My name’s Mark, founder and creator of the everything food blog Mealswithmark.com! I started the blog because I love and enjoy cooking and want to share my recipes and my culinary discoveries with others. Compadres 77 has a few drawbacks, but the one possible saving grace might actually be the food! Join me in my experience at Compadres 77’s new location in Forest Hills.
Compadres 77 is a New Mexican restaurant that opened about three weeks ago in the former location of the Italian restaurant Tuscan Hills (a Forest Hills staple which moved to another location in Forest Hills) located on busy Queens Blvd.
With a lot of competition in Forest Hills for Mexican fare, does Compadres 77 have what it takes to survive?
Upon walking into Compadres 77 with my partner, it was a cute place, but will definitely not sweep you off your feet with a wow factor! It had minimal decor and lacked ambiance. The restaurant felt like more of a fast food restaurant/take out place like Chipotle or Dos Torros, than a fine dining experience, but we were keeping open minds. The Mexican music was a nice added touch to make up for the lack of ambiance. They should definitely try to hide the huge refrigerator that you see when you walk through the doors.
We were not approached when we first entered the restaurant, but when we finally were, we were told we could just sit anywhere. Since there was no better section than others we just chose a random seat.
We were given menus and not told much else. The server asked if we wanted anything to drink and we asked for water, which took some time to get to our table. *just a side not, they were not that busy.
We asked our server for a drink menu because when going to a Mexican restaurant, we love having a margarita on the rocks with some amazing authentic Mexican food! The server informed us that they don’t serve alcohol and was not sure when or if they would be getting it in the future. He did not offer us any other drink options besides the water!
Our server brought us over complimentary tortilla chips and salsa and we ordered guacamole for starters. He brought us over the guacamole and didn’t offer us any additional chips, we had to ask for more ourselves. The guacamole was good, not amazing but definitely fresh and tasty. However, it would have been nice if they came to the table and made the guacamole in front of you like they do at some other Mexican Restaurants (example: El coyote). It would have added to the ambiance and the character of the place.
My partner and I always order different things on the menu so we have the opportunity to try more stuff because we share. :). My partner ordered a beef quesadilla and I ordered a couple of tacos.
Let’s start with the quesadilla. The beef quesadilla was surprising delicious. The beef was very tender and the quesadilla was packed with cheese, which we both love! The server also brought over two sauces and sour cream to dip the quesadillas in! The Green sauce was a nice added kick along with the sour cream!
I ordered two tacos and we split them in half. I ordered the fried Pork and the Chorizo Tacos. They came plated nicely and loaded with onions and cilantro with a side of lime and radishes to add to the tacos. The tacos were very tasty. The meat was seasoned and cooked well. But again, they were good but nothing special. Even though they were two different tacos with different meats, they tasted identical. There was nothing distinguishing one from the next. We both said they taste similar to the tacos from the Taco Truck on Austin Street for the same price.
We ended up deciding to order a dessert to share. We asked the server if the desserts were made in house, he stated no but they were all delicious. That was disappointing. In my opinion, when a restaurant does not make their dessert in house, they lose some credibility. We decided to go with the Tres Leches Cake. Tres Leches is my favorite Mexican dessert and one of my all time favorite desserts. The Tres Leches sauce was good, but the cake to me tasted stale. It was a disappointing piece of cake.
In summary, I feel Compadres 77 needs to step up their game some if they are going to survive in Forest Hills. First, they need to spruce up their appearance and ambiance. They need to add more Mexican flare and décor. They need to make themselves stand out from the crowd of other Mexican restaurants. Maybe even add some live music. They have to show the El Coyote and the 5 Burro Café regulars that they deserve their patronage too.
Second, they need to work on either obtaining a liquor license or allowing for BYOB. Guests not having the option to order a drink or have drinks with their meals, will limit their clientele. A lot of people that go out to dinner versus having dinner at home want that option/availability. Who wouldn’t want a Margarita with some good Mexican food after a long and stressful day at the office?
Third area of improvement would be their customer service. They need to do a better job training their staff to be more attentive to their customers. Check in on them more frequently and asking questions. Also, make the guacamole table side - this would add to the customer service and would also add to the ambiance and the experience. If you advertise that it is fresh, show your customers that.
Lastly, make sure the desserts you serve are fresh, if not don’t serve them. Better yet, get someone in house that can make desserts. It would give the place more credibility.
The one plus that Compadres 77 has in its favor, is the food is pretty darn good! They just have to build off of that! They have potential to be a great addition to the neighborhood.
Compadres 77 is located at 115-20 Queens Blvd., at the corner of 77th Ave in Forest Hills.
Compadres 77 is located at 115-20 Queens Blvd., at the corner of 77th Ave in Forest Hills.
Check out my review of Numero 28 on Restaurant Row in Forest Hills:
Or just check out my blog at https://mealswithmark.com for some great recipes for your next weeknight dinner!
Until next time! Have a delicious day!
Thank you for posting a review. I passed by yesterday and they didn't even look open.
ReplyDeleteI passed by a couple of weeks ago and had the same issue- couldn't tell if they were open. I think they have another location in Ozone Park, maybe this kind of dull interior works over there but I think that with so many dining options in Forest Hills, they might be out of their league unless like the article says, they step up their game. We need fresh places with great ambiance, this place already sounds like a hole in the wall.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the very detailed and thorough review!
ReplyDeleteThe lack of ambiance and so-so service are both disappointing, and the alcohol thing is definitely gonna be a problem for people. However, the food actually looks pretty good! I hope they can get their kinks ironed out before locals start forming concrete opinions.
perhaps if more of us posted nicer reviews or just photos, we'd have better, long lasting restaurants in forest hills and queens!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHey, you can't blame the writer for being honest. Why sugarcoat? The owners need to know what the community thinks- both good and bad.
DeleteI like to consider myself a nice person, but above all else I value honesty when I'm reading reviews. I'm on a tight budget and can't afford to eat out as often as I'd like, so when I do, I want to make sure I'm getting the biggest bang for my buck. Is that so wrong?
DeleteI'm sorry but that's not how this works! They want our business dollars, so it's up to them to cater to us, not the other way around!
Deletemmmm perhaps they are doing the best they can in a tough environment and an exorbitant rent, taxes, permits and city bullshit.
ReplyDeleteNo 'perhaps' about it. That's definitely what they're doing and I genuinely want them to succeed. Never said I didn't.
DeleteWow, Mark, what an arrogant sense of entitlement you have. Compadres 77 seems to be a small family-run operation that is providing basic and tasty food to the neighborhood. I don't think it was ever intended to be a 'fine dining" experience, nor does it have to be. It could use a liquor license, but aside from that it's fine. It's the food that counts, not whether your guacamole is made table side. That's some shallow sense of values you have.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, there are lots of office workers in the neighborhood who can use a good place to nab an inexpensive taco or two for lunch and there are lots of families with kids who need a place where the food is good and they are welcome. I live down the block and do not have a working oven at the moment; I'm absolutely delighted to have a place up the block where I can get a decent meal. I've been 5 times since they opened and I intend to keep supporting the place.
AMEN!
ReplyDeleteWill everyone please stop using the words "entitlement" and "privilege"? It's so yesterday.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a sense of entitlement, its called my opinion. The Guacamole was the highlight of the meal and I just simply stated that if they made it tableside it would make it feel more authentic. I am all for affordable food, but service, ambiance and quality are also important. I felt they were all subpar. A review is an opinion, just as I value other people's opinions when I am choosing my next dining experience.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mark for your opinion.
ReplyDeleteMy partner and I just tried it today. I couldn’t tell if they were open because the glass on the door was tinted and all of the lights were out during the day. Other than that, the food was amazing and very authentic. I’ve finally found a Mexican restaurant in NYC that makes authentic Pollo Chipotle. It was freaking amazing. The lack of decor didn’t bother us. It felt like I was in a restaurant in a mercado in Mexico. I loved the glass enclosed kitchen.
ReplyDelete