Abuela's: the place to be on Sunday nights

Abuela’s, meaning grandmother’s, is a sort of pop up restaurant in the heart of Playa Grande town. The “restaurant” is located at the MarBar every Sunday from 4 to 9pm or until the food sells out. Abuela’s menu is based on Mexican fare and is small but precise. Every week there is a featured food item and this past Sunday was shredded red chilli pork. You have the option of having them in two tacos or two enchiladas and there is also a main plate of the day using the featured item. Abuela’s also offers vegetarian options for those veggie lovers out there so don’t let the featured protein deter you.

 There are a few appetizers typical of Mexican joints- queso fundido, guacamole, tio G’s famous salsa and chips, etc. I opted for the queso fundido and being a queso lover, was thoroughly impressed with the fundido which had a slightly spicy taste but was offset by the delicious sausage and tomatoes in it. It is served with two warm tortillas which is not enough to eat the entire mini bowl of queso so you are left to eat the melted cheese with a spoon, which is just fine by me. For the main course I chose the two soft tacos with shredded pork and was delighted to see that they came in actual human portions. As hip taco bars are now the new cool restaurant to open in my suburbia of New York City, I have become accustomed to mini sized corn tortillas barely filled and because they denote items such as charred poblanos and pickled red onions it is fair to charge crazy amounts for a two bite taco. The tacos at Abuela’s were perfectly filling. My boyfriend ordered the enchiladas which were also good but as I am not a huge enchilada fan (thanks to an old executive chef who made me make hundreds a week) I’d go with the tacos over the enchiladas. The shredded pork was super tasty, not the least bit dry (as pork can sometimes be) and had a hint of spice which was nicely balanced with the cabbage slaw, pico de gallo and queso blanco served on top. My only downfall to the entrée was that the side of Mexican style rice with corn was very dry. But to be honest it was not missed on the plate. The two tacos and the queso fundido was worth the trip to Abuela’s alone and I have not even touched on the specialty cocktails and dessert, both of which were excellent. We had the churros with caramel sauce for dessert (I NEVER turn down churros anywhere) and although they were not a true Mexican style churro which tends to be super light and airy- they were delicious; almost like eating a friend doughnut/pancake. Be aware that the caramel sauce is not very thick and tends to drip, as my skirt caught most of those drips but if you’re a dessert person as I am, order it!

Abuela’s serves beers, house special sangria and a margarita of the day which happened to be sunrise margaritas (a take on tequila sunrises but margaritas style). All cocktails were delicious and I happen to be a huge fan of anyone that can do sangria well and Abuela’s certainly does. I recommend coming here on the earlier side as Alyssa (one of the co-chefs and servers, who also happens to own Senorita Casitas www.senoritacasitas.com -the best place to get your Playa Grande rentals) says they do tend to sell out and we arrived around 6pm which was right before a crowd showed up. The margaritas sold out while we ate at the bar and by the time we left around 7:30, the food was more than half way gone.

The service and food at Abuela’s certainly does make you feel like you are at your grandmother’s having a great meal. And as our entire dinner for two (shared appetizer, two entrees, shared dessert, including many cocktails and beers) came to only $36. You can’t beat that!! Check out Abuela’s on Sundays at the Marbar and like them out on Facebook to see what the featured menu items are: http://www.facebook.com/#!/abuelaspg.