Gordos Northside — Restaurant in Tallahassee

Not the best that I have had, but not the worst either.

FOOD: Unfortunately, this was where I was disappointed the most, which pretty much defeats the point of trying it out. But you dont know until you try it, right?

We ordered an El Gordo but they did not add the "special El Gordo sauce" which basically made it a ham and Turkey sandwich😡. The cuban sandwich we ordered had VERY LITTLE pork which was very disappointing since it basically the first thing one thinks of in regards to Cuban food😡😡. The chicken empanadas were much more bread than filling and the flavor was lacking. The bean empanadas were nice but the beef empanadas were lacking in flavor as well. The cafe con leche's we ordered were pretty good but not as strong as expected.

OVERALL, I cannot say that it was terrible; just more of a franchised feel to the food. If you have not had authentic Cuban/Caribbean food before and just want to try it out then you might not notice the difference and will probably enjoy it just fine. If you have had authentic homestyle Cuban/Caribbean food then you may notice the differences that I have mentioned, like the flavoring. If it were the only place like it available then I would probably give it another try.

STAFF: Very friendly, helpful, and well staffed.

LOCATION: It was nice and clean. The unique artwork and personal touches give it a nice look. It has more of a sports pub feel to it, which was nice, but not a traditional Cuban/Caribbean feel to it.

PARKING: This location is in more of a centralized busy downtown workplace type of location so it appears to always stay busy and the parking situation is definitely annoying like I had read in...

What it lacks in ambience it makes up for in its recipes. I had the frita which is the Cuban hamburger. They did a great job with the chorizo mix to give it a great kick. But a couple of dings would be the Cuban bread. If you’ve been to Miami you wouldn’t recognize this as Cuban bread. It’s what they would call french bread. Dense, hearty and good but Cuban bread is light and airy. Granted everybody here serves the same bread and calls it Cuban. Maybe it is. But nobody at Vickies Bakery in Hialeah would have any idea what kind of bread it is.

Only other ding? The pepitas (potato sticks for gringos) were stale. Not just a little. It was hard to let that slide.

But I will say this: the heartier bread works with the frita. Burgers are heavy food. Real Cuban bread wouldn’t be the best choice. I know, I know make up your mind. Less authentic? But it works better. There it is.

As for stale pepitas? What’s the chance of that happening when you’re there? It’s worth it. Go.

Having spent the last 25+ years in Miami I can say this about Gordos: it fits the tastes of north Florida better than traditional Cuban. And to be picky about authenticity is just petty. The food is really good. And every Cuban makes things a little different.

I’ll be back. That’s all that really...

This was a nice find for my Birthday Lunch! Our waitress was fabulous and for the most part, the food was great!

Three tips when visiting Gordos:

First, stray away from the ground beef. We had the empanada sampler which had a beef, chicken, and bean empanadas. The chicken & bean were fantastic. The beef literally tastes the way dog poo smells. I also had the Picadillo (ground beef entree) which did not have the poo smell-taste association but still had an off kilter seasoning to it that I didn’t like. I’ve had this dish before from a Cuban family member and this was no where near that amazingness. Everything else was great! I highly recommend trying a bunch of the appetizers!

Second, Go with plenty of time to spent. We went prior to a movie and while it wasn’t the slowest, we chose this spot based on reviews calling it quick eats since our time was limited. It was not, by my standards at least. This isn’t a bad thing, we just didn’t have time to finish eating before we had to box it up and run to the movie theater!

Third, two words - GORDO SAUCE! I could literally eat that stuff on everything!!! And basically did! Get it! You will NOT...