LAGUNA

snack, try the irresistible esquites ($3.50), which you’ll find under “street appetizers.” Served in a foam cup, it’s a heaping helping of corn kernels immersed in a warm lime-juice broth tweaked with sharp cheeses and chili powder.

This sort of immodestly garnished, taste bud-overstimulating Mexican street-vendor fare is common at Laguna. Under the “street appetizers” category, you’ll also find recent food crazes that rightfully use “loco” in their names, such as the dorilocos ($5.75): nacho-cheese flavored Doritos topped with a loony pseudo-salad of lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, spiced peanuts, diced mango, hot sauce, sour cream, chili powder, gelatinous pickled pork rinds (an acquired texture) and more.

The papas locas ($6.25) are similarly crazy but assembled without the fruit and nuts. Because their base is crisp housemade potato chips, I might give them the edge over the dorilocos, but both wacky combos are amusing if you’re in the mood for something messy and a bit unorthodox.

If you’re looking for something cool and delicious, you’re in the right place, too. Eighteen house-made “nieves de garrafa” — Mexican-style sorbets — are available ($5 for three pick-and-choose scoops). I liked all I tried but was particularly enamored with the smooth churro, creamy coconut and intense mango.

The latter can take a crazy turn if you order the highly recommended mango lagunada ($6.15). Like all lagunadas here, it’s fashioned with ice cream, fresh fruit (in this case, hefty mango strips), the pickledfruit condiment called chamoy, chili powder and tongue-tingling tamarind candy. This adds up to an outrageous and refreshing parfait that’s tangy, piquant, salty and wonderful.

That same litany of adjectives applies to the even spicier diablito raspado ($5.05). Laguna offers about a dozen raspados, or Mexican-style snow cones, and the diablito is a delightfully over-the-top example. House tamarind syrup and shaved ice — think tart, fruit-kissed iced tea — are accented with diced mango, chamoy, tamarind candy and loads of chili powder. Maybe you have to be a little crazy to like this as much as I do, but I’m clearly not alone on that count.