CARLOS AND GABBY’S GLATT KOSHER MEXICAN GRILL

There are a few of these around the Metro NYC area, so we thought we would try one out. The food was tasty, but…………..

The decor is meant to evoke a dusty cantina south of the border as played in every old movie. It sort of succeeds, but not really. On the other hand, the place is spotless. Tables are a tad close, but the sound proofing works well and you can actually have a conversation.

You go to the counter and look at the menu and order. You give them your name, and when your order is ready, they call you to pick it up. Cooking time is very quick.

We suspected that the food was not terribly authentic when we saw the number of little kids there. Our immediate thought was that if so many parents bring the kids there, the food must not be very Mexican.

Confession: We went with a friend from Mexico, an Orthodox Jew who loves real Mexican food. Your author also enjoys authentic Tex-Mex when he is at the home of the UTJ’s Southern Test kitchen where Chef Andrea turns out Mexican delights. So we were hoping for really good Mexican food.

We got good food. Mexican? Uh, not really. To give you an idea, the salad was a regular garden salad to which corn and black beans had been added. Tasty but not Mexican.

We had the boneless BBQ rib platter. Made from Flanken (and not rib meat as the menu claims), the meat was extremely tender, and the BBQ sauce was tangy but not at all spicy. The portion was large. We also had an appetizer of a Philly Steak Southwest egg roll. That was excellent! They serve it with their so called “famous Philly sauce” which was a corn starch thickened sauce with a very, very weak mustard flavor. The egg roll was superlative, however.

Our friend had the Asada taco: marinated asada steak, pico de gallo, jalapeno peppers and tangy taco sauce. He also had the Five Alarm Chili Burrito. Suffice it to say, he doused it with hot sauce to give it some taste. He complained that it was bland.

As we said, the food is very good. Would we go again? Actually yes. But not for the Mexican experience. We would go to enjoy the food. All in all, not bad, just not what we went for.

In Queens, Carlos and Gabby’s is located at 6711 Main St, Flushing, NY 11367 Hashgacha is by the Queens Vaad.