Picante

Ready for the biggest damn burrito of your entire life. With solid drinks, prices, and environment to go along… Picante probably has the best burrito in all of northern manhattan. Get the shrimp burrito, you cant go wrong. Also make sure to ask for the red or green sauce. they usually only serve one at a time. Service can be amazing or eh. Depends on the waiter

This place is good for drinks that’s it. I had a bad experience with there food couple years ago n decided to try them again bad idea. Not good Mexican food.

I absolutely love this little restaurant. It’s my go to place for good Mexican food. The gigante burrito al pastor, guacamole with chips, chicken chimichanga, and tacos are my favorite! Highly recommend to dine or ordering delivery if you’re ever craving Mexican food!

Delivery was super delayed and they were rude on the phone. Although the food was good, it took way to longer to get here.

Great food. Service was a bit tedious but the overall experience was great! Their nachos and enchiladas are the best!

Ordered a chicken quesadilla and received something that looks like pork. The sauces spilt all throughout the bag and the food was ice cold. The cheese did not melt and the lettuce was soggy. Safe to say that I didn’t eat my dinner.

Wow there’s a lot of mixed reviews on here; interesting. I tend to give lower than average ratings but have to admit I had a good experience when I came here last Friday for lunch with a friend.
The place wasn’t full at all but had a couple of tables filled. Ambiance was aightt; not too loud and they gladly put on NCAA tournament games on the TV when I asked. Server was nice as was the girl at the bar who jumped in to take our orders.
I ordered the gigante burrito ($ 11) and a coke. The burrito was ginormous, just the way I like it. I ordered the chicken one, but it seemed like the burrito came with chicken, chorizo, and whatever other meats they put in there, which I thought was interesting in a good way. The flavor on the burrito was banginggg. All the oil from meats added to the overall experience. Each bite I took was very satisfying. Burrito had some salad greens in it too. I was going to stop halfway but I ate the whole thing cause it was so good.
Now I wholeheartedly gave this place four stars mainly cause my burrito was excellent. However, a few aspects of my experience which may be potential pitfalls included: 1) long wait time for food, 2) I ordered a chicken burrito but there were definitely other meats like chorizo in the burrito. I’m not complaining as it was excellent, but I could see some people getting heated, 3) they only give you two bowls of free chips, but gave us a third one free cause we didn’t know, 4) prices might be considered a bit expensive on other dishes if they don’t give you a lot of food. My burrito was huge so I felt $ 11 wasn’t a complete ripoff.
So I would definitely recommend this place if you plan on ordering the burrito gigante.

Hate to bash any place, but you might really want to consider checking out the NYC mental health and hygiene site if you’re curious about how the condition is in the kitchen here. My partner and I came here a few times besides them previously having a letter B posted which turned into an A, but in all I ended up uncovering more about these grades.
We ordered in on a Friday night and maybe it was a «sign» because the phone kept sounding busy and we kept trying for about 15 minutes. I figured well oblivious Friday night, almost every place especially I NYC is caught up and I thought the same when they said it would take 20 minutes and the delivery took almost an hour (we were only one block and one avenue away). We ordered a burrito (listed as $ 10) and two tacos (listed $ 3 each) but the delivery guy charged $ 22 and some change. Well we processed and gave him a generous $ 30 (over $ 7 in tips for 2 city blocks). We sat down to eat and something about the tacos seemed foul and on the second bite I became so nauseous I ran to the trash and began to throw up the little food I had taken in. Don’t mean to get explicit about it, but it wasn’t good and of course we were not going to risk another bite even my partner. He had just taken his first bite when this happened and being that his burrito had the same meat as my tacos he called explaining that something was off with the food… I immediately hear him get upset because the person on the other end was saying there was nothing he can do because the manager wasn’t in. I then get on the phone and this male once again says the manager might not be in «until later or TOMORROW». Tomorrow? I begin to reiterate how quickly this meal went sour and even said how there was a major difference in price since he was being so not understanding of the situation. He then says «well you don’t have to order from us then». This is when I really loose it and my partner decides we are going to walk over since they have no intention on even looking into this.
I really did not want to walk over especially after not feeling the greatest. When we get there he asks for the male who was on the phone and he actually calls my partner up and when my partner says we are at the restaurant he says «come to the back». What? Who calls a client to go to the back especially after having such a nasty attitude over the phone, I sure wasn’t going to walk over to the back or allow him to walk over. The female bartender was very accommodating, listened to what happened and explained the manager wasn’t around but would try and get us a refund. The mysterious guy who is still unknown (waiter/​cook/​??) comes out from «the back» and once again wasn’t apologetic but a bit cold and I broke it down for him… what service means and what it doesn’t (telling me I shouldn’t order there).
Long story short, we have them the food and the bartender actually took care of the whole situation and refunded us. My partner eventually went online and saw the conditions they have been rated badly for and the «A» is deceiving as they still have issues with hygiene in that kitchen and as most recent as December they have failed in keeping meat at the right temperature along with other things…

This place deserves more than 3 stars. Came in with low expectations but the food exceeded.

This place is horrible, because every time I call for delivery no one speaks rant English… I literally asked for refried beans and she didn’t know what I was saying and there was no one else there to translate, and this is the 3−4^th time I’ve called with the same problem and have given up and chose another place. They do get one star though because the food is good… but that does not good if you can’t be understood to order it.

This place used to be great 5 or so years ago. I used to go there every week. There were a few good Mexican places back then. Sad to say, it’s gone way downhill. The food has gotten really bad. Like almost inedible bad. The service is still nice so I feel a little sorry to say that my days of coming there are definitely over.

I give this place four stars because the food here lads outstanding, however the service is a little shaky at times. I come here normally for a drink and the gigante burrito.
For some reason my drink wasn’t that great this time around. I asked her to ask the bartender to make me another drink and I felt a sense is resist because she just paused and stared at me. Finally, she agreed that I should get another drink if I didn’t like it. If you are looking for authentic Mexican food in Nyc, this is your best bet. I would know since I’ve been around and eaten Mexican food in the west coast.

Extremely bland food served with one of the worst margaritas I’ve ever had (the blue salt on the rim was pretty though). They were also out of frozen margaritas. I sat at the bar and the service was very ho hum as well. Plenty of better places in the area — I won’t be returning here.

This used to be my favorite Mexican place in the entire neighborhood. The food is fresh and delivery was always fast. I love their shrimp tacos, enchiladas, ceviche, and tres leches cake!
I came home from work and ordered some food for dinner. It came in great time and was delicious, they just forgot to include the tres leches cake. I called the restaurant and told them what happened. The guy on the phone sounded very sincere and apologized. He said he’d have one delivered right away.
Well…over an hour later and still no delivery. I called back and the same guy answered. He apologized again and said he forgot. I asked if he could just refund my card; all he did was get my first name and said he’d call grub hub. I didn’t even use that service in the first place, so this got me upset.
The food here is great, but the service is terrible. He offered to do something nice for my next order, but how was I supposed to believe that after he said my cake got sent out when it really didn’t?
I hate that I even have to give it two stars, but the customer service was so disappointing after I’ve been such a loyal person to this place. My advice: don’t order delivery, just go in and eat.

I wish I could give zero star
I’m really disappointed. I wanted to order lamb&chicken fajita, I asked instead of rice can I substitute with French fries but they didn’t make it. I changed my order to chicken Quesedilla. When I got my order taste was horrible. Please don’t get me wrong I have been so many Mexican restaurant but I never had that bad Quesedilla. Chicken was stale. I was so hungry I couldn’t eat my meal. Worst Quesedilla ever!!! When I talked to waiter they didn’t even care.

I have been coming here for several years (since 2011) and in the last year and a half the service and food have been crap! Their guac is still good (even though i always tell them add salt, b/​c it never comes with and THEY never do it) and the Chorizo tacos are great… that’s about all I can recommend, and maybe not even the tacos. This is why! So I prefer FLOUR tortillas on my tacos, not corn (for those who watch their caloric intake, i know corn tortillas are «healthier» however they use two corn tortillas for their tacos and only one for flour, so the point is moot) and it has NEVER been a problem until the last year and a half. Apparently «no one ever» requests flour tortillas (even whole wheat one’s aren’t an option) so they stopped stocking them, which is crazy even BLOCKHEADS has flour tortillas. So I’ve stopped going.
Recently I decided to give it another chance and went on Friday with a friend (getting my friends to come here is like pulling teeth, they don’t like the food, the décor or the service) and a miracle occurred, I got my flour tortillas, however I was told by the waitresses that the cooks were complaining. Ummm I don’t care! Why is it a problem? You’re not MAKING the tortilla! Did i use up the one’s in your personal stash which you used company money to buy? She was insistent i get a corn tortilla when i requested one to go, like it got uncomfortable and my friend had to step in. If it’s such a huge problem please send the cook to me. (Like really what if I was allergic?).
Then I was hoping for another miracle and went yesterday and was told they didn’t have flour tortillas, I didn’t argue (even though I just had some on friday). I asked nicely if they could cut a big flour tortilla (that they have for burritos) and cut it, I was told no, because it was too much work for the cooks… on an off hour with the restaurant empty. Mind you, I’m talking about cutting it like a peace sign, three cuts during a slow period. I had to get out of there before i flipped a table.
The problem with this spot is that I don’t like any of the other food other than the guac, the quesadilla is blah and everything is BLAH BLAH. The fact that I have to argue for my tortilla is ridiculous. This owner had three restaurants in the neighborhood, one was renovated, one was replaced by a draft house and this one is like the Cinderalla step-​child with no hope of a prince charming, dude you can’t afford to lose customers. There are MANY other options in the neighborhood now.
I try to never leave negative comments but I’m fed up with this place. They’ve given up caring.
Oh and they’ve had a «Grade Pending» sign up for their health inspection clearance up for months, which usually means, we failed the first time and we’re given another chance.

My second visit to the place, the last one was a year ago when we visited City College. When we walked in, I noticed that they did some renovations to the place. It is still ongoing I guess as I see a paint bucket and a trolley truck in the ladies room.
Food is okay. Suited portion. Free starter chips. They have unique dips. Both my husband and son loved it. Wondering why it took the cook so long to provide our meal wherein there is nobody much in the restaurant? Our server kept refilling our water glass. Quiet. Location is along Broadway with the option of dining al fresco. Latin music played on the air. Dining Place is small .
With the total experience, I would find their food pricey. And the annoying part was they added gratuity right there on our check for about 15% wherein we were just 3 although we normally give tips for same percentage or 20% for better service.
May not come back again.

Que tristeza de tener que dejar de venir a este lugar … La comida buena. No hay mucha variedad de trago pero bueno el lugar… La mesera que nos atendio deja mucho que desear… Apurando a uno cuando ni agua sirve. Ni un hola. Ni nada… Que decepcion y al preguntar por bebidas frizadas. Decia que no las tenian en existencia… Y en el menu existen eso es muy extraño… Necesitan aun manager ya que al preguntar por el. La mesera. Decia que no tenian… the service was terrible… and never servedwater… Asi no volvere nunca mas por la noche y menoa en domingo teniengo a una waitress … Ruda y despota

Experience food wise– decent
Frozen Margeritas– great
Service? — Does it even exist. If you’re not getting drunk here on their large pitcher of margerita then I suggest you brace yourself for some of the worst service. They take forever to serve your food, you have to walk up to the counter to try to get their attention for the check/​service/​refill on water. When you finally do get the check they don’t say have a nice day or we were glad for having you here. Not a thing.
If you can’t provide good service OPEN UP A FOOD TRUCK.
Thank you, have a great day. :)

I’ve been coming to this place since for the last 3+ years and since the neighborhood has changed, so have they.
First off, they used to do a happy hour Mon, Wed and Thursdays for $ 5 Margaritas/​Sangrias. Now it seems to be non existent.
The food, in my opinion, used to have more flavor and now seems to be watered down. Personal annoyance is, one can no longer can get a whole fish (with head included YUM), instead you are served a ½″ fish, if that.
The ambiance needs some work. The drinks are okay, but nothing special.

I’m going to keep this plain and simple. Last night I gotten burritos to go. It got the chicken burrito for myself… I was down to the last couple bites and I bit into a wire. A WIRE. It was about an inch and a half long and bent in half. It was as thin as a wire for braces so it could have easily been missed by anyone else. This could have caused serious damage.
I won’t ever be eating here and I will not be recommending it.