We arrived at Wild Salsa a few minutes before our reservation on Saturday night, but the door wasn't even closed behind me when I realized we wouldn't be sitting soon. America's librarians, in town for a big conference, had descended on the downtown cantina in force, and the waiting area was a dense sea of lovable nerd. The dining room was loud and packed, too, and the staff looked like they'd been hit by a really well read tsunami: frazzled faces, snippy tone, 10 minutes for a cocktail.

We checked in at the hostess stand and learned that they were still seating 7 p.m. reservations, and were working on a two-hour wait for walk-ins. At the bar, we ordered margaritas (smooth but seemingly light on booze) and mentioned that there seemed to be a lot of bookish types. The librarian sitting at the bar heard me and jumped right in: "We do our research." To which my dining companion, taking possession of his tequila rocks, said: "I didn't know they still made libraries."

Fun times all around.