The front of the Homestate restaurant in Sherman Oaks lights up the corner of Greenbush Avenue and Ventura Boulevard. With eight locations in the Los Angeles area, Homestate’s Tex-Mex style kitchen offers a variety of meal options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (Photo courtesy of Heather Kaplan)

Here’s the thing about my family  — we often get home closer to 6:30 p.m. on most nights because of our busy schedules: I have sports, my sister has a design class, my dad has late meetings, etc. So, naturally, there comes a point in the week when we are all too tired to cook dinner for ourselves. Right then is when we turn to our beloved take-out restaurant: Homestate.

Living in Studio City and having a location as close to me as Sherman Oaks, Homestate is easy to get to and always satisfies my taste buds. Whenever I’m in need of comfort food or a bite of something warm and delicious, this is where you will find me. At Homestate, I definitely have my signature orders — but you really can’t go wrong with anything on their menu.

Briana Valdez founded Homestate in Los Angeles in 2013 with no prior cooking knowledge, intending to bring her Texas identity to California through cuisine. On their website, Homestate describes its menu as “an anthology of Texan folk remedies.” Their Tex-Mex cooking style with a California twist allows for a homey space that always smells incredible. Their food ranges in price from $10 to $20 a meal. The Sherman Oaks location I usually order from opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. Homestate offers everything from breakfast burritos to brisket on house-made flour tortillas to creamy queso dip.

While I might see it as my go-to takeout spot, my family and I also enjoy dining in, as it also has a lovely atmosphere inside the physical restaurant. With brick walls, pops of color and stringed lights overhead, the restaurant is perfect for a casual, weekday outing with friends and family. Beyond the Sherman Oaks location, they also have seven other spots, including Playa Vista, Pasadena and Highland Park.

Among the many mouth-watering options Homestate offers, my usual order is the chicken quesadillas and a brisket taco with avocado on a flour tortilla. And, let me tell you, this order is never a miss!

While you may want to fill your quesadilla with brisket, ground beef or soyrizo, I’d strongly recommend the chicken. It is rich in flavor, complementing the perfectly melted cheese. This will make your quesadilla total $10, but the chicken is most definitely worth the extra $5. The quesadillas are small, and they include one per order. Due to its smaller size, I’d highly recommend pairing this dish with another item from the menu, such as one of the tacos or a side of chips and guacamole.

Homestate offers a selection of “Anytime Tacos,” “Breakfast Tacos” and “Band Tacos” on either a flour or corn (gluten-free friendly) tortilla. My personal favorite is the brisket “Anytime Taco” with the addition of avocado. The avocado adds an extra creaminess to the meal, bringing the taco from a nine to a 10. Referred to as “The Original” on their website, this taco is truly something I could eat any day. In the past, I have also tried the chicken taco, and while it is in my top three, it doesn’t beat the brisket.

Members of my family are big fans of the “Comal,” a vegetarian breakfast taco with scrambled eggs, black beans and Monterey Jack cheese. There is also the “Trinity,” which includes scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes and cheddar. Though they are both basic options, they never disappoint as a perfect way to start your morning or end your day — especially if you are a breakfast-for-dinner type of person.

While a taco or quesadilla stands pretty well on its own, it cannot be labeled as amazing without a side of chips and a dip. Homestate has mastered the tortilla chip with the perfect salt-to-chip ratio and an echoing crunch that can be heard with every bite. However, what would a chip be without a dip? Though I would never touch it myself since I am not a fan of its consistency, I have heard from my family that the queso here is extra creamy and delicious.

But let’s talk guac. To be perfectly honest, the guacamole at Homestate is the one thing I have complaints about. I am a big lover of lime in my guac as it adds a bit of pizzazz and extra flavor. But I struggle to find this wow factor in Homestate’s guac, which takes it down a few levels on my rating scale.

Homestate’s rich, savory and salty food can often leave you needing a sip of something cold. While water could suffice, why not try Homestate’s hibiscus limeade? This drink combines steeped hibiscus leaves, lime juice and agave syrup into the perfect thirst quencher. At $5, it can seem like an unnecessary addition, but I promise it completes the taco and the quesadillas.

Any combination of Homestate menu items will satisfy that comfort food craving that we all get at some point in our busy weeks. Perfect for a couch meal or a casual sit-down with close friends and family, Homestate lives up to its name as a constant place of warmth, good company and an overall feeling of home.