Dear Mr. Gold:

There’s a Mexican restaurant in New York City’s Sutton Place neighborhood called Rosa Mexicano that has long been popular for preparing guacamole at your table. Though I’ve been a food fanatic in L.A. for the better part of 20 years, the only tableside guacamole service I’ve found is at Gardens on Glendon in Westwood Village. Here, in what should be America’s Mexican-food capital, are there no other restaurants where the waitstaff provides made-to-order guacamole live and in person?

—Josh David

Dear Mr. David:

Tableside guacamole used to be a staple in Los Angeles — as did tableside caesar salad, come to think of it — but the preparation seems to have faded in popularity. Border Grill in Santa Monica did a great tableside version when it opened, but now prepares an equally good version in the kitchen, even at this time of year, when beautiful, rich California avocados mostly give way to watery specimens from Chile. It is curious that only Gardens on Glendon, which carries the DNA of the original Hamburger Hamlet chain, still pounds guacamole tableside, but pretty much everybody at the restaurant seems to order it, and if you can persuade the server not to go overboard on the onions, the guacamole is still pretty fine. It’s not a Mexican restaurant, obviously — you’ll be eating rotisserie chicken and braised short ribs instead of tacos — but there are worse things than blue-cheese burgers, medium-rare. 1139 Glendon Ave., Westwood, (310) 824-1818.

—Jonathan Gold

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