Quetzal Restaurant - Anyone been?

[Jeff L]

Some friends and I are thinking of going to this place but none of us have tried it before. I know this forum tends to be about northern NJ restaurants and such, but surely some south and central jersey folks are out there who might give us a heads up on this joint.

What I do know is that it's in the burg (Chambersurg) and mainly caters to locals. I'd like to know about the quality of the food as it appears to be a dump of a place, and I say that in the nicest possible way.

[Rich Pawlak]

It's a great restaurant, a bit on the quirky side, but only to us gringos. For one, they tend to play the background music LOUD, so once you get past that, the food is terrific. Arepas, and another dish of cornmeal cups filled with meat are spectacular. But what really stands out is the chicken soup, served in a sort of deconstructed way, and designed as a build-your-own-soup kind of soup. Absolutely one of the greatest soups on earth. The weather right now is so right for that soup.

The marinated skirt steak is also good, as are the chicken, shrimp and seafood dishes. There may be a bit of a language barrier, but the menu is full of helpful photos so anyone can easily order a fabulous meal. The beer is Famosa from Guatemala and Presidente, if I recall correctly. And the prices are stoopidly cheap.

Bottom line, it's a very good restaurant.

[Jeff L]

And the prices are stoopidly cheap.

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Great food writer terminology Rich, stoopidly chaep, I love that!

Seriously, I was hoping you'd spot this thread and post. Thanks much, I'll report back to the 2 other people not from northern jersey who might be interested!

[jsfein]

I work in the area, but have never heard of this place. Where is it?

[Rich Pawlak]

I work in the area, but have never heard of this place.  Where is it?

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Its address is 1122 Anderson St in the 'Burg

[Jeff L]

I work in the area, but have never heard of this place.  Where is it?

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Just up the road some from my favorite deli, Porfirio's.

Now I know what it's like to be from Pittsburgh in the PA forum!

[jsfein]

Had lunch here today. A very nice find. Fighting a horrific cold, I planned on the chicken soup and arepas Rich spoke of so highly. Perhaps the menu has changed, but there were no food photos on the menu I was given. Most dishes, however, had some English translation provided. A definite language barrier with the waitress existed.

The chicken soup was described as "hen" soup, but I presumed it was the one Rich mentioned. However, the $12 price tag for soup didn't seem "stoopidly" cheap. All the soups ranged in price from $9 - $12. Between my slight delirium from my cold and my inability to communicate with the waitress, I never did find out if there was a cup or bowl of soup option, so I skipped the soup. I also couldn't find arepas anywhere on the menu. I ended up ordering the carne asada which is probably the marinated skirt steak mentioned by Rich. Very good and a huge portion for $12. The accompaniments were all excellent ... black beans, rice, and something that tasted like but didn't look anything like potato salad that was my favorite. The tortillas were also excellent, but were more like mini pitas than tortillas. I could have eaten a half-dozen of these instead of the two provided. I will definitely return.

I've also never been to Porfirio's mentioned by Jeff. What's good?

[Jeff L]

I've also never been to Porfirio's mentioned by Jeff.  What's good?

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Thanks for the report, doesn't seem stoopidly cheap at all does it? Wanna weigh in Rich? You'd think lunch would be even stoopider cheap wouldn't you? It also seems like speaking Spanish is a real plus, memo to Joey Vento

Rich, I think we're going next week mid week and if it doesn't disappoint, what about this place for the next DDC dinner? We could take Pedro and have a translator on the team and all.

Anyway, Porfiirio's is a classic really great little Italian deli in the 400 block of Anderson. You can't eat there although they have opened a cafe somewhere in Hamilton and I suspect the food would be great tho I've not been.

I will put Porfirio's homemade lasagna and marinara sauce next to any restaurant on the planet. I take great pride in my tomato sauce as I've mentioned on this forum somewhere, but really go get some. If you're having people over for dinner, pick up a 4 lb lasagna with 2 quarts of sauce and a loaf of the semolina bread from Brooklyn and you are good to go. I bet you the cost of the lasagna at least 2 people will ask you for the recipe and of course you don't share recipes right?

[Rich Pawlak]

Had lunch here today.  A very nice find.  Fighting a horrific cold, I planned on the chicken soup and arepas Rich spoke of so highly.  Perhaps the menu has changed, but there were no food photos on the menu I was given.  Most dishes, however, had some English translation provided.  A definite language barrier with the waitress existed. 

The chicken soup was described as "hen" soup, but I presumed it was the one Rich mentioned.  However, the $12 price tag for soup didn't seem "stoopidly" cheap.  All the soups ranged in price from $9 - $12.  Between my slight delirium from my cold and my inability to communicate with the waitress, I never did find out if there was a cup or bowl of soup option, so I skipped the soup.  I also couldn't find arepas anywhere on the menu.  I ended up ordering the carne asada which is probably the marinated skirt steak mentioned by Rich.  Very good and a huge portion for $12.  The accompaniments were all excellent ... black beans, rice, and something that tasted like but didn't look anything like potato salad that was my favorite.  The tortillas were also excellent, but were more like mini pitas than tortillas.  I could have eaten a half-dozen of these instead of the two provided.  I will definitely return.

I've also never been to Porfirio's mentioned by Jeff.  What's good?

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Oh, it's all stoopidly cheap in context. That $12 soup (it used to be $9), is STILL worth it, and it serves more than one; there is no cup or bowl option, and you surely could have taken the leftovers home. Sorry that there wered no arepas, they were sensational.

Ive thought about Quetzal for a DDC dinner, but wasnt sure I couold pull it off without a translator to help explain the concept to the owner, so Ive passed on the idea persoanlly. If anyone else with better linguistic skills thnks they could pull it off, God bless you.

[Jeff L]

We had dinner tonight and it was really quite good. Based on Rich's suggestion, we had the "hen soup" and the flavor was really amazing. Frankly, the hen had seen better days. I wish I had gone with my initial idea to order the weekday special hen soup for a measly $3.00 without the hen and rice. The flavor of the broth is what made this soup..outstanding indeed.

We also ordered two appetizers, one was the crunchy something or other and the other was Tacos Quetzal. I loved the tacos and their wonderful filling. There was an indescribable lovely hot sauce that was at once rich and piquant, lovely.

We shared an entree of a combination platter filled with great grilled pork, marinated skirt steak (dead on with this one Rich) and grilled chicken. It was wonderful and Id order it again in a heartbeat. It came with plenty of great yellow rice and the most fantastic plantains I've ever eaten anywhere.

I had 2 of the local lagers and my buddy had 2 vodkas which translated into 5 shots somewhow. Without booze, total food tab was under $50 which is quite a great deal.

We should have just had the broth for $3.00 saving almost $10 bucks and one less appetizer. We'll sort out the booze thing next time.

Speaking of next time, I spoke at length with the chef/owner, Victor who would love to have the DDC group in the next 3-4 weeks. I asked him to provide a menu of 3 appetizer choices, 3 entree choices and three dessert choices plus, get this...one drink too for $30 pp. He was cool with that. This might be the best DDC deal yet!

Let me know who would love to try this place and I'll host. In light of the fiasco at the recent DDC dinner at the Korean place in Cherry Hill, I feel confidant the owner speaks English well enough to pull this off. BTW, they've been open for 9 years.

[Rich Pawlak]

We had dinner tonight and it was really quite good. Based on Rich's suggestion, we had the "hen soup" and the flavor was really amazing. Frankly, the hen had seen better days. I wish I had gone with my initial idea to order the weekday special hen soup for a measly $3.00 without the hen and rice. The flavor of the broth is what made this soup..outstanding indeed.

We also ordered two appetizers, one was the crunchy something or other and the other was Tacos Quetzal. I loved the tacos and their wonderful filling. There was an indescribable lovely hot sauce that was at once rich and piquant, lovely.

We shared an entree of a combination platter filled with great grilled pork, marinated skirt steak (dead on with this one Rich) and grilled chicken. It was wonderful and Id order it again in a heartbeat. It came with plenty of great yellow rice and the most fantastic plantains I've ever eaten anywhere.

I had 2 of the local lagers and my buddy had 2 vodkas which translated into 5 shots somewhow. Without booze, total food tab was under $50 which is quite a great deal.

We should have just had the broth for $3.00 saving almost $10 bucks and one less appetizer. We'll sort out the booze thing next time.

Speaking of next time, I spoke at length with the chef/owner, Victor who would love to have the DDC group in the next 3-4 weeks. I asked him to provide a menu of 3 appetizer choices, 3 entree choices and three dessert choices plus, get this...one drink too for $30 pp. He was cool with that. This might be the best DDC deal yet!

Let me know who would love to try this place and I'll host. In light of the fiasco at the recent DDC dinner at the Korean place in Cherry Hill,  I feel confidant the owner speaks English well enough to pull this off. BTW, they've been open for 9 years.

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Run with it! I LOVE this place. And I'll bet the owner would love a crowd on a Monday or Tuesday night.