Chestnut Hill is not exactly the first neighborhood that comes to mind when discussing Philly’s progressive food scene. This more-suburb-than-city section of town is home to some notables including Tavern on the Hill, Chestnut Hill Hotel and McNally’s (the original home of the famous Schmitter sandwich at Citizens Bank Park). El Poquito one of the new establishments in the heart of Germantown Ave. which is receiving significant praise via inter web sites Yelp and Open Table.
The interior motif is west coast Baja California. Bright, sandy colors with surfboards, pickup trucks and half-naked surfer girls are throughout the restaurant. While the decor and brightness of the room lends a comfortable feel of the environment, the noise and lack of sound-proofing does the total opposite. Although we hit up the place toward the end of happy hour on a Tuesday, something told us it is probably that loud all the time. For two people with pretty good hearing, we sure had to say, “What did you say?” quite a bit.
The margaritias were pretty good. I lack anything further to say except that they would seem more worth it at happy hour. We both ordered traditional lime margs, but the restaurant also offers seasonal modifications as well.
The cuisine is a self proclaimed “collision between a taco truck and an old-school cantina.” We just so happened to be there on Tuesday night, host to “Taco Tuesdays.” This all-day, all-night deal offers a plate of 3 tacos for $4 each. How we figured out that the $4 tacos are the entire plate and not per taco was by total accident. The split-second reaction of the waitress should’ve tipped us off that something was unusual after an order for “one of each” was given. Roughly 30 minutes later, 3 plates for a total of 9 tacos covered our table in addition to an entree. Now you might be laughing at this as is appropriate for our blunder. Or you might be saying, “Wait, 30 minutes later?” and be thinking that we exaggerated. We are not. Food took a terribly long time here and more than once did I hear servers going up to tables saying they will check on the status of the food.
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| A table of tacos at El Poquito |
The tacos were simple: Americano (beef, lettuce, cheese, tomato on corn tortilla), Mushroom (the surprising winner with cheese on soft shell), and Chorizo (house-made chorizo, pickled onions, on soft shell). The chorizo had a good spice that was mellowed by the pickled onions. The mushroom was earthy, spicy and light. The Americano was unremarkable. I would’ve felt weird to ask for some fire sauce to spruce it up. The entree ordered was short rib enchiladas. With a mole sauce, cheese, and peppers, this dish sounds perfect but was lack luster as far as the meat goes. The mole sauce was top notch, however, and one of the best I have ever had. Unfortunately that was not enough to save the entire dish.
While there is a ton of potential here and we can see why it is such a popular happy hour spot with tons of specials, the wait for everything and the lack-luster flavors do not show the place in a positive enough light. Combine that with the lack of much needed sound proofing and it adds up to a sad combo. Changes will most certainly need to be made in some of these categories before we bother to go back.
