What's the landscape for Mexican food like in this area, I wonder? It's not too far from the…read morefair-sized city of Poughkeepsie, where there's a reasonably diverse dining scene and a significant Mexican-American presence. But the hamlet of Poughquag, where Las Adelitas is located, has a population of approximately 7,000.
I have to assume that this restaurant is pretty good for the area, given all the credible positive reviews on Yelp. But... I don't think it would be nearly as well rated were it in NYC.
The Pros:
- Really nice staff who did what they could to accommodate our large-ish group outside since we had the pup with us. (We'd called ahead to make sure outdoor dining was available and that we could bring the pup.) They tried very hard to make the area comfortable, setting up an umbrella to block the sun. Our server was very kind and communicated well, despite the fact that English wasn't her first language. (5/5)
- The indoor space is nicely decorated, a little dark even during the day, a touch grungy, but more or less clean. (4/5)
The Cons:
- The set-up was a little rough (there were overgrown weeds and garbage in the outdoor area where staff had set a table) and it smelled awful when the wind blew from certain directions. It's clear that they don't expect many outdoor diners and don't maintain the area. (1/5)
The Somewhere in the Middles:
It's entirely possible we just ordered badly, but what we tried of the food was mostly pretty mediocre. (3/5)
The Oaxaca Salad (I know, a stupid gringo order) was supposed to include "mix green, apple, nut, dried cranberry, queso fresco, grilled chicken." It came with iceberg lettuce, two halves of a peanut (read: one whole peanut in the entire salad that I could detect), and raisins instead of cranberry.
Birria tacos were filled with a LOT of cheese and a wee bit of birria beef, the tortillas flaccid, not so much fried as just dipped in oil. The birria broth was flavorful, though, and the beef tender.
Tacos del norte with carne asada included small diced beef that had been nicely browned and crisped, but was composed of more fat and gristle than we find ideal. The packaged tortillas were a bit brittle, perhaps not warmed enough before serving.
Convives who ordered shrimp tacos and camarones al mojo de ajo (shrimp in a garlic-butter sauce, served with rice, beans, and salad), said they were "okay."
A tamarind mezcalita was pretty tasty and not overly wimpy, but most of the drink was crushed ice.
Overall: 3.25, rounding up to 4 for all the extra efforts to allow us to dine outdoors.
Do we expect destination dining in a small hamlet, especially when we haven't done any research beyond a quick Yelp search on a weak cell phone signal? Of course not. The food we tried was good enough for our purposes, the restaurant staff spectacularly accommodating. I know they could only do so much for outdoor diners on short notice.
Lesson learned. We won't try to repeat that experience! I would, however, gladly come back as an indoor diner to try more cocktails and the well reviewed pulpo whenever we're in the area next.
