San Jeronimo Restaurant & Bakery

A Mexican Restaurant Grows on Staten Island | The New Yorker

"I did a double take when a server delivered the tamarind agua fresca I’d ordered — it came in a cartoonishly large beer stein, about three times what I’d expected — and I made quick work of the jumbo drink. For my meal I ordered the Molcajete 5 Carnes: sizzling meats including a warmly spiced chorizo patty and a filet of steak pounded thin with fatty edges glistening; vegetables like silky whole green onions and tender spears of charred nopal; and grilled quesillo, all fetchingly fanned in a mortar carved from volcanic rock. I chose the roja salsa, and the server warned “Pica” — indeed it was muy, muy picante, picantísimo, its kick coming from chile de árbol, which is much hotter than a jalapeño. On a return Saturday evening I had micheladas served with upside-down beer bottles affixed to salted rims and tamarind-chili candy plugs on the straws, and I tried the weekend-only pollo a la brasa: a half chicken marinated in adobo and grilled over wood, its glossy, sticky skin bearing a distinct smoke note and served with yellow rice and refried beans or ensalada de nopales. I also tasted fat chunks of supremely velvety goat in caldo de chivo — a thin but rich red broth brightened with lime and raw onion and cilantro, served with warm tortillas. The sweeping menu further includes fajitas, a torta Texana layered with steak, chorizo, and jalapeños, and a glorious quesadilla Tex‑Mex stuffed with quesillo, rice, beans, and a choice of meat, served with guacamole, sour cream, and a coarse pico de gallo (dishes $4.50–$26)." - Hannah Goldfield