I went to El Parador after hearing great things about their sangria, food, and atmosphere. We arrived around 9:30 on Saturday night to find the restaurant a little empty (the kitchen closes at 11 on Saturday’s). We were given menus and promptly ordered guacamole:

In my opinion, I make the best guacamole by mixing pico de gallo with an avocado or two El Parador makes a great guac by keeping large chunks of the avocado intact and keeping it more avocado based than anything else. At some restaurants, I feel like you don’t even know what you’re eating because of all the crap they mix in with the avocado - at El Parador, they used just enough seasoning and tomatoes to keep the original flavor.

I ordered one of the specialties, the Mole Poblano, (apparently the National dish of Mexico) - complex, multi layered sauce with over 24 ingredients, served with a 1/2 of a chicken, stewed in mole:

They are definitely not stingy with their portions - my mole poblano came in a crock pot with three more large chicken pieces and lots of mole sauce. I thought the mole sauce was terrific because there were lots of different flavors mixed together. My chicken was tender and the sesame seeds sprinkled on top of the dish was a cute touch.

Chris ordered the fajitas:

The meat was well cooked (a nice medium rare) and I liked the bell peppers were soft and a good mix with the beef (although, would it kill them to de-seed all the peppers before cooking them? sheesh).

Ariel ordered the other house special, the Pollo Parador, which is 1/2 a chicken marinated for 24 hrs with their oldest secret recipe:

I thought the chicken was well flavored and tender, but Ariel thought the chicken was a little dry. Maybe the piece he offered me was the BEST PIECE OF THE ENTIRE CHICKEN.

Ariel’s friend, Darius, ordered the Rib Eye with Chipotle - Grilled 24 oz center cut rib eye rubbed in chipotle and garlic adobo and roasted seasonal vegetables:

Darius is a huge fan of chipotle and he loved the steak. He ate it all, too!

El Parador is probably the best Mexican food I’ve had in the city, although, after dinner, I realized that I don’t really like “authentic” Mexican food…I prefer Taco Bell, Chipotle, and sometimes Qdoba. Out of all the places we’ve tried so far, El Parador is at the top of my list, although, there’s a taco place I still have to try in Midtown - it’s in an office building around 49th, I think. After I go there, I’ll let you know if I’m ever going to have Mexican in NY again.

How to get to El Parador:

El Parador
325 E 34th St Frnt
New York, NY 10016
212-679-6812

A coworker from the project I’m currently staffed on recommended La Palapa (specifically in the East Village) for me to take my friends for a Saturday night dinner. My friend, Josh, is in the city for the week and I’ve been taking him around to all of my favorite restaurants - Shake Shack, Pearl Oyster Bar, John’s Pizzeria, Seoul Garden, Big Wong’s - but I wanted to try some Mexican food and since I haven’t really experienced any good Mexican food in New York, I thought I’d go off a recommendation. Kevin, my friend, recommended La Palapa and used to be a regular when he lived in the city. Since he raved about the place, I made a reservation for Saturday night. He also recommended a bunch of dishes, so I knew exactly what to order (and what to tell everyone else to order!).

For an appetizer, we ordered chalupas - one for everyone at the table! The chalupas were really delicious; the crunchiness of the chalupas with the creamy guacamole, salty black beans, and cheese was like a party in my mouth! Too bad they were so tiny!

The Chalupas and all their glory (cornmeal that was shaped into little boats and then deep fried), homemade sausage, guacamole, black beans, queso fresco and cream):

Another shot of the chalupas:

Chris and I decided to order one soup and one main course (Kevin recommended so many things and they all sounded so delicious that I had to figure out how to eat EVERYTHING on my first visit!). Chris’ soup was a semi-spicy soup with chick peas and beef in a zesty broth accompanied by avocado, radishes, oregano and fresh lime:

The soup was good, but not something that I’d order again. It was a little salty, but the radishes offset the saltiness.

I ordered chicken enchiladas with a red mole sauce (the mole is supposed to be GREAT at La Palapas). I’ve never had mole sauce so I really don’t know what it SHOULD taste like, but I liked the semi-bitter/sweet taste. My chicken enchiladas in a rich red mole, homemade queso fresco, cream and sweet onion:

The dish was a little too bitter at first and I wondered if I liked it or not. After a couple bites, I realized that I liked it a LOT, ESPECIALLY the mole sauce. Then I realized I ate it too fast and I got a really bad headache from eating the mole. Maybe I was allergic to it?

Tim actually went to the same restaurant the night before and ordered the special from the night (and made Josh order it). Instead of getting a main course, Tim just ordered some steak tacos. Tim’s tacos:

Since he didn’t share, I can’t really say if they were good or bad, but I think he enjoyed them.

Josh ordered the special (because Tim forced him to…seriously). Josh’s enchiladas in a rich mole sauce (different from our mole sauce):

Josh really hated the dish and I thought the mole sauce tasted like it was burnt. My mole sauce was burnt and bitter, but it was sweeter (there was a mixture of orange juice and chocolate). Josh’s mole sauce didn’t have any sweetness to complement the bitterness and he ended up really disliking the dish. I felt really bad since it was his first night in New York and he had a terrible eating experience, but he liked the chalupas and we took him to Pinkberry afterwards, which he enjoyed, so I guess the night wasn’t a total bust.

I would go back to La Palapa for a girls night out, a date night, or a fun night with friends. It seemed like a very fun place to go with people after work for margaritas or a quick bite to eat. Their prices were a little steep for Mexican food, but their portions were large (large enough for two to share). Next time, I would try the skirt steak - I hear it’s great!

How to get to La Palapa:

La Palapa
77 Saint Marks Pl
New York, NY 10003
212-777-2537