Issue #28/83, February 10 - 17, 2000  

Latin Just Browsin' Azteca Bulldog El Gaucho Hola Mexico La Cantina The Original Azteca Pancho Villa Rio Rio Santa Fe

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(for one salad, entree, and one cocktail per person)
$ =  up to $15.00	$$ = $15.00 to $30.00	$$$ = $30.00 to $50.00	$$$$ = $50.00 to ?

$$$

Cheers: Heavy duty nine-ton nachos at 11 bucks can compete with any in town. New menu under grinning chef Andres blows away old version, with portions of significantly increased massiveness and much wider selection. Shrimp burrito totally rocks. Only Latin restaurant in town with rabbit on the menu.
Jeers:Vegetable-only versions of the nachos and burritos have been squeezed out of the menu. Salsa band plays "My Way".
M:Novoslobodskaya
Phone: 972-0511
Address:Novoslobodskaya 11, str. 1
Hours: 12.00 - 5.00

$$

Cheers:Reasonably affordable, no-nonsense Peruvian and Spanish and a no-nonsense atmosphere to match; spicy ceviches; look ma, yam! Nice cellar location along the boulevard ring.
Jeers:Food could use a little more in the preparation department. Shite music and evil doormen who don't need you...and man they expect the same.
M:Tsvetnoi Bulvar
Phone: 928-2800
Address: Rozhdestvensky Bvd., d. 10/7
Hours: 12.00 - 24.00

$$$

Cheers:Meat products of the very highest quality prepared by an authentic Argentinean chef--he even has a bushy mustache! Decent wine list with a hearty house red. The asada and chorizo has got balls, baby. Homey wood interior makes for a nice setting on winter evenings.
Jeers: Steaks prepared with enough salt to mummify a good-sized rhino. And just wait until you try the fries. Lionel Tannenbaum expressed disapproval with their wide variety of internal organ meats.
Read Lionel's Review.
M:Krasniye Vorota; Paveletskaya
Phone:923-1098; 953-2876
Address:Bolshoy Kozlovsky per. 3/2; Zatsepsky val 6/13
Hours:12.00 - 24.00

$$

Cheers: eXile alert! New Latin American chef is kicking the king of Moscow's Mexican joints back into shape. Nachos, in particular, have regained their former glory; fajitas still a winner. Also try the burritos, nachos, quesadillas. Margaritas pack a tasty punch, as witnessed by the lush-filled eXile table at the recent 2nd anniversary celebration. Exquisite banana split. Several rooms to sit in, depending on the degree of intimacy/noise you want.
Jeers:Bands are still too loud.
M: Kuznetsky Most
Phone: 925-8251
Address: Pushechnaya Ul. 7/5
Hours: 12.00-5.00

$$$

CheersThe most centrally of centrally located restaurants; not exactly what you'd call Mexican, but edible nonetheless; added American bar food to go with tasty fajitas. Bobby Brown swears by the wings. Better to go here for the drinks.
Jeers:Proof that location, and not quality of food, is the most important ingredient to a restaurant's success. If it's food you want, go to Hola Mexico just two minutes away.
M: Tverskaya
Phone:292-5388
Address: Tverskaya 5
Hours: 12:00 - 23:00

$$$

Cheers:Big portions. Respectable burritos and flautas; tasty salsa; friendly Afro-Cuban waiters. Large selection of maragritas for the tequila-gulping kid in you. Several course business lunch for $10 is one hell of a deal. Great view of Moscow from the very top of the lovely Intourist hotel...
Jeers:...but they sort of ruin it by never cleaning the damn windows. Disappointing nachos; sketchy soups and salads. Way too much canned corn and peas for comfort. A recent beef burrito came packed with... peanuts?!
M:Okhotny Ryad
Phone:956-8467/8359
Address: Ul. Tverskaya 3/5

$$

Cheers: Ai caramba! Wait, we shouldn't be allowed to say that, but what the aych-ee-double-toothpick! Pancho V's offers Moscow a few choice Mexican items that make it worth a visit: the meatball soup ($4), the burrito ($6) and the cheesecake ($4). That's all you need. You won't get budget-priced Mexican food like this anywhere in the CIS. Seating on the Arbat makes a good perch for scouting and catcalling. Serve authentic snobberific blue agave tequila.
Jeers:Sometimes it seems that wait staff are taking this whole Mexican thing too seriously: long siestas are not uncommon. Our waiter fled from us and hid in the basement when we wanted our beverages to be served. Avoid the skimpy chips 'n salsa--go for the Nachos for only a couple bucks more. See Lionel Tannenbaum's gut-busting review
M:Smolenskaya
Phone:241-9853
Address:tary Arbat 44/1
Hours: daily from noon till the last person

$$S

Cheers:All-you-can-eat salad bar and cavalcade of Brazilian-style meats (12 varieties!) for just $35. High-quality materials and mostly skilled preparations. We dig the turkey/bacon concoction and chicken hearts. Above-par margaritas and stirring house wine. Fun rotunda dining room captures that suburban Chi-Chi's spirit.
Jeers:Some salads seem distressingly Russian; uninspiring desserts. Not the most economical eatery for the heavy drinkers among you.
M:1905 goda/Kutuzovskaya
Phone:255-8144
Address:Krasnopresenenskaya nab. 16 (City Footbridge)
Hours: 12.00 - 24.00

$$$

Cheers:A bit cheaper than Azteca; full of handsome New Russian types; large bar area serving up wicked drinks. Chef hails from East LA, which should tell you something good. Once you're through here, you can head around the side to Hippopotum, and breathe your salsa breath on someone you love.
Jeers: Food lacking in substance, though not in pricing.
M: 1905 goda
Phone: 256-2126
Address: Mantulinskaya 5/1, str. 6
Hours: 12.00 - 2.00

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