Good for Kids: Yes Has TV: Yes Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
1 review
Yong Dugas
"The wait will be about 25 minutes" says the hipster behind the bar with an old timey barkeep outfit and an ironic mustache at Rincon Criollo, who apparently is the maitre'd of the establishment.
Well shit, do we wait, or no? The answer was we didn't wait seeing as how the place was packed and there were easily 2-3 other parties waiting before us. Glory was hungry, and so was I. I didn't bitch about it nearly as much though but I agreed, we should venture outwards.
So we step outside to Junction Blvd, the heart of Corona Queens, aka ghetto central. The combination of an overhead train, population density of Mumbai and residual third world cultures combines to make this one of the loudest, busiest and dirtiest places in the city. (Chinatown not included)
We spotted Don Francisco when I parked my car, it looked like it was once an old pizza parlor and had signs on the windows that looked drawn by a 2nd grader with the words "un notte de halloween" or somethign to that effect. We took note that it was cute and decided to go back once we ditched Rincon.
Walking in, the 3 ladies at the counter stare at us like we must have been lost. I guess they never see Asians in their establishment, I guess we didn't quite pass for Mexican. We sit down and they hand us menus. "What's a good beef dish?" The waitress replies "ahh sorry… my english… poquito". They didn't talk to us because they didn't speak english.
She pointed at the Bistecca Marissecculo or whatever. It's on the menu, just look for it. Although I wouldn't look for it. It's a dish of thin beef marinated in tomatos and onions, comes with rice and beans and some salad and avocado. It was painfully mediocre. The steak was overcooked and thin enough to be a wallet and the rest of the plate didn't offer much else in terms of meat. Coming at a cool $13, it was something you should skip. For a place that looked like a cafe on the side of a dusty columbian road, Don Francisco's sure is expensive.
Nothing else here really tickled my fancy, although Glory's Bandaja Paisa did come with a lot of variety. Still her steak looked the same : low quality and overcooked. That seems to be the trend here. Just not enough mastery of beef, the food is… not good. Shockingly, no one else was brave/stupid enough to venture into Don Francisco's. Perhaps this was for good reason with Rincon Criollo just down the block. Don't come here. Thank me later. (hopefully you won't have to thank me, ever)
"The wait will be about 25 minutes" says the hipster behind the bar with an old timey barkeep outfit and an ironic mustache at Rincon Criollo, who apparently is the maitre'd of the establishment.
Well shit, do we wait, or no? The answer was we didn't wait seeing as how the place was packed and there were easily 2-3 other parties waiting before us. Glory was hungry, and so was I. I didn't bitch about it nearly as much though but I agreed, we should venture outwards.
So we step outside to Junction Blvd, the heart of Corona Queens, aka ghetto central. The combination of an overhead train, population density of Mumbai and residual third world cultures combines to make this one of the loudest, busiest and dirtiest places in the city. (Chinatown not included)
We spotted Don Francisco when I parked my car, it looked like it was once an old pizza parlor and had signs on the windows that looked drawn by a 2nd grader with the words "un notte de halloween" or somethign to that effect. We took note that it was cute and decided to go back once we ditched Rincon.
Walking in, the 3 ladies at the counter stare at us like we must have been lost. I guess they never see Asians in their establishment, I guess we didn't quite pass for Mexican. We sit down and they hand us menus. "What's a good beef dish?" The waitress replies "ahh sorry… my english… poquito". They didn't talk to us because they didn't speak english.
She pointed at the Bistecca Marissecculo or whatever. It's on the menu, just look for it. Although I wouldn't look for it. It's a dish of thin beef marinated in tomatos and onions, comes with rice and beans and some salad and avocado. It was painfully mediocre. The steak was overcooked and thin enough to be a wallet and the rest of the plate didn't offer much else in terms of meat. Coming at a cool $13, it was something you should skip. For a place that looked like a cafe on the side of a dusty columbian road, Don Francisco's sure is expensive.
Nothing else here really tickled my fancy, although Glory's Bandaja Paisa did come with a lot of variety. Still her steak looked the same : low quality and overcooked. That seems to be the trend here. Just not enough mastery of beef, the food is… not good. Shockingly, no one else was brave/stupid enough to venture into Don Francisco's. Perhaps this was for good reason with Rincon Criollo just down the block. Don't come here. Thank me later. (hopefully you won't have to thank me, ever)