(Ed.'s Note: If you happen to be driving down Adams and have a hankering for a nice caldo from Las Casuelitas, arguably the best in town, make sure you don't park in the lot next to their building.If you do, chances are that the landlord of the apartments across the lot from the restaurant will call the wrecker on you and the tow-truck operators will try to take your vehicle to their impound lot where you will be charged an arm and a leg to get it back.
What usually happens, as was the case at lunch time today, is that a tow truck will hook up your car and wait until you emerge and tell you that you're in violation of private property. There is a parking-metered city lot across Adams if the spaces along the street are full. But for the uninitiated, it will take a $50 fee for the driver to unhook his cable and allow you to leave with your vehicle.
There are signs in the restaurant that warn about this, but many customers just want to east and leave and don't pay no mind to the sign on the wall. That lot, by the way, is almost always empty except for a few tenants of the apartments. The woman above just came to Las Casuelitas to enjoy a caldo only to pay an additional $50 on top of the $7 she was charged for the food. Le salio caro el caldo a la pobre señora!)