La Chingada apparently translates to something rather dirty, and though this casual restaurant has attitude, the food here is clean and approachable.

The menu is composed primarily of street food like tacos, huaraches and tortas with influences from various regions all over Mexico.

The old Smoke Signals space has gotten a colourful makeover courtesy of artist Adrián "Dotes." 

Choriqueso ($14) lives up to stretchy expectations of this typical starter, house chorizo chewy and salty. Finished off with some green onion and served with lime and salsa roja, thick house tortillas made using Good Hombres masa are provided for dipping.

Frijoles charros ($10) are a humble dish that's somewhere between a dip, chili, and a soup, pinto beans with chorizo, bacon and smoked chipotle peppers stewed together into a mixture that's by turns thin and chunky but entirely comforting.

Served with house nacho chips for scooping, this dish is garnished with puffy chicharron for a little extra crunch.

Fish tacos are $6.50 each, stuffed with basa, seasoned with cayenne and blackened on the flat top. A slaw of carrot, pepper and cilantro adds crunch and brightness, but it's a smoky Valentina chipotle mayo that steals the show.

Again, yellow corn tortillas are made in house, just one sturdy shell needed to hold all the filling. A small side salad of cactus and pico de gallo balances cleanses the palate with a little acidity.

A chapata de pastor ($14) is named for a mis-translation of ciabatta, the local bun this sandwich is served on. Obviously when this type of floury, crusty bread was discovered in Mexican cuisine it was put to good use as the foundation for lots of saucy pastor meat.

The bun is toasted on the flat top with mayo on one side and refried beans on the other, onion, cilantro, Monterey Jack cheese and avocado bringing everything together.

Churros ($8) are airy and crispy with a classic curved shape, lightly drizzled with a homemade dulce de leche and finished off with powdered sugar.

The glass for a Hola Cabron ($15) is smoked on a cedar plank, appropriate for the heavy combination of Santa Teresa rum, benedictine and agave.

It's garnished with a little hunk of dark chocolate intended to bring out the flavours of the alcohol. 

The La Hacienda ($15) is essentially a super spicy marg made with Mezcal Sombre, cucumber, cilantro, Thai chilli, ginger, lime and agave, with a generous coating of Himalayan pink salt on one side of the glass. 

There's no freezer in this restaurant, and as much as possible is made from scratch, including fresh squeezed juices.