4844 Cordell Ave., Bethesda, Md. (301) 656-4844 Hours of Operation and Prices Lunch: M-Sat 11:30-2:30; Entrees: $6-$8 Dinner: Sun-Th 5:30-10, F-Sat 5:30-11; Entrees: $12.65-$21 Siesta menu: 2:30-5:30, $4-$7.25 Other Information • All major credit cards • Reservations recommended • Dress: casual • Valet parking (fee) at dinner • Handicapped accessible

It's Tex-Mex for grownups. The booths are well cushioned, the sound level is conducive to conversation, and the appointments are handsome and lively without approaching garish. Even more important, the service is watchful but not intrusive. The great secret of Cottonwood Cafe is that lunch prices are as little as half the dinner prices. True, the portions are smaller, and lunch doesn't offer such luxuries as shrimp-and-pinon pancakes, achiote duck or tenderloin with green chili corn pudding. But at mid-day you can still find greaseless incendiary "snake bites" (shrimp-and-cheese-stuffed fried jalapenos); fine Aztec chicken broth with avocado, cheese and grilled chicken; the enchiladas and tacos; fragrant and creamy chicken-and-shrimp Kachina pasta and several imaginative chicken and smoked turkey sandwiches. Cottonwood Cafe's food is more refined - and expensive - than its neighbor, Rio Grande Cafe. But its serenity is worth the money.