1274 Mass Ave

La Crepe is a franchise restaurant that Harvard Square could easily have done without. As it is, the French eatery has only two saving graces: its onion soup, which is really quite delicious, and its over-sized Bloody Mary. Everything else on the menu is either unpalatable or way too expensive for what you're getting.

The specialty of the house is, naturally enough, crepes. These pancake-like creatures are filled with anything from ham to ice cream, and can make for a nice light meal--but not at La Crepe. Their crepes have a rubbery quality, and you can sometimes get halfway through one of the squared-off flatcakes before you find the filling you paid a dollar extra for.

Omelettes and quiche make up the rest of La Crepe's solid offerings, and though they are decidedly more tasty than the crepes, you can get better servings of both at more reasonable prices from other area restaurants. If you're going to bother at all with a main dish, try the Swiss cheese omelett, which is filled with generous amounts of cheese.

La Crepe used to be a pleasant spot for a drink, but since they've converted the backroom into a lounge where you have to go if you're not eating also, it's much less nice. The seats are comfortable, but the atmosphere is obnoxious and the new bartender has a lot to learn about mixing drinks.

Casa Mexico

75 Winthrop St.

In most parts of the country, Mexican food is neither expensive nor hard to come by, but for some reason it is both in Harvard Square. In fact, Casa Mexico is the only Mexican restaurant close to the kiosk and, fortunately for Cambridge, its food is superb. But the consequences of its monopolistic position are high prices--some of the highest in the Square--long lines and often hectic service.

But the crowded tables and long lines--often up the stairs to the door by 8 p.m. on a Saturday night--testify to Casa Mexico's excellent food as well as to the evils of monopoly. Most of the main dishes, which are served with refried beans and rice, are variations on the basic Mexican fare of meat or cheese baked in tacos, ranging from the mild and tasty enchiladas verdes to some ferociously spicy chicken enchiladas baked in a chocolate-based sauce. Casa Mexico also offers a large selection of interesting appetizers and salads, and its special spiced coffee.

A meal at Casa Mexico will cost you a minimum of $5 to $6, not too high if you're really interested in Mexican food. But, if you're more interested in atmosphere and elegance, you may regret having spent your money there. A few touches of Mexico such as the plates and mugs are shadowed by the more noticeable influence of Harvard Square--cramped space, noise and less-than-efficient service. But in the end, it's really the food that makes a restaurant, and Casa Mexico's cooking makes it a unique place.

Hunan

700 Mass Ave

The Hunan restaurant, at 700 Mass Ave by the Central Square post office, is one of the few exceptions to the rule that the best Chinese food can be found in Chinatown. Since its opening over the summer, Hunan has attracted a steady crowd of Chinese families and local gourmets with its menu of three grades of northern and inland Chinese food--very spicy, spicy and mild dishes--to suit every taste.

The chefs follow Mainland Chinese recipes very closely, as evidenced by the lotus shoots and Chinese black fungus in the hot-sour soup (suan lat tong) and the garnish of sliced cucumber and bean sprouts in the Peking noodles (zha zhang mien). The hot-sour soup at Hunan, incidentally, surpasses the soup at Shanghai, the leading mandarin restaurant in Chinatown, with its peppery hot flavor.

The restaurant serves other standard northern dishes, including moo shi pork, Peking duck, meat dumplings (jiao tze), sizzling rice soup and spiced chicken. Prices are generally comparable to those in Chinatown, although some meat dishes are slightly more expensive (a Peking duck costs $15).