Maldonado Restaurant

One star for the handmade tortillas, everything else was bland and pretty bad. I’m 100% Mexican and this was definitely not Mexican food. I feel bad for the people that run this place because I’m sure they’re just trying their best to make good food but it’s terrible. :/

Es una mierda ese restaurante jamás en mi vida compro comida ahí para un plato de comida tedan 3 tortillas son una basura como restauran

Let’s start with the bad and get it out of the way.
After a relatively long hiatus from this place (for no particular reason), we went back last night.
The only thing wrong here is the service. It basically sucks. You feel like you’re being served by someone’s high school daughter who hasn’t quite figured out how to serve yet. Expect long waits and lack of basics (can I have a fork, please?).
But, if you can tolerate that (a couple of beers helps), you will be rewarded with really tasty basic poblano cuisine made by a lovely abuela who hides in the kitchen. If this food were served in a dressed up setting with real service, they could double the prices.
We had chicken with mole, mojarra (tilapia) frita, tamales and chile rellenos. They came with tasty homemade tortillas and black beans. What I learned last night was this place makes amazing sauces. The mole was loved by my friend and I adored the red sauce that smothered my really tasty chile relleno. Portion sizes were good without being overwhelming. Entrees cost about $ 8 – 11. The Horchata and Jamaica were homemade and tasty additions.
Ambiance is typical Mexican hole in the wall with a loud jukebox competing with the ever present TV showing telenovelas and World Cup highlights. I’m so glad to see that some things never change and despite the never ending march of corporate blandness (Chipotle anyone?) these truly local mom and abuela Mexican joints soldier on.
If you value authenticity over predictability and flavor over blandness then do your buds a favor and stop in here. Order anything with a sauce and you will leave smiling. Bring patience. Do not order delivery unless you want it sometime next year.
Places like these are another reason why I love New York. Support them and they will reward you with realness.

Awful, horrible service, disgusting food did i mention disgusting… ordered to go was charged 15.00 for 2 ribs in a sea off sauce… total garbage… i brought it back asked what it was… they wound up replacing my order with a piece of undercooked chicken carelessly thrown into the SAME sauce that i had just returned i think the word in spanish is BASURA … as in total garbage, can’t wait till they get closed… i will smile when i pass by the empty space…

More expensive than you might think of a hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant like this one, but still cheaper than most places in Manhattan. The food is pretty good — steak chimichangas and chicken chalupas. But yeah *no* English spoken here… like none. So if you don’t speak Spanish, be prepared to point to what you want on the menu or have your order misheard.

Love this place. So authentic. Cheap beer and incredible guacamole.

Sometime last month, I was walking around the neighborhood when I noticed a couple of guys outside painting the Mexican flag on the storefront. I then looked inside and saw what looked like a few Latinos inside. Basically, I don’t go to ethnic restaurants if people of that ethnicity aren’t eating there. Great, this spot had already passed one test.
By then I’m curious as well as hungry as I was en route to restaurant up the road. I stop in and look at the menu. They’ve got both carnitas and chorizo dishes on the menu. That stood out because a couple of other self-​proclaimed NYC Mexican spots I’d been to or ordered from didn’t have them on the menu. No carnitas or chorizo on the menu of a Mexican restaurant? Sorry, it’s not authentic and probably sort of sucks.
Okay, I decide to take a chance and ordered a burrito. It came with beans & rice and a salad. It took a bit of time to make, so I took a menu because the menu said delivery with a minimum order of $ 8.00. I’m cool with waiting for delivery in my warm apartment. I get a bit antsy when I have to wait in a restaurant. The burrito meal was really good and reminded me of the great Mexican food I’ve left behind in California.
Over the weekend, I was craving Mexican food again. I decide to call. I was told there is no delivery. I was still hungry, but I was hungry and bummed out :(
Tonight I went and ordered a chorizo chimichanga. It was excellent.
Now, all of the times I’ve been in there the service has been so-​so. No smiles. No «welcomes» or «thank yous». Steven K. is right. There is very little English spoken here. I just muddle through with the take out menu and my pidgin Spanish. Honestly, I didn’t expect a lot of English to be spoken here anyway. If I can handle ordering food in other countries, I can handle ordering Mexican food in NYC. I’ve never had a problem ordering food when I’ve been there.
The so-​so service I can tolerate also. I wish I didn’t have to because that would earn this place another star. However, great and affordable Mexican food is so rare in Manhattan, that the so-​so service is fine.
BTW, the restaurant is now called Maldonado Restaurant and not El Mismo.

As the name implies, a pretty regular place. I was encouraged when I walked in – it was past 2 in the afternoon, and there was still a good crowd of people who turned and stared at me as I walked in.
The tacos, though, turned out to be a little lackluster, mainly because the meat filling was *way* overcooked, to the point of toughness. It’s a shame, because the al pastor had plenty of rich chunks of nicely-​grilled pineapples.