Antojitos Mexicanos at Graham Avenue and McKibbin Street. — Photos by Scarlett Lindeman
Antojitos, the corn meal masa snacks that are usually deep-fried, stuffed, or slathered, can be found on every street corner in Puebla, Mexico. Fortunately, they can also be found on Graham Avenue, in the properly and quite generically named Antojitos Mexicanos.
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The restaurant is long and narrow, with beige walls, and the occasional sombrero. On the weekend, the colorful tables are packed with Mexican families enjoying flights of tacos and sopes while Ranchero music belts from the jukebox.
Go for any of the namesakes — the chalupas (oval corn patties topped with salsa and onion), sopes (thicker, round tortillas topped with beans), and tostadas do any antojito justice. But, the huaraches, literally “sandals,” are my favorite. Two shoe-shaped crisp patties of dough are layered with beans, topped with tinga (spicy shredded chicken) or chorizo and piled with shredded iceberg lettuce, crumbly cotija cheese, and crema. Now, I know what you are thinking — “Lettuce?! Not on my Mexican food!” But the crunchy strands and cooling dairy nicely counteracts the heat.
The more substantial platters are decent. The carne encebollada, the moles, and the pipian verde (a green mole-like sauce made with ground pumpkin seeds) have the satisfying heft of a home cooked meal — what your aunt would be cooking for a Sunday dinner if she were a little Poblano woman with an arsenal of chiles. I head for a plate of their rice and beans whenever my hangovers threaten to topple me to the ground. The beans are creamy, the rice, crumbly and light enough to inhale — a perfect Saturday afternoon stabilizer.
The waitresses are nice, there is ample seating, and the salsas vary in heat from week to week, so you know they are making them fresh. The red is a smoother, smokier blend of dried chiles while the green is a raw puree of tomatillos and jalapeños. Slather them all over the dense tamales, which on Saturday and Sunday are only $1.50 a pop.
Antojitos Mexicanos
107 Graham Avenue | 718-384-9076
Mon-Sun 10am-8pm
Snacks: 1.50-6.50; Entrees: 6.50-8.50
Free Delivery
johnnieutah May 25th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Breakfast (desayuno) at Antojitos is possibly the best hangover remedy on earth and costs around $5 – you get a platter of beans and rice and eggs topped with salsa and a packet of hot corn tortillas to sop it all up with. Paired with an ice-cold Tamarindo, I’m as good as back in the sleepy southern California surf town from whence I sprang.
NOTE: Do NOT drink the coffee. It will ruin all the good that the breakfast does for you. Also, it’s served in styrofoam. I usually bring my own from home and noone seems to mind. Then again, I’m a coffee snob.