Latin American Quetzal Restaurant — Restaurant in Concord

The Latin American Quetzal Restaurant is superior when it comes to serving red snapper! It was perfectly cooked in the Huachinango style (deep fried without a batter). It was served with rice, beans, avocado, cactus salad, pickled onions, jalapeno salsa, and lime.

This was all served on two big platters. The red snapper was huge and it sat on a sizzling hot iron plate. I could not believe the quality and amount of food they served for only $23.99! They also make their own aqua frescas. I had a mix of their mango and passion fruit aqua frescas mixed together. It was delicious!

I would also like to say that the service there was very good and attentive. There is no question that I will be coming back again!

Well, I have been back there a few times now and I have a 2nd review...

Yes, I live in North Carolina, and so this is a crazy thing to say, but these are the best ribs I have ever had in North Carolina!

A little personal info, I have been eating ribs all over the nation for decades now and I was raised in the South, Florida to be exact. When I was in grade school, my father brought me to Geech’s Pig Meat BBQ and they specialized in a hot yellow mustard base sauce that is applied while the ribs are being smoked. This is still my favorite way to have some ribs. But a good hot yellow mustard sauce is tough to find at a restaurant.

The next best ribs I have found in the nation are in North Carolina, a little place in Goldsboro that is no longer there. However, today I have found an amazing batch of ribs like you’ve probably never tried before. And it is at a place you would not think about when you think of “ribs,” but these are killer short pork ribs in a wonderful dark mole sauce.

The mole sauce there is made from mild smoked red and black chiles, and it is almost like a paste. It is rich, spicy, but not hot, and has a beautiful balance of flavors. The short ribs, though, are only a few inches tall, are very thick with super tender meat that has been simmered in the mole for hours.

The meal included a large amount of white rice and black beans. Their black beans are very flavorful with just the right amount of spices and onions. There was a small salad of tomato, avocado, and lettuce included. When you are seated, you are greeted with their killer chips and salsa.

These are not your normal fried tortilla chips. Quetzal’s chips are very light, thin, and delicate, served warmed. They bring to your table with the chips two small bottles of salsa, one green and one red. They also have a special orange habanero sauce in a squeeze bottle that you have to ask for. I recommend mixing some of the orange into the green.

Also recommended is to try one of their homemade fresh fruit drinks, Aqua Fresca. They usually have Mango and Passion Fruit available, and I get the two mixed together.

There has yet to be a time when I have gone to this wonderful restaurant and been able to finish all the food served to me. The portions are large and well worth what they are charging. The mole rib dish I am speaking of is called “Mole de Puerco,” and you will find it on the last page of their large menu. It is only $12.99!

Many times I go there, I get the Huachinango. That is a whole large red snapper perfectly cooked, and it is probably the best deal you will find in NC for a whole red snapper of this size, only $23.99!

Quetzal is not your usual “Mexican” restaurant. It is a Latin American restaurant featuring foods from South of the Border, Mexico...

Update: Quetzal is so great. We've been back so many times. I'm slowly working my way through the menu. Everything is always so fresh and tasty. You gotta visit! Absolutely phenomenal! Greeted with a smile and seated right away. Within seconds our drinks orders were taken and fresh chips and salsa arrived soon after. The portions are very generous and tastes authentic. Only one tiny change was made to the food, and that was the addition of salt. But due to many people's health issues, erring on the side of less salt is better generally. The maracuya água fresca was the best. We also tried the guanabana and jamaica. Pollo com crema, the chicken breast was lovely and juicy. So was the fried red snapper. The birria tacos were great. Thanks so much for a phenomenal meal. We will...

We stopped in to get some tacos. I was told they sell meat by the pound along with corn or flour tortillas. This was correct you can do as I aforementioned. We ordered 1/2 lb of steak and 1/2 lb of chicken. I was really disappointed. It was very underwhelming. The chicken was so overcooked it was hard to chew and the steak well half was dry and half was burnt. They make the tortillas from scratch and they were really dense and sort of soggy. She asked us if we wanted chips and salsa and we agreed. Turned out to be less than an ounce of salsa and less than a handful of chips. The chips and the salsa were delicious though. Everything was seasoned well. The flavor was there. I've heard great things from multiple people so I'm gonna assume it was just a bad day. I will update with...