Cordova is an institution at Coyote Cantina in Redondo Beach. She has worked at the Mexican restaurant for 12 years and seems to know every customer who walks up to her bar. Some of the best food in LA County can be found in unlikely strip mall restaurants, and the Tex-Mex cuisine at Coyote Cantina proof of this. But the service is what really brings folks back.
“We have the best customers and I love how social this job is,” Kristina said. She approaches her bartending shifts like she is hosting a dinner party. She’s warm, inviting and chatty and takes great care of every patron.
“I love bartending because it is never the same two days in a row,” she said. Kristina is a South Bay native and, thanks to her residency at Coyote Cantina, a well-known girl about town. One of the bar customers on a recent evening said that she loved Kristina because “she’s the kind of person who remembers your name, your order and treats you like a friend.”
531 N Pacific Coast Hwy, RB. 310-376-1066. www.coyotecantina.net
Runner-up: Monique at American Junkie, 68 Pier Ave, HB, (310) 376-4412.
