Long Island Restaurants

Quetzalcoatl

If you like Quetzalcoatl, you also may want to try: Amigos 52 Main St. Port Washington 516-883-1315 Gold Mine 99 Broadway Greenlawn 631-262-1775

Huntington, Long Island's capital of Mexican cuisine, burnishes its status with Quetzalcoatl.

The colorful new restaurant is the offspring of nearby Oaxaca, the homey Mexican eatery also owned by Alejandro Gonzalez.

Here, the Gonzalez family has taken over the site of the Huntington Diner and turned it into a warm, and often very good spot for all those combination plates and more, with some refreshing alternatives, too.

The two-story restaurant sports plenty of Mexican imagery, from the Aztec, Toltec and Middle American god that gives the place its name to the pyramids, rain forests and assorted tropical scenes. Murals abound.

Quetzalcoatl keeps the prices fair and the quality consistent. It's more ambitious than Oaxaca, but just as flavorful, comfortable and kid-friendly.

You can get started with a generous posole, the hearty, meaty soup made with hominy; or take a quick side trip to Andalusia with a summery gazpacho. Garlic and black bean soups and a Mexican riff on clam chowder provide the competition.

Enjoy the ample, cheese-stuffed jalapeños, spicy shrimp tostadas, chorizo-packed quesadillas, and flaky bolovanes, seafood-packed pastries. Cool off with a cactus salad or avocado salad. Just in case, Quetzalcoatl sends out "nachos deluxe," too.

The kitchen livens things up with pipian de pollo, tender chicken finished with a pumpkin-seed sauce. The molcajete purepecha, a volcanic-rock serving bowl bubbling with meats and vegetables, also gets your attention in a hurry. Ropa vieja, the shredded beef dish deftly prepared at Oaxaca, makes a welcome appearance here.

Empanadas, however, are on the dry side. And a filet mignon in poblano-pepper sauce is chewy. Instead, consider tacos with chorizo sausage, baked pork or lamb. Fajitas arrive with the patented sizzle, smoke and char.

But the moist and satisfying tamales, whether vegetarian or with chicken in banana leaves, have more appeal. Broiled salmon and sole, fried pork chops, and an ample platter of grilled seafood are straightforward.

Precede all this with a respectable margarita, and accompany your meal with Mexican beer or very fruity sangria.

Breakfast fare includes huevos rancheros; chilaquiles; burritos with scrambled eggs, cheese, rice, beans, and either chicken or beef; and zopilotes, black bean-broth marinated corn tortillas capped with queso fresco.

Quetzalcoatl's desserts are highlighted by a dulce tres leches cake; a tasty flan; and, despite some aerosol cream, a very sweet plantain. The chocolate pudding and the rice pudding need more personality.

That's something Quetzalcoatl definitely has. You won't mistake it for any of the local Mexican establishments -- an accomplishment in itself.

Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti, 5/13/07.

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