It’s called Palo Santo, it’s in the middle of a residential block on Union between 4th and 5th (near Maria’s), and it’s (apparently) still BYOB despite its billing as “Eclectic Latin Cuisine & South American Wine Bar.” and the reviews are pretty positive so far:
Sweetpea: We ate dinner there Friday night and really enjoyed the meal. The menu’s pretty eclectic … We shared a bunch of Latin-inspired small plates: a quesadilla with cojita, corn-coconut milk soup, seared tuna over a salad of apple and fennel, plantains and a delicious pumpkin bread pudding and key lime pie. The bill came to around $50, not bad! … ”
pitu: “They have good coffee and one of those hand-crank citrus juicers that is on every other street corner in Mexico. If you’ve got $3 and five extra minutes in the am, and the R train on Union is your stop, the world just got a little brighter…”
Finn: went in for brunch and had:
Bean & cheese pupusas ($7)
“The fanciest presentation of the bunch, a wide square plate with two little freshly-made corn pupusas topped with avacado and cabbage. The proportions were better in one of them, and the fresh corn flavor was something I’ve been missing…”
Tamales ($7)
“Regular ol’ pork tamales, served with two small dishes of guacamole (seemingly with lemon) and a salsa verde made without tomatillios I think. They are quite good, and completely blow away the version across the street.”
Corn chowder ($5)
“This was the star of our selections: it almost had a massaman curry flavor to it. A robust chowderiness, with a slow-growing, subtle heat.”
Read about the tortillas, coffee creme brulee, and more on the Park Slope Message Board
I really wanted to like this restaurant after reading a review in the NY Times but unfortunately my husband and I were both disappointed.
We went on a Wednesday night and I ordered the duck and my husband had a strip steak. The food took quite a while to come out and when I asked our server to check on the food he explained that apetizers come out fast but a steak takes about 20 minutes to cook. He made me feel bad about not ordering an apetizer. Eventually my duck arrived and it was
served seared – like tuna sometimes does. Rare in the middle and crusty on the outside. I love tuna like this however the duck served to me was
very undercooked. Once again the server explained that that was how it
is served but if I would prefer, he can have it cooked longer. I was made to feel that I didn’t understand rare cooking. But what I wanted to say
was that I was fearful that I was going to get triganosis(sp) from eating raw foul. We were seated at a table for four but since the restaurant was
at full capacity we were asked to let two people join us at our table. I was happy when the couple that we said could join us declined the suggestion of the manager to sit at our table. Anyway, I’m not going back again.
doesn’t trichinosis come from pork?
Tried going there twice on a weekend night. I know that it’s a new restaurant with a buzz, but I can’t say I’ve ever gotten that perplexed a look from a hostess when inquiring about a table without a reservation in the six years I’ve lived in the neighborhood. Both times, the interaction was so unwelcoming that we turned around, left, and walked a few blocks to Al Di La.
Can’t say I was impressed by the menu. Seems like Latin fusion in the faintest sense. Place looks beautiful, though, and there’s potential for really good food there. Hopefully, in a few months time, all the issues mentioned will work out for the best. Place is packed at all times, which is a really good sign.