If you're not familiar with Bakersfield, Basque food is big here; so is Mexican food. Most Basque places offer a setup with your entree that includes bread, beans, salsa, cabbage soup, salad, blue cheese, picked tomatoes & onions, fries, table wine, and ice cream. It's hard to leave hungry with the setup/family style option. True family style sees everyone (not just your party) served the setup at the same time. For Basque restaurants check out the following:
Pyrenees Cafe - you can get a solo meal here or do a family style dinner with a few friends. Not sure if family style is at a set time.
Noriega House/Hotel (Noriega's) - this is ONLY family style and you WILL be sitting next to strangers. You get your choice of 2 or 3 entrees, which will come out in the latter part of the setup. They do lunch and dinner; call for the appropriate time. Reservations are STRONGLY recommended.
Woolgrower's - does regular dining with the setup as well as family style on certain nights.
Sandrini's - this is a Basque/Italian fusion with some really good options. It recently turned toward a "public house" (pub), so the menu options have probably changed, but seating is normal table service.
Chalet Basque - not bad, but it was bought out by Koreans if I remember correctly, and the Fudd hasn't been the same since. It's still nice and good, but nowhere near the quality it used to be.
If is Mexican food you crave, just open your eyes. We have a metric fuck ton of Mexican food here. I'll give you some of the better places I know:
Arizona - a locally famous hole in the wall. Best known for its chile Verde. Have a Bloody Mary, too.
El Sombrero - a cozy little place that has stood the rest of time.
Mexicali (downtown and west) - good food with an ambiance of eating in a Mexican courtyard.
La Colonia - good old down-home Mexican cooking here. I won't lie to you, though; if you're white, you might get some looks here. It's in the middle of the barrio, but it's totally worth checking out. You honestly might feel uncomfortable as you drive through the neighborhood to get there, but the parking is fenced in and no one week screw with you or your car.
Mauricio's - great food, annoying commercials.
If you like variety and don't mind a few looks again, check out Mercado Latino (2105 Edison Hwy). It has several small restaurants in the outdoor plaza area, and you can kind of nibble from each. This is more of an indoor mall/swap meet with small shops kind of thing, but the plaza is great.
Honestly, there are so many good Mexican restaurants that you can just drive for a couple minutes and find one.