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“Eating Citi Field”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Lunch/Takeout	New American	Queens	Cheap Eats	Great

We were there to watch Johan Santana pitch and to have lunch.

We arrived for the 1pm game on the early side, and found lengthy lines at all of Meyer’s concessions. If you’re interested in a standard Nathan’s Dog, a Primo sausage and peppers, or a soft pretzel, you’ll have very little waiting time at all, but Meyer’s outlets are packed in the beginning of the games. We were in line at Shake Shack for 27 minutes, but the good news is that you only wait in one line; there’s no waiting again for your food after you’ve ordered, they’ve got your burgers and fries ready to go. Surprisingly, though, it doesn’t taste like anything has been sitting around, probably because at this volume nothing has time to sit. It goes from grill to bun to box to you in no time at all.

We made it to our seats in time to watch Santana make a mess of the first inning (he gave up two runs) while sharing a perfect Shack Burger ($5.75, a flavorful, juicy, and ample patty topped with melted cheese, fresh tomato and lettuce, and a good smack of Shack sauce), a boatload of golden and salty crinkle cut fries ($4.75), a wonderful Shack-cago Dog (an all-beef Vienna dog on a poppy seed bun, fully dressed with mustard, Rick’s Picks relish, onion, cucumber, pickle, tomato, sport pepper and celery salt, $5.75), a thick and frosty vanilla milkshake ($6.50), and a Shack-Meister Ale.

Six innings later, it was time for a snack. We could have gone with Blue Smoke (on their menu you’ll find standards like pulled pork sandwiches, $9, Kansas City spareribs $10, and chipotle chicken wings, $8), but I’ve eaten Blue Smoke before and I was curious about whether Tabla’s Floyd Cardoz could pull off Mexican food. Let me be the first to say: YES, HE CAN.

His tidy taco menu ($7.25 for two) offers choices like chicken mole pipian with salsa fresca, chopped onion, cilantro, and roasted tomato salsa, carnitas with tomatillo-chipotle salsa, chopped onion, and cilantro, and chile-marinated skirt steak with roasted tomato salsa, chopped onion, and cilantro. We went for the carnitas and they were terrific—beautifully seasoned slow roasted pork wrapped in warm, thick corn tortillas (I think they’re made a bit thicker so that the weight of the meat and toppings doesn’t break through), dressed up with onions, chipotle-tomato salsa, and fresh wedges of lime. Why has he not opene ... [more, click below]

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Posted: May 1, 2009

Other restaurants in Queens :
+ Christos Steakhouse   + Bohemian Beer Hall   + Eating Citi Field   

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