The SJ and LOVESalem agree on something! (La Margarita Express)

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

One of the nicer places to eat around here is a locally owned place that quietly serves up good food at good prices from a nondescript storefront location that, while very convenient, really doesn't do it justice. La Margarita Express sits between a beauty shop and one that sells clothes and what-not to hipster kids and across from the misbegotten disaster that is the Court St. Transit Center (with its abundant complement of tattooed ne're-do-wells, tragically young mothers, and feral youth posturing for each other). None of which really detracts from the meal, but probably helps explain why so many Salem folks haven't tried it.

Check it out -- it's great to enjoy a place where the owners bring you not only the usual and salsa as an appetizer but also a nice bowl of warmed refried beans with a sprinkle of cheese --- yum. It's hard to go away hungry.