Long Island restaurants: New reviews
Taqueria Cielito Lindo, Riverhead: This friendly, authentically Mexican eatery is owned by married co-chefs Jasmin and Edgar Diaz-Leal, who emphasize food over ambience. Recommended: handmade soft corn tortilla tacos filled is with campechanos, a lively mix of shredded beef, pork and Mexican sausage. (Pictured: Posole rojo, a hearty soup with pork and hominy) Credit: Gordon M. Grant
This week’s Cheap Eats column visits Taqueria Cielito Lindo, a “friendly authentically Mexican eatery” in downtown Riverhead. Here, the emphasis is on food, rather than ambience. “Do you really care if plastic utensils accompany your tacos? More important — and impressive — is that those tacos feature handmade soft corn tortillas.” Try a taco with a mixture of shredded beef, pork and Mexican sausage. Or, on a chilly day, a bowl of “savory, soul-warming pozole rojo.”
Also, Peter M. Gianotti reviews George Martin’s Grillfire in Syosset, a collaboration between George Korten of the George Martin Group and Richard Cutler of Mim’s Hospitality. The new place, Gianotti says, differs from branches in Merrick and Rockville Centre with a more ambitious menu and style. While “results can be uneven,” he has praise for such dishes as fresh burrata with marinated tomatoes, basil oil and “obligatory of-the-moment crisp kale” and filet mignon that’s “plush and cooked to order.”
