2010 Roosevelt Avenue Street Crawl

We began at 74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, and ended in William Moore (Spaghetti) Park in Corona. The 2010 crawl, organized by Jeffrey Orlick, brought at least 100 hungry people together to roam Roosevelt Avenue for the best street food on the last Sunday in June, with a great map and some key phrases for ordering from street carts.
It was hot, really hot, and my camera stopped taking pictures somewhere in the middle. I got it to work again but missed some good shots. Aside from the technical difficulties, I must say walking down my favorite avenue with a bunch of people and eating lots of food is really, really fun. I'm usually by myself when I do my Roos Ave adventuring, so it was a nice change. Our smaller group broke off from the crowds and took our time walking, making many stops for liquids and ices along the way.

First stop: El Guayaquileño. I didn't get anything there, I was holding out for tacos. But I took some pictures of my fellow crawlers' food. The Mexico vs. Argentina game was playing on the flat screen tv, so I watched while they ate.


I didn't eat, and I didn't order, so I don't want to mislabel anything. But that salad topping the fish looks delicious.


Stopped for raspados on 80th Street. The first of many breaks for a little something cold.

Mango (I think?)

Coco and Piña.

Next stop was Mexico Lindo.
Perhaps a bad choice, since it seemed like everyone else on the tour stopped here too at the exact same time. There was a very long line and lots of confusion. But we got our order in the end. Four of us split three items: Tacos de lengua (tongue), tacos de cecina (dried, salted beef) and sopes de chorizo. It isn't easy to split a taco four ways, but somehow we managed.

Cutting up a taco on a mail box...

on the trunk of a car (thanks, Stella), and even with kitchen shears (courtesy of Judy).

This was the lengua, after a slice had been taken out. The tongue was crisp on the outside, beefy and soft on the inside.

Moving right along, we stopped at another Mexican cart, a few blocks down and across the street. The sign says Gorditas, so that's what we got, along with a tlacoyo.

The gordita de chicharron was not the most flavorful I'd ever tried, but then again, we split it between four people, and there might have been better bites than the one I tasted.
The tlacoyo was good. Corn masa stuffed with a bean mixture, then topped with lettuce, cream, and cheese. The beans were smooth and creamy, with a distinct flavor of epazote, which was a nice surprise.

Another stop for shaved ice, this time at a Chinese/Colombian bakery selling Hawaiian shave ice called Vanilla Cafe. Sort of cheating by going inside a bakery, but have I mentioned that it was hot?
Mango and passionfruit. Just like Maui! Icy and sweet.


Tia Julia's. This is where my camera stopped working for a bit, I almost gave up and went home to charge it for a while. We ordered here: tacos de barbacoa (goat meat) and tacos de carnitas (pork). The goat was chewy, as goat usually is, and not too gamey. I honestly don't remember if I even tried the carnitas, I was sort of stuck on my camera. I do remember that I ordered an agua de jamaica (hibiscus) and that they gave me a whole quart container full of the dark red liquid.

By the time we made it to Warren Street with its variety of Ecuadorian delights, we were already full and tired. Crawls are all about pacing, and we did not pace well.

We did manage to get more liquids in though.

Orange Drink.
Fruit cocktail drink. The juice was refreshing, and filled with chopped fruit. The bananas were my favorite part.

We walked and walked, but after the food and all of the drinks, didn't make any more stops on Roosevelt. Once we hit 104th street, we turned off, and headed to Timmy O's for some frozen custard.

Banana custard, chocolate custard, marshmallow sauce and some whipped cream. The banana really tasted like banana.

The last stop was the Lemon Ice King of Corona. I was still eating my custard, so I sat in Spaghetti Park and waited.

The Crawl was great. I drank more than I ate, and had more sweets than savory. But it's ok. I live here, I eat here, I crawl down Roosevelt Avenue every day. The best part was crawling with others.

Mini Picanteria El Guayaquileño
80th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights

Raspado Lady
In front of 80-02 Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights

Mexico Lindo Cart
Corner of Gleane Street and Roosevelt Avenue, Elmhurst

Gordita Cart
85th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, Elmhurst

Vanilla Cafe
8701 Roosevelt Avenue, Elmhurst

Tia Julia Taco Truck
Benham Street & Roosevelt Ave, Elmhurst

Picaditas La Cacerita Cuenca Ecuador
Corner of Warren Street and Roosevelt Avenue, Corona

Timmy O's Frozen Custard
49-07 104th Street, Corona

Lemon Ice King of Corona
52-02 108th Street, Corona

William Moore Park
108th Street, 51st Avenue, Corona

Mini Empanada Search- 82nd Street

It wasn't really planned, it just sort of happened, that while on our way to Mango Rico and Associated for some Memorial Day BBQ preparation items, José and I had ourselves an empanada round-up. We were hungry, about to cook, and needed a little something. Empanadas sounded just about perfect, but where? We know where we like them in Corona (On National St. close to 103rd, forgot the name of the bakery!). We know where we like them on Broadway in Elmhurst (La Gata Golosa), but close to Roosevelt and 82nd Street, we just weren't sure, so we tried 3 different places, in the hopes that we would never again have this particular problem. Since we weren't planning on this, the pictures are from my phone, sort of blurry, and not very good, but at least it's documented somehow.
First off: Las Americas Bakery. We got 3 meat empanadas, which were extremely hot and incredibly crispy, with a great corn flavor to the crust. The filling was meaty and potato-y, and really stuffed in there. The empanadas were great. But: they only gave us one tiny container of sauce for three large empanadas. That is a crime in our world, as we (and when I say we, I mean José) need one container per empanada. The worst part was that the sauce was really good. Red, chunky, and spicy, a perfect addition to the starchy, meaty filling. So we moved on.
There once was a yogurt place, on the corner of 82nd and Roosevelt. It didn't do that well. Until it became half yogurt place, half Colombian bakery, and now it's doing just fine. Well not really a bakery, since they don't actually bake anything there, but they do sell Colombian baked goods. And empanadas, of course, so that was the second stop. We got three meat empanadas again. They were not as fresh as the previous bunch. Had been sitting in the heat box for a little too long. A little too chewy, a lot less filling. They did give us enough sauce, though, so they win points for that. A green, not too spicy sauce, more like a chimichurri than anything else. $1.25 each.
Last stop, before we got too full: La Delicia en Pandebono. Who make all kinds of things beside their pandebono, which are great. Again, three meat empanadas, again, $1.25 each. They were fresh tasting, very hot, crisp, and the meat filling was good- large chunks of meat, very tender. Not quite as crunchy and crispy as Las Americas, but a strong competitor. And the best part of all: see those lovely, grape-covered ceramic containers? They are filled with salsa. A spicy, oniony red sauce. No doling out one little container, at La Delicia, they want you to spoon on as much salsa as you could ever want. That made us very happy.

After tasting the empanadas from these three places, I think we now know where to go. Sort of. We might do Las Americas on occasion, and maybe pay for extra sauce, but more likely we will go where the sauce flows freely.

Las Americas Bakery
40-30 82nd St, Elmhurst

Yogurberry/ Pan y Mas
Roosevelt Ave and 82nd Street, Elmhurst

La Delicia en Pandebono
40-23 82nd St, Elmhurst

Chicken Soup for the Sick

Such a week. What with being sick since Sunday night and the big storm yesterday, I've barely made it out of the house. I got a phone call from my sister-in-law Yolanda this morning, and when I croaked out that I felt much better, thanks, she took control. Stay home, she said, we'll be right over. The blog would have to wait, no choice but to stay put. If you know what's good for you, you'll listen to Yola. And so they came from Corona. Yola, Mari (another sister-in-law), Jonathan (our nephew), and Abuelita, plus the two of us already in the house. Nothing in the fridge to make lunch for 6? Another phone call and that was taken care of too. Chicken soup for you, Yola said to me, and tacos for everyone else. And that was that, lunch ordered from Tulcingo. Not exactly on Roosevelt, but a half a block away from it on 83rd Street.

Jewish or Mexican, everyone knows that chicken soup is the best medicine.
My soup. A rich chicken broth with chunks of cabbage, carrots, and corn. A squeeze of lime, a sprinkle of chopped onions, and some cilantro to top it off. Just what I needed. If I can't have my Mom's or my Grandmother's chicken soup, caldo de pollo makes me feel better.

Tacos de Chorizo, with some nopales.

Yola ordered Mole de Olla. Beef simmered in guajillo broth with chunks of potatoes and corn. Nobody would let me taste it, too spicy for a sore throat. Looked good though.

Everyone enjoying the food. I think. I didn't try anything!

Jonathan catching up on his food reading.

Tacqueria Tulcingo
40-10 83rd St
Elmhurst