As part of my ongoing efforts to craft a taxonomy for Chinese restaurants, I recently realized there are two main angles to categorizing these eateries. The first is assessing the formality and pricing of the place, ranging from the come-one-come-all budget dive to the high-end banquet hall reserved for wedding festivities.

Its an unapologetically casual spot, with at-the-counter ordering and a selfservice condiment bar featuring fresh pico de gallo, red and green salsas, and slices of radish and lime. The menu encompasses such street food staples as tacos with freshly made corn tortillas, quesadillas, tamales with a multitude of stuffings, and torta sandwiches.

Other features include entr饠salads, chicken wings, mussels and mac and cheese with additions like green chiles and pancetta. A $5 kid’s menu features a choice of entr饠as well as beverage, vegetables and dessert. There’s also an impressive array of draft Belgian beers, and if Tin Tin or Poirot visited Boulder, they’d come here to knock back a few.

Much like Hart feels a strong degree of loyalty to the Parisian establishment where he spends his time, I have a deep allegiance to the Espressoria. Its considerable virtues include consistently friendly service with a smile and an endearingly ramshackle interior.

better of it and quickly return to dicing arugula for salad. But I wasn’t thinking about Farmer’s Market greens and severed anatomy. Nah, I had a big question that led me all the way down the Diagonal to Longmont. I asked Big Mike to tag along, because sometimes if you ask questions, you need muscle along for the ride.

Half a roast duck at $7.50 is a good deal, but this was the weakest course in the meal. It was heavily marinated with soy and five-spice, making for a darker bird than usual. The skin tended more towards soggy than crisp, and the flesh lacked the moist suppleness of the best examples.

The reasonably priced menu here features sushi, traditional donburi rice bowls, curries and a handful of fish and meat entrees. The latter category includes two types of grilled mackerel and Korean barbecue beef. Much to my dismay, this eatery was out of one of my all-time favorite fish dishes, miso black cod.

Friend John and I first grasped this pizzeria’s attention to detail when my iced tea arrived. It came with a shot glass loaded with opaque liquid, and John likely relished the potential spectacle of me going blotto over lunch.

Agave’s interior wears its aspirations on its sleeve. A beautiful brass-toned fireplace is the understated centerpiece of the contemporary main dining room — no kitschy strings of chile pepper lights here.

Groucho Marx famously sent a telegram to the Friars Club, a selective association of entertainers that counted the comedian among its membership. His wire went like this: “Please accept my resignation. I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member.