Darlene

I have had a couple of pretty bad experiences at Darlene’s, mostly involving ridiculous waiting times and mixed up orders. The food quality is also rather inconsistent, and can range from really gross and tasteless to somewhat decent. That being said, my boss loves this place, so I gave it an extra star, but me personally, I will never go back.

Before I moved to NYC, I’d never heard people refer to «Spanish food». In Chicago there was «Mexican» food, «Costa Rican» food, etc, etc., so I wondered if people talking about «Spanish food» was the equivalent of Dan Quayle saying a few years ago that people in Latin America spoke Latin, in other words terribly off the mark and vaguely offensive.
This also gets us into this whole authentic food vs inauthentic discussion, but if a family has a Mexican Father and a Puerto Rican Mother, hey whatever the result is from a culinary perspective and otherwise is probably as legit as anything. Variety, you know, is the spice of life. Darlene is in that spirit.
I’ve been there a couple of times, and found the various plates of meats and rice I tried to be tasty, but, truth be told, not as good as Sophie’s. I sat down before, and realized this last time that this was for the best because take out service can be chaotic and slow and I’m sure you don’t want to see the kitchen in action, if you know what I mean.
This all being duly noted (see the mere three stars given), where the Carribean met Mexico on my last visit was a place called Fantasy Island. My favorite meat from the Islands (Pernil), met my favorite fast food from Mexico (the burrito) and it was magic! I’ve never seen this in a Mexican place, but my dreams were fulfilled in a place selling «Spanish Food». If my lunch was inauthentic, then let me be a fraud.
Only in New York, kids. Only in New York.