Panchitos

Panchitos – on McDougal St. near Bleeker.

I should explain that “Panchito” roughly translates to “little stomach” or “small appetite” in English. I thought this to be an inauspicious name for any restaurant, but one of my companions, an LES rocker and notorious Latinophile, was quick to dismiss my dubious impression as cultural ignorance.
Being the glass-half-full type of dankster that I am, I put aside my initial skepticism, and collapsed into the embrace of a nice, comfortable black leather couch. That’s right, a couch. Things were looking up.
We opted for a pitcher of the house’s unfrozen margarita, conspicuously priced at $43.95. I recall not being unable to decide if this was a reasonable price or not. A day spent at work with a torturous hangover leaves me firmly in the negatory column – we paid 45 bucks for some schwag-ass tequila. At least we got to eat on couches.
It became clear that compulsive margarita slugging dulled my palate, as I dove into my so-called “big” burrito with gusto. For some reason I was expecting grilled steak inside my burrito, but that’s not what goes down at this Mexican mini-franchise. While the burrito’s exterior was smothered in tasty melted monterrey jack, I was bummed to discover an uninviting ground beef filling. Despite the tequila’s diminishing effect on my ability to discern quality, I could readily tell that this was cheap ground meat, even by ground meat standards. It wasn’t terrible though, and for a late Monday night checkered with bong hits and booze it wasn’t going to hurt anyone. I think everyone in the party would agree that the food was really an afterthought to the relaxation offered by the couches and agreeable weather.
For me, the mixture of the potent margarita, the persistent comfort of the dining sofas and the intoxicating fumes of Memorial Day spirit overrode the otherwise mediocre meal to win the day. For you the reader, while I would hesitate to recommend Panchito’s as a top Mexican cuisine option, its moderately priced menu of Cal-Mex comfort food and kitschy décor could make it a force to be reckoned with on a random weeknight in the Village.

Dankster Rating 6.0/10