPEAKING OF SHRIMP (just pretend)
The Bangkok Shrimp Specials are back by popular demand! They’re all amazingly tasty. Stop reading and try one. GO!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US
That’s right–California Tortilla will be 19 years old on August 4th. Can you believe it? It’s been a fantastic 19 years and we want to thank you with all of our hearts for sticking with us—especially those of you who’ve been with us since the beginning. (We’re feeling very thankful this month, aren’t we?) It’s been an unbelievably fun ride and it just keeps getting better every day.

And for those of you who were wondering what it was like 19 years ago when we first opened…
• Frank Sinatra was alive.
• I faxed Taco Talk to customers. At least I thought they were customers – a lot of times I got the number wrong. (Sorry, Frank.)
• According to a menu I just found, California Tortilla served rotisserie chicken. I can’t remember having a rotisserie in the restaurant for the life of me. Do you think we hand spun it by any chance? (And then threw it at people?)
• We had 52 different specials a year. And trust me on this, some of them weren’t so special. (i’ll always remember one customer remarking that the week’s special was “an unfortunate color.”
• On your birthday, we wrapped your burrito in wrapping paper, put a candle in it and sang Happy Birthday to you. That doesn’t sound too time consuming – or too much of a fire hazard, does it?

On that note, I hope you all have a happy and safe 4th of July! (But if you have to pick one, go with safe. You can be happy on the 5th.)