Esco Restaurant and Tapas

With double-parked SUVs and tight one-ways all around, parking near Peters Street will have you reaching for a painkiller. Esco, from Grammy-winning rapper 2 Chainz, tries to make it all worth the trouble, but it ultimately falls short. It doesn’t matter how nice the waitress is or how well the bartender behind you sings Fantasia’s “When I See U” when tough calamari and bland mac-and-cheese egg rolls hit the table. The Cajun salmon and garlic mashed potatoes are pretty good, but we haven’t had broccoli that mushy since daycare. And if we’re keeping it a buck, sipping $15 cocktails from plastic cups doesn’t help our headache, either.