Edmond C.
Yelp
El Chevito D'Oro is a great value for a meat lover. When the carnivore in you is far beyond your wallet, this is the place for you. You can bring a date and enjoy a great time. You can come here with friends and have a carefree experience, because no one will stress the check. What you get here is a mountain of grilled meat at a price you will appreciate in these inflationary times and where some restaurants; for a double cheeseburger, fries and a beer; are charging you about the same as you will pay for the mountain of meat in the Parrillada Chivito D'Oro Para 2 with two sides here.
I stood in the short cue around 8 on a Saturday night. The place was busy and I was seated in the enclosed sidewalk space alongside the restaurant. I used the time in line to research what I would order. Cece took my order for water and a half pitcher or carafe of sangria. The red sangria is a tad sweet here, but not off-putting. It has lots of fruit in it, so high marks for not shorting you here and fairly priced. The bread they bring is a light sourdough and the chimichurri is good for spreading or dipping with the bread.
When Cece brought out the Parrillada Chivito D'Oro for two, it was a mountain of meat presented on an elevated metal platter with something underneath to preserve the warmth. For the current price, you will be hard pressed to find better value. It may vary, depending on what they bring out to you, but on that night it came with a quarter chicken, two ultra thick slabs of bacon, a ton of skirt steak, a delicious sausage, veal steak, and a beef short rib, instead of the matambre. Whatever they bring out on this Parrillada platter, you can rejoice and enjoy this for all it's worth. Seriously, for the same money you could have had a double cheeseburger. The choice is easy here folks.
You get to sample in depth what El Chevito offers. The chicken was good, but perhaps the Peruvian rotisserie edges it out. The sausage was very good, but El Gauchito is better. The veal steak will not impress you, but the skirt steak will, especially with the chimichurri. The skirt could be a little more tender and all the meats could be cooked to a more moderate, juicy and tender temperature. Everything comes medium to well done here. The ultra thick bacon slabs were so on point, but it would be even better with American style barbecue sauce, which I am aware is not an Uruguayan thing and El Chivito is an Uruguayan steakhouse to be clear. Their beef short ribs are their strongest suit, enough that I ordered a short rib platter with sides to go. The short ribs are the thing here, better than anything else, more tender, with the bone and fat trimmings for that flavor boost beyond anything my palate experienced, with the bacon still talking in the background.
The fries were good and had great texture. The sauteed spinach with garlic and onions was so-so in my estimation. The Russian potato salad was on par with or arguably better than the fries. I cannot forget the traditional Uruguayan dessert I ordered here: the fruit and merengue chaja cake or pie. It's enough for two to share, with peach or apricot and I believe pineapple. I ate it too quickly to assess the fruit accurately. It's on the light side and not too sweet.
This is a solid three and a half star experience, muted only by the likes of El Gauchito and certainly not on the level of the more formal and stuffy steakhouses in this City. However, this place will go light on your wallet and everyone can enjoy the carnivorous experience without worry over the check. Bring your date, bring your friends and have money to come back again.