Abelardo’s — Restaurant in Manhattan

I don’t claim to be an expert on Mexican cuisine, but I do have to say my first and possibly my last dining experience with Abelardos was less than stellar.

I’ve always known pico de gallo to be more tomatoes than onion, along with a few other ingredients. The Carne Asada Rice Bowl lists pico de gallo as its last ingredient, so it shouldn’t comprise a third of the bowl. When I took off the lid, the overwhelming smell of onions from the pico de gallo literally (not figuratively) made my eyes water. As I stirred around the ingredients, to find the rice, black beans, and corn, the odor of onions just intensified.

The corn, a bright beautiful yellow easily became more apparent, along with a nice quantity of black beans, but after a thorough stirring, only about a teaspoon or two (definitely not even a tablespoon) could be found in my rice bowl.

The steak was tender, but with the severely onion-heavy pico de gallo, it was hard to tell if it was seasoned well or not. Since it was lacking rice, and I was not wanting to take it back to Aggieville and to possibly have to wait in a 5-6 car line again, I added cheese and sour cream in an attempt to counter the acidity of the onion chunks in the pico de gallo. My fix made it palatable, but the onion smell…oy…my roommate could still smell it through her bedroom door. Hours later, the next day, the stench of those raw onion chunks is still lingered throughout my place the next day. I was belching the onions 8+ hours after I ate it.

Not to be petty, the fork and spoon were loose in the bag and there was not one napkin.

Major takeaways from my experience: 1.) the tomato-onion ratio of the pico de gallo was inverted from a good flavor mix; 2.) a rice bowl should have more than trace amounts of rice; 3.) you should always do at least a visual inspection of food before leaving the lot/drive-thru/restaurant when you’re getting take-home...

This is partly in reply to Rick Creecy’s review. I was the one that got the order right before you had a rude outburst during LUNCH RUSH. I also overheard you order and you had a more complicated order than mine. Hence why I got mine before yours. Your complaint about the kiosk being down is partly false, there was still one working kiosk you had to wait for. Boo hoo. And the salsa was out because it was LUNCH RUSH. There were 10 people in that lobby waiting and a line out the drive thru. You need to understand that the people are trying their hardest and getting it out as fast as they can. Every employee in there was busting their behind. Don’t be a male Karen and yell out for a refund and then be surprised the cashier returns your energy.

To everyone else: this place is good and the food is delicious. My new go to place. If you go during peak hours, expect to wait 10-15 min for your order. It’s a new place in town, of course it’s...

Good food for a quick Mexican concept. Pricing is a bit high, you don't get the setup with a meal like rice and beans with your dish. The entre comes bare on some of the things I have seen served. Now the taco supreme special seems to be the one I run into most. 3 tacos with ground beef or chicken and a drink for $6.99. I usually stop here after we have severe storms and most other places are closed. The staff if friendly and there is not much of a wait to get your food. On the other hand, the chip bar is devoid of chips and the sauces have not been replenished. Get used to drizzling sauce on your chips because they have containers that are about 1" rounds, about the size of 2 thimble. You won't be dipping in that. Tacos were tasty and a deal for the special. The burritos looked kind of small. I'll add to this review when I order one and also try the...