So as I have dined at Vittorio's once before and was definitely blown away by the food, I decided why not go again. There was a restaurant.com gift certificate available, definitely necessary since the restaurant is a bit expensive, and it was my anniversary so a great time to go.
We got there pretty late and were asked to wait for our table. I was confused since it was not packed and also 8pm on a Tuesday, but we were seating in 10 minutes. Turned out they wanted to seat us at the window since they felt it was the nicer area to sit, which was perfectly fine with me. I am the slowest at making decisions about food so I was happy to be a little more secluded with no table next to us so I could really just enjoy my time. The menus came out but we decided we should start with a new bottle of wine for a toast. The wine variety is very large, but also gets expensive quickly, so we chose a moderately priced mine that sounded like something we would really enjoy (I don't recall the exact bottle but it was from Spain).
The waitress came to our table to see if we were ready to order, before the wine came out, but I told her I am the slowest person at ordering so it may take a bit of time. She told us no rush, its not crowded, and take our time which was nice to hear.
Once our wine came out we decided to get an appetizer on the table and went with the special of the day, a cold calamari salad. I have had this many times in Italy and haven't seen it much around home so I really wanted to see the comparison. We were brought out bread, they get it fresh daily from brooklyn and serve it hot out of the oven, so we enjoyed some wine and bread. Bonus points to Vittorios for having the fresh bread!
Our app came out and I still wasn't sure what I wanted for dinner so we just picked and talked for a bit. The cold calamari salad was delicious. Calamari perfectly tender, and the vinegar sauce was perfect. We both were ready to order round two, but decided to wait on a dinner instead. I went with a pear salad but added jumbo grilled shrimp to it. My boyfriend ordered sea scallops. What was a bit ridiculous was when ordering my salad, it is on the appetizer side and for $12, not expensive out all, but I wanted to make sure it was large enough for an entree. She said to add the shrimp would make it so, so I trusted her. She told me, though, the charge per shrimp ordered and I thought that was beyond crazy!! At first she said she believed it was $2 per shrimp, but wanted to check, and came back to tell me it was actually $2.50. I have never, ever seen a restaurant do this. They should really feature more salads with shrimps at a fixed price and quantity.
The food came out and that was when we both were completely disappointed. My salad was a mile high pile of lettuce with a minimal of other ingredients. And the shrimp, definitely not worth $2.50. My boyfriend's scallops were tiny for the price and he said the rest of the meal was sub par. After we ate we both decided we were not going to even bother with dessert or coffee or anything. We just wanted to get out of that restaurant.
So after time two, I have made my final decision. As I knew from time one, the restaurant is over priced. But after time one I was very impressed by the food. Now after the second time, no the food was not horrible but the reputation that make for themselves, charging for individual shrimp, has turned me off completely. I do not plan on returning to this restaurant.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Sante Fe Tequila, Hicksville, NY
I enjoy going out to Mexican restaurants, but I am really picky with where I go since most Mexican food I don't eat. So when this coupon came about on Groupon (25$ for 50$ worth of food) I decided why not look into it. Reviews online noted they made the best frozen margaritas with a large variety so I decided to check out the menu and decide if it was worth trying. The prices were low and variation of the menu was great so I purchased the Groupon and made reservations for that Friday, as reservations were recommended because it is a small restaurant.
After work, I went to the restaurant straight from the train station. The restaurant had a very small front and small parking lot shared with multiple stores. But there was ample parking on the street behind the restaurant, so we really did not have to walk. We entered in the back and saw how small the place really was. It was very narrow and not too long, maybe a total of 9-10 tables. The colorful bar was in the back and the whole restaurant did have a Mexican theme to it. It was not crowded at all, which did make me weary since I heard it is always packed on a Friday night!
When seated it took a while, like really long, to give our drink orders but I did not mind since I was unwinding from work still. Once our drink orders were placed, I ordered a frozen raspberry guavarita ($11) and my boyfriend a coronarita ($12), we took a little bit of time to look at the menu since it is an extensive menu. We decided to order the baked mexican egg rolls as an app and I wanted to wait to order the entree but the server told us they prefer to take the order at once. This was a bit of a turn off because when I go out to eat, I prefer the food to be spaced out and to really enjoy myself. I always feel that ordering apps and entrees together will be served one after another. But the waitress was more than receptive and asked how long between each course would we like to wait, which was accommodating and nice. I told her fifteen minutes and went on ordering entrees, for me the Fajiti Veggies lettuce wrap ($10) and my boyfriend ordered the Costillas de Cerdo (slow roasted baby back ribs) ($16).
First our drinks, the frozen margaritas were really large and delicious, well worth the wait that it took to order and be brought. Our app came out pretty soon with the drinks. The portion was huge, and only for $9. What the were were baked egg rolls filled with smoked mesquite chicken, black beans, roasted corn, chiles poblanos, onion, and Oaxaca cheese with a side of creamy avocado dip. It probably was three egg rolls cut into slices. This was the BEST appetizer I have ever ordered from a Mexican restaurant. They did not even need the dipping sauce at all. The flavor was strong, smoky and delicious. Both me and my boyfriend said we could've just ordered that with another appetizer and been set. We ended up not finished all the pieces, to make sure we had room for our food.
Next we decided to order sangria, ordering a craft of it for $20 since a craft is always more than enough. Now I know I wanted spacing between meals, but boy was it a mistake to ask! It took about half an hour for our entrees to come out after we finished our appetizers! I was fine with that but it was too funny, so I would never recommend asking this restaurant to go slow.
Out came our Sangria followed by our entrees. My entree was two lettuce cups filled with grilled mixed veggies, and additional sauteed onions, mushrooms, and peppers served with pico de gallo, crema, guac, black beans, and shredded cheese. I really enjoyed all the grilled veggies but I was not too much of a fan of the lettuce cups, but that is also my own preference since it was prepped the way it should have been. The portion was huge so I only ate one.
My boyfriends entree was hickory smoked, slow roasted baby back ribs with caribbean seasoning and mango chipotle bbq glaze. It was served with fries, fire grilled corn on the cob with chili-lime butter and mango jicama slaw. There was a lot of ribs and fries for the small price we paid! He said the ribs were tenders and the seasoning was right on. The corn was smoky and the butter was really well seasoned. I ate the slaw since he hates mangoes, and the slaw was amazing as well. He too was not able to finish all his food.
We did not go with dessert since we were both really full, and we left a bit of sangria left since the craft was much bigger than expected, but we both left happy and will definitely return to this small, mexican gem.
I highly recommend all to try Sante Fe Tequila!
After work, I went to the restaurant straight from the train station. The restaurant had a very small front and small parking lot shared with multiple stores. But there was ample parking on the street behind the restaurant, so we really did not have to walk. We entered in the back and saw how small the place really was. It was very narrow and not too long, maybe a total of 9-10 tables. The colorful bar was in the back and the whole restaurant did have a Mexican theme to it. It was not crowded at all, which did make me weary since I heard it is always packed on a Friday night!
When seated it took a while, like really long, to give our drink orders but I did not mind since I was unwinding from work still. Once our drink orders were placed, I ordered a frozen raspberry guavarita ($11) and my boyfriend a coronarita ($12), we took a little bit of time to look at the menu since it is an extensive menu. We decided to order the baked mexican egg rolls as an app and I wanted to wait to order the entree but the server told us they prefer to take the order at once. This was a bit of a turn off because when I go out to eat, I prefer the food to be spaced out and to really enjoy myself. I always feel that ordering apps and entrees together will be served one after another. But the waitress was more than receptive and asked how long between each course would we like to wait, which was accommodating and nice. I told her fifteen minutes and went on ordering entrees, for me the Fajiti Veggies lettuce wrap ($10) and my boyfriend ordered the Costillas de Cerdo (slow roasted baby back ribs) ($16).
First our drinks, the frozen margaritas were really large and delicious, well worth the wait that it took to order and be brought. Our app came out pretty soon with the drinks. The portion was huge, and only for $9. What the were were baked egg rolls filled with smoked mesquite chicken, black beans, roasted corn, chiles poblanos, onion, and Oaxaca cheese with a side of creamy avocado dip. It probably was three egg rolls cut into slices. This was the BEST appetizer I have ever ordered from a Mexican restaurant. They did not even need the dipping sauce at all. The flavor was strong, smoky and delicious. Both me and my boyfriend said we could've just ordered that with another appetizer and been set. We ended up not finished all the pieces, to make sure we had room for our food.
Next we decided to order sangria, ordering a craft of it for $20 since a craft is always more than enough. Now I know I wanted spacing between meals, but boy was it a mistake to ask! It took about half an hour for our entrees to come out after we finished our appetizers! I was fine with that but it was too funny, so I would never recommend asking this restaurant to go slow.
Out came our Sangria followed by our entrees. My entree was two lettuce cups filled with grilled mixed veggies, and additional sauteed onions, mushrooms, and peppers served with pico de gallo, crema, guac, black beans, and shredded cheese. I really enjoyed all the grilled veggies but I was not too much of a fan of the lettuce cups, but that is also my own preference since it was prepped the way it should have been. The portion was huge so I only ate one.
My boyfriends entree was hickory smoked, slow roasted baby back ribs with caribbean seasoning and mango chipotle bbq glaze. It was served with fries, fire grilled corn on the cob with chili-lime butter and mango jicama slaw. There was a lot of ribs and fries for the small price we paid! He said the ribs were tenders and the seasoning was right on. The corn was smoky and the butter was really well seasoned. I ate the slaw since he hates mangoes, and the slaw was amazing as well. He too was not able to finish all his food.
We did not go with dessert since we were both really full, and we left a bit of sangria left since the craft was much bigger than expected, but we both left happy and will definitely return to this small, mexican gem.
I highly recommend all to try Sante Fe Tequila!
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