Ari Gilder
Google
For all the hype I have heard about this place in the kosher community, I must admit I was disappointed. Simply put, the food was a letdown.
The beef chimichangas sounded good but the filling tasted like an indistinct mush of beans and meat. It comes with guacamole and pico de Gallo. The guacamole is similarly one dimensional, being not seasoned enough and kind of runny. The pico de Gallo was fine.
I got the carnitas burrito, which is meant to be beef and duck confit. Seeing that on the menu I expected a luxurious, juicy, fatty filling. Instead it was dry and again very under seasoned. I had expected whatever meat I got would create layers of flavor with the rice and beans and the fixings, especially for a place run by a Top Chef winner. But no, all the flavors got lost and nothing, especially not the duck confit, shone through. The portion size was quite nice though. Assuming you are willing to eat the food bland as it is you won't leave hungry.
As for the sauces - they were similarly one dimensional. The mango habanero sauce just tasted like "spicy!" in a yellowish suspension. The chipotle sauce was just "smoky BBQ!" Similar with some of the others. The only decent one was the salsa Verde.
I will say though: the churros for dessert were quite delicious. Those I would eat again. Also the people working there are very nice too.
I think the billing this place has being run by a Top Chef actually hurts it. My expectations of flavor, complexity and seasoning were way higher. If this was just a random kosher Mexican place I would probably be more forgiving for these errors.