La Salsa Happy Hour. The Strip

La Salsa Cantina has been pouring margaritas inside Miracle Mile Shops longer than most of its neighbors have been open, and it should not be confused with the fast-casual La Salsa chain that shares the name. This is a full sit-down cantina in Suite 380 of the mall that wraps around Planet Hollywood, with a bar backed by 40 premium tequilas and a kitchen turning out fajitas, enchiladas, burritos, and tacos from morning until late. It even runs weekday breakfast until noon, which is how people end up sipping a 99 cent bloody mary at 10am while shoppers drift past the patio railing.

The daily 5 to 7pm happy hour window, weekends included, comes straight from the cantina's own site. Those two hours matter because list prices here are resort-level. A standard margarita is $14.95 and the mules, mojitos, and hurricanes sit at $15.95, so any markdown is real money. The house does not publish its exact happy hour discounts online and they can change, so ask the bartender what is on special before ordering. The signature order at any hour is the yard-long margarita, $21.95 for the house version or $28.95 top shelf, the plastic tower you see paraded down the Strip all afternoon. A $10 shot and beer combo covers anyone who wants to skip the ceremony.

This spot works best as a mid-Strip pit stop. It sits dead center on the boulevard, so it catches people resting between casinos, groups fueling up before a show at Planet Hollywood, and anyone who wants a real plate of food instead of another grab-and-go counter. The patio faces the mall walkway rather than the street, which makes for surprisingly good people-watching, and the indoor cantina stays cool when the sidewalk outside is baking.

A few practical notes. Checks carry a 3 percent supplemental fee, standard for this mall but worth knowing before you order a round of yards. Mall hours run 10am to 9pm most nights and until 10pm Friday and Saturday, though the restaurant sets its own schedule. The entrance is easiest to find from the Strip-side doors of Miracle Mile near the Harmon corner.