I must say, I was super excited to go here after all the raving reviews I'd seen, especially when I saw it compared to other favorite carne asada restaurants. I have to say, Yelp, your hype this time was a detriment to my dining experience. Their claim is "Best Carne Asada This Side of the Border", maybe they meant that side of 44th Street because I still have to give the title to America's Taco Shop.
When I see the words Mesquite and Grill in a restaurant's name and see high marks for the carne asada, I'm expecting a certain quality. I was expecting meat that was both succulent but also with edges a little crispy due to the flames and an overwhelming taste of mesquite smoke. Instead the carne asada burrito I ordered, to which nearly half was rice and beans, seemed like it may have seen flames from afar while it was steam cooked and the taste...maybe it was an excess of vinegar but I swear the meat was soaked in A-1.
I also ordered a side of chip and guac as this was also touted as good. The guac had a touch too much lemon in it but was still very good. Mine didn't have pico spread over the top but my friend's did and could see why some people said it was watery since the pico drained into the guac and made it look like such. Both the chunky and verde salsa was excellent, probably the best part of the adventure.
My dining cohort also tried the horchata and while it was fresh and the consistency was spot-on, he couldn't quite place why it was so fruity. He compared it to the leftover milk in a bowl after eating Fruit Loops.
Overall the food was good and worth what was spent but not worth an extended trip out of the office just for lunch.