I had a quick meeting in Teaneck this week and having grown up in Texas on the border of Mexico was really excited to check this place out. I'll start by saying that the name is brilliant, I have not chuckled so much since hearing about the now closed Jews for cheeses, years ago. I stepped in for lunch around 2 and there were a half dozen people inside. The place was certainly clean which is always nice....but the food was about as authentic as taco bell. The special of the day was an "empenada" which was not an empenada at all but rather ground beef fried in a corn tortilla ...AKA a beef taco. Empenadas are made with a flour based pastry which is then fried. Do some homework and look it up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empanada The menu is really disappointing small, but maybe just a starter. I ordered a beef chimichanga and chicken burrito with a side of fries and guacamole add-on. While the prices are not so bad, the portion sizes for everything but the fries wer really small. C'mon guys, a burrito is mostly filler anyways, why skimp on the rice and beans? The chimichanga was fried nicely on the outside but oily and luke warm in the center, so much so that the fake cheese had not yet melted...which only tells me that the unseasoned ground beef they put inside was cold to begin with in addition to being totally without any seasoning. Like the OP's experience, the chicken in the burrito was rubbery and dry, really dry, no way made that day dry. Throw in some super yankee guac and fries which although obviously cut inhouse (skin still on) were only fried once leaving them really placid. On a very competitive street, these hombres are going to need to step it up if they want to survive. This type of Mexican food should scream - made fresh to order. If I can throw in my 2 pesos, as a chef who grew up eating and cooking this cuisine, stop pre-making and reheating everything guys! Put in a salsa bar, pico de gallo, salsa verde, salsa rojo, maybe a sweet mango or pineapple salsa and add in a dozen different bottled chile sauces... and don't charge people to use'em! They will add many dimensions of flavor and spice to your dishes and are CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!!! PLEASE make your guacamole to order, it's so easy and can then be served green as opposed to whatever that was that I was served. Seriously, this stuff by comparison even made Smokey Joes look authentic, and that ain't easy to do. If you want to serve french fries,,,fine, but fry 'em twice with a break in between so that they can be crispy and wonderful. Most importantly...YOU ARE A BURRITO JOINT so make a BURRITO THAT IS MEMORABLE! Use a 10" not an 8" tortilla and actually fill it up. Even keeping the same amount of protein, you can put in enough filler to still make a real meal out of it. The owners of this place have a real opportunity here with a beautiful place in a large and affluent community, I'd love to see Chile Rellenos, carne asado, fajitas, empenadas (real ones), fajitas and soft/hard tacos. We'd all love to see this place make it... hopefully they can kick it up a nosh.
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