Gusanoz Mexican Restaurant Lebanon NH — Restaurant in Lebanon

Slightly hidden in the back of a shopping center, this place was moderately easy to find using google maps directions. The atmosphere as I entered was mostly Mexican, with ponchos on tables and a great selection of Mexican music playing in the background. I was seated immediately. I sat for about 8 mins before anyone even came to get my drink order. But soon after, my order was taken, I had my appetizer and drink. Chips and salsa, complimentary, were superb. Warm fresh fried chips and fresh pico style salsa were a perfect way to start the meal.

I decided to order the “Nuevo” Queso Rajas, pictured below, as an appetizer. Boiling cheese stuffed full of pablano peppers and the right amount of onions really was tasty. Not quite sure if the $10 price point is justified (that’s my opinion, not a fact), but I got an extra basket of chips to scoop up all the yummy cheese without asking. The peppers added the perfect amount of spice to the cheese and I finished the entire dish in under ten minutes.

I started my appetizer and hadn’t gotten half-way finished before my entree arrived. Sadly, I made my dissatisfaction known right away. My food would be cold by the time I was able to eat it. The perk, however, was that I arrived before dinner rush. The place was mostly empty when I arrived and filled up fairly fast. With four other restaurants in this small corner shopping mall, parking could get tight for front row spots, so plan a small walk.

My main entree, which I specifically ordered to arrive after the appetizer, was none other than the Chile Relleno entree. I ordered something slightly different, shredded beef with the Relleno. That picture is also below. One other thing , again my opinion, is the price point of $14.43, quite steep for this dish. Alas, inflation blows things up!

By the time I was able to eat the main dish, it was still mildly warm. The beans had dried a bit. The rice was tasty and fluffy, not sticky like most Mexican rice (and what grandma used to make). The Relleno was nearly perfect, despite my contamination with the beef. The beef wasn’t over-bearing, however and added a great flavor to the pepper. I say nearly perfect, because it could have had a touch more cheese in the unfried pepper. As you all well know from my other reviews, the lack of a breaded coating to adulterate this beautiful food is paramount to authenticity. So, nearly perfect it is and I would definitely return to eat here, trying many other options, like the enchiladas.

The lack of a fifth star is due to the ill timing of my entree. Additionally, my drink was never filled again without my prompting. However, they do all appear to be working hard and have a smile with their service. Wait staff should monitor patron consumption and deliver items fresh and hot with perfect timing. That’s five-star service. It doesn’t mean the place is bad at all. I recommend any authentic Mexican food-loving consumer to visit this...

Fair warning, I am very critical of restaurants: While up in the area this weekend, my wife and I decided to try Gusanoz after seeing it on RI, even if she was amazed, I wasn't impressed. Let me start with the location, I will not hold it against them that the restaurant was part of a strip mall, however, the interior definitely looked like it were inside a strip mall, loud, dark, stained ceiling tiles, dust on vents, etc. We were seated quickly, near the bar, against a wall, on these TINY tables and stools (they looked like chairs at least), the stools scared me, they were quite tall, and very wobbly. Chips and salsa was placed on the table, the chips were hot and crispy, however, the salsa tasted funky (naturally I tried it twice, but couldn't get past this bitter/almost rotten taste) By the time our waiter came for us to order drinks, to me, felt like a small eternity. The waiter asked our drink orders, I naturally asked what they had (seeing there was no mention of non-alcoholic drinks on the menu) I ordered their Lemonade (fresh squeezed, delicious), then another small eternity came before our order was placed. We ordered the guacamole, knowing how good it was supposed to be, and it was, tableside prepared, again I wonder, why have these small tables, barely enough room for the waiter to prepare the guac. My wife ordered the chili relleno (which after a taste I wish I had ordered), me, the seafood burrito promising crab, lobster and shrimp sounded delicious. Our meals came with rice and beans, the rice was quite delicious, the refried beans as well, the black beans that came with my order, however a large amount, tasted like they came from a can. My burrito came filled with mostly crab, some salad canned shrimp and no trace of lobster, coated in salsa verde and some cheese ( as well as a garden full of torn cilantro leaves which was picked off) drinks were refilled for free, the lemonade was limited to one refill before charging for another, so, after the refill was downed I enjoyed the water (enjoyed is relative as it seemed as if the glass had soap residue in the water). We went on to desert, Maria's limon cake (the highlight of my experience, bringing the rating from 2 stars to 3) the cake was delicious, moist, perfect. I can definitely see how this restaurant had its issues before Chef Irvine came to the rescue, but, it seems to me the owners are not keeping up on...

I truly love this place, and I've eaten here many many times. It's gone through changes and the latest have not been good. They're staffing problems have made getting food out, quality food out challenging. I spent many Afternoons eating chili rellenos on the outside tables inside booths and at the bar. Their selection of tequila and Mezcal is epic. However the last two times I've gone the food has been mediocre at best. Cold and with some sort of off flavor I couldn't identify, I would suspect it might have come out of the fridge and been reheated. That coupled with an odd odor in the kitchen or from the dishes area that doesn't smell like roasting beef and stewing al pastor, More like dishwashing soap or disinfectant, is an appetizing to say the least. The service is always been stellar Happy waitresses, festive patrons, the owner visiting the table to say hello. Yesterday I finally had to go find the waitress to find out what the problem was, and it turned out the cook had car trouble, maybe somebody was sent home sick or on drugs? They could have brought us another round of drinks, some more chips and salsa. Minimally they could have explained what we should be expecting as a wait? One of our party had an appointment and after a long wait for food, we asked for the check and the food to go, then they returned to the table with one of the meals instead and our friend was late.

Because of my long history I'm willing to go back and give them another chance (after all we're in the middle of the great shortage, where did all the people go anyway?) I'm going to go back and order something before I write this once great place off for good. I truly hope you give Gusaños a try... perhaps they can rise back to their once former glory. If they continue with poor food, mediocre service they won't be long in business. That would truly be a tragedy.

I would suggest they scale their hours to their staffing, only serve the best food even if that means closing for lunches, or limit the menu to that which they can handle. maybe they could do a very limited lunch and...