Dining Out: Digging in at a Park Slope institution

Cozy and inviting, Park Slope’s Santa Fe Grill is a neighborhood staple that has perfected its recipe for success – serve well-prepared food made from the freshest of ingredients and make sure your customers feel at home.

That, indeed, is the experience at the snug eatery, which has been dishing out Tex-Mex food for the past 30 years. And, not only do customers return again and again, but staff too boasts of longevity.

“This is a family place,” noted manager Antonio Garcia, who himself has worked at the eatery for 19 years. “Customers say, ‘I feel like family.’ I feel good that I keep people happy.”

Of course, no restaurant survives on its good vibes. For Santa Fe Grill, the copious portions of flavorful food – beginning with free chips and salsa that’s spicy but not too spicy and including free soda refills — more than seal the deal. And, Santa Fe Grill clearly knows a good thing when they’ve got it. Garcia said that the eatery has been serving the same food all along. “Once you eat it, you want to come back for it,” he noted.

No visit to a Tex-Mex restaurant is complete without Guacamole. Santa Fe Grill’s version ($8.95) was creamy and delicious, gorgeously green and beautifully textured, served up in a crimped tortilla bowl. Santa Fe Grill makes theirs fresh every day.

We also tried the Quesadilla ($7.95) which oozed with melted cheese sandwiched between two flour tortillas and crowned with a scoop of guacamole, warming comfort food for a cold evening.

For a main dish, we sampled the Fajitas Combination ($18.95) which was brimming with good things – lively grilled steak, chicken breast and shrimp on a bed of greens, with creamy refried beans, guacamole and pico de gallo on the side. The tender steak was topped with a lively tomatillo-based Salsa Verde,

We also enjoyed the Shrimp Enchiladas ($16.95) with buttery chichuahua cheese, topped with Salsa Verde for a flavor contrast that was delightful, sweet and tart at once, the stars of a plate that also included warming black beans and toothsome yellow rice.

There is so much more to choose from, of course. Garcia said that, among patron’s favorite dishes are the Fish Tacos, which are always on the specials menu; the Shrimp Ajillo, bathed in cilantro-inflected garlic sauce; and the Margaritas (which come in a variety of flavors) and Mojitos, both of which are made with freshly squeezed lime juice.

It’s that kind of care that goes into everything made at Santa Fe Grill, and that will keep us going back for years to come.

SANTA FE GRILL
62 Seventh Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718-636-0279
Monday-Thursday 4-11 p.m.
Friday 4 p.m.-midnight
Saturday-Sunday 11 a.m.-midnight
Free delivery in Park Slope 5 p.m.-close, Sunday-Thursday
Facebook.com/SantafeGrillParkSlope