eateryROW: FOREST HILLS

Yes. I started a Facebook page. I'm expanding within this interwebbed tubing.

I don't entirely know why or what I hope to accomplish with it. But thar it be me mateys. Go nuts. Become a fan and get a free gift. And by free, I mean something that cost me absolutely nothing. Like an emoticon. --> :-)

Also, for those who are my friends in real life, if you become a fan, don't give yourselves away. Let us endeavor to maintain the preservation of anonymity.

So walk with me, Suzie Lee, through the park and by the tree.

5 BURRO CAFE
72-05 Austin Street
Forest Hills, NY 11375
(718) 544-4521

For the better or for the worse (I think the worse), Forest Hills does not have much of a bar scene. In fact, when Time Out New York did its bar crawl of this, our lovely hood, it was clear that we're crying out for inebriative options. In fact, reading the article just rammed home that Park Slope can still hand us our ass on a plate when it comes to having fun.

So is it any shock that 5 Burro is the most crowded place within walking distance, sometimes with waits of over an hour and a dozen plus people mingling and smoking outside?



Not today though. Today was that frigid January Friday night where the snowmen were burning their coal eyes to keep warm. My friend, Seth, had come in for the weekend and we didn't want to drink too far from the warmth of my apartment. 5 Burro was crowded, but I've seen it far, far worse. In fact, I was surprised when we were told that waiting for a table could still be 20 to 30 minutes. But whatever. Some seats at the bar opened up, we sat down, and tried to order some drinks. Try as we might to get his attention, the bartender didn't come. He managed to get orders from everyone around us... but not being female, we were pretty much ignored. Eventually he saw the $20 bill in my hand and came over.

Now, personally, I'd assume that serving yours truly and his broham a beer would take somewhere in the order of eight to ten seconds. You'd be wrong, because ten minutes later, having already served the cute girls who had literally just walked in, he was like "Uh, you wanted two beers, right?" Not anymore we didn't. We canceled the order. To say we were pissed off would be a gross understatement.

But our table came a few minutes later and we ordered with the waiter. Beers appeared on our table within 30 seconds. HE got tipped.

Seth and I started with a round of Nachos. Twenty or so chips smothered in cheese, with the fixins on the side. I'm used to huge mountains of chips and this was a far smaller size than I was expecting. But they were good and we were starving. For dinner, I ordered the Tacos Del Norte, three hard shell tacos with ground beef served with rice and refried beans (of course). Seth ordered the Two Chicken Burritos, also served with rice and refried beans. Our opinions of the food were the same. It's standard cheap Mexican food. It was everything we were expecting and that's exactly why we were there. No one's gonna confuse this with gourmet, but it's nice to know that you can slum it when you want to and that you can slum it with a few pitchers.

Expect a crowd and expect a long wait. If you're patient or a hottie, you'll have a great time. Or go on a day other than Thursday, Friday or Saturday. It's far, far less crowded.

Beers are $5 per bottle. Most entrees are around $14 except for the fajitas, which are more expensive.