GITANO Garden of Love

"The restaurant, previously known as Gitano, has relaunched with a new chef team and a focus on improving its food and service. Despite challenges in its first season, including Department of Health closings, the restaurant aims for a better experience this summer with a new menu featuring ceviches and tacos, and enhanced food safety measures." - Beth Landman

"Soho: Splashy Tulum import Gitano has moved indoors in the form of Gitano Jungle Room, now open in the James New York hotel." - Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

"Charred Avocado at Gitano: It descended on us like a spaceship. Originating in Tulum, Mexico, Gitano was a temporary outdoor bar and restaurant that appeared last summer at Sixth Avenue and Canal Street in a former parking lot, inauspiciously fenced with big sheets of what looked like tar paper. All the food was cooked in a small hearth, and the menu’s greatest failure among many was a charred avocado littered with slivered almonds and squirted with ponzu sauce. The burned taste of the fruit dominated, and the citrus made it worse." - Robert Sietsema

"Gitano is an open-air pop-up restaurant that originated in Tulum. While it offers a wood-fired menu, the execution is half-hearted, and the atmosphere resembles that of a battlefield combat hospital." - Robert Sietsema

"High prices, mediocre food, uncertain weather, and an awful location mar the newbie. A jungle enclosure is surrounded by what appears to be a makeshift tar paper fence like some slum or favela. The summer pop-up in New York occupies a former parking lot wedged between Sixth Avenue and Canal Street, where honking Ubers and groaning garbage trucks form summer’s sonic and olfactory leitmotif. The menu is currently in truncated form and will grow later, offering a few snacks and short dishes. The grilled avocado, cocktails, small sopes, carnitas taquitos, quesadilla, and the sole dessert 'orgasmo' were hit or miss, with inconsistent quality and presentation. Service at Gitano was lacking, with difficulty in getting the check and a pushy upsell approach. Overall, for those seeking a drinking venue with a tropical ambiance for selfies, Gitano might suffice, but it falls short for those who are serious about good Mexican food." - Robert Sietsema