Vera Cruz
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CUISINE: Mexican
ADDRESS: 195 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211
between N. 6th and N. 7th Sts.
PHONE: 718.486.3333
HOURS: Mon-Fri: 4pm-12pm, Saturday: 4pm-12am, Sunday 3pm-10:30pm
CARDS: American Express, MasterCard, Visa
BOOZE: Full bar, tasty margaritas
HAPPY HOUR: Mon-Fri, 4pm-7pm; $4 margaritas, beers, wine and house drinks; $7.50 dinner special (burrito or enchilada, with choice of soup or salad)
OUTDOOR DINING: Yes
AVERAGE ENTREE: $12-$15
MENU: Click Here
SUBWAY: L at Bedford Ave.
MAP: Click Here
DELIVERY: No
EXTRAS: Outdoor Dining
WE SAY: With a festive, chatty bar up front serving good margaritas and icy Coronas, and a delightful open-air garden out back, Vera Cruz delivers inventive if inconsistent Mexican food at reasonable prices. Standards include hearty burritos, meat or veggie-filled soft tacos, and good rice and beans along with a smattering of more creative dishes. The salsa can be watery, and the guacamole seems to be cut with cucumber relish, but both do the trick, especially after you've had a couple of margaritas. More adventuresome palates will enjoy the grilled corn on the cob, served with mayonnaise and cotija cheese, or the southwestern salad topped with juicy grilled portabellos, tomatoes, and chunks of tepid cactus. Don't count on the service here, though, which is notoriously slow, or simply absent.
Village Voice Says
"This Mexican has a menu full of promise. Consider the queso fundido, a kind of cheese fondue served in a crock with additions like chorizo and mushroom, or elotes asados, charred corn on the cob accompanied by homemade mayo, parmesan, and a little mountain of chili powder-dip and enjoy. The entr?es are a little on the bland side, but the Mexican rice and refried beans are impeccable. And hey! With a name like "Vera Cruz," why so little seafood?"
CITY SEARCH SAYS:
This wooden bar is packed after dark with a loyal neighborhood crowd. People waiting for tables stand at a drink rail next to large windows which open out over a leafy garden in the summertime. The mood is always upbeat--but rarely wild--with Latin music drowning out the ceaseless whirl of the margarita maker. Service is fast and friendly. The free chips-and-salsa may suggest casual Tex-Mex cooking, but this menu is a couple notches above. Ingredients are market fresh and preparations are slightly more innovative than you'd expect. Grilled corn on the cob with mayonnaise and cotija cheese, and cactus leaves with red onion and salsa verde, are standout starts. Main dishes encompass the usuals--like chocolatey chicken mole and grilled flank steak--as well as seasonal specials, like soft-shell crabs with orange tequila sauce.
NEW YORK MAG SAYS:
You may come for the tasty margaritas and seemingly bottomless pitchers of sangria that are priced to sell, but you'll stay for the food at this cozy Mexican spot. Sizzling fajitas, tacos, and burritos are perfect accompaniments to the inevitable tequila buzz, but unlike other cheap Mexican joints, items are made fresh. You can taste the difference in spicy cilantro salsa, crispy homemade chips, and mouthwatering guacamole. Service is friendly, and the atmosphere—candlelit tables, warm yellow walls, loungy Latin grooves—is another reason to linger.
Comments
I eat here frequently, and whether I'm with friends or my boyfriend, we've never had any problem at all with the service. In fact, they've been attentive and notably nice.
Plus, the food is really good. There are a few ceviches to choose from on the appetizer menu. The rest of the food is consistently gratifying as well. Ask the staff for recommendations; they haven't led us wrong yet.
Posted by: Qdaria | August 19, 2008 05:05 PM
I truly appreciate the idea of using dried beans, rather than the easy out, canned bean for meal preparations. Let's face it, they taste better and don't have that mushy canned bean consistency. But, and this is a big but, if you choose to use the "better bean" please, oh please, wash and sort them properly. I've prepared dried beans many times before and if never fails, I always find a pebble or two. Please be more careful when sorting your dried beans...I nearly cracked a tooth at this establishment.
Posted by: Amy | May 24, 2007 02:51 AM
had the enchiladas vera cruz- very good. my boyfriend had a beef burrito- also very good. drinks were great, waitress was nice. overall no complaints!
Posted by: sarah | August 25, 2006 11:07 PM
The food is bland. The food is very, very bland. Did I mention that the food is bland? (Very, very bland.)
Oh, and the service sucks. The service really, really sucks. Did I mention that the service sucks? (Sucks really, really badly.)
Is there an echo in here? Why do people eat in this hole more than one time? Are they just stupid?
Posted by: Dick | August 15, 2006 04:48 PM
The food was very good. The service was lacking.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 9, 2006 09:20 PM
Vera Cruz has absolutely horrible service. The server was completely disinterested and apathetic and obviously had no desire to do what they were being paid to do. We waited for over 20 minutes to order and this only happened after repeated attempts to get their attention. Apparently, the server was avoiding eye contact with our table. And, it took at least 3 requests from the very same server to get a refill of our glasses of water, at which point, he returned with an attitude that included slamming our glasses back on the table after filling them with urine-warm water.
Our table was never cleared after the chips or appetizers, so by the end of the bland below-average food, our table was cluttered with plates. After another worker eventually cleared the table, our server continued to leisurly walk back and forth, never once glancing at our table for the next 10-15 minutes, despite our attempts to give this person verbal and hand signals that we wanted the check. It took at least another 10 minutes for this mook to figure out the bill for two people (1 appetizer, 2 entrees). After leaving the check and never once making anything resembling eye contact, he disappeared, never to return. It was late and the place was NOT crowded, making this experience all the most disgusting. Poor Bean...it should have been you Vera Cruz.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 8, 2006 10:35 PM
Yeah the food is pretty dang bland and the chips are always stale, but the salsa is yummy and the margaritas are what keep me coming back!
Posted by: lindsey Hunter | August 3, 2006 08:06 PM
I genuinely like the food at Vera Cruz, and after reading some of the reviews I'm compelled to relate my recent experience.
* Free chips and salsa. We were even brought a second basket while waiting for our food. This is rare in New York and for this reason I find Vera Cruz notable.
* The enchiladas of their namesake (i.e. enchiladas vera-cruz) were tasty and satisfying. The enchiladas themselves and the rice & beans were yummy and pretty authentic. Note that authentic does not translate to hyper-seasoned and presented like most New York Mexican food.
* Give the grilled corn on the cob a try. No, really.
* Their margaritas are great, I really don't need to state this. But I will because they are that good.
* Service was adequate - slow but passably friendly.
Posted by: curtyv | April 20, 2006 05:56 PM
Food here is mediocre and lacking in flavor. Don't waste your money here.
Posted by: Olivia | December 11, 2005 04:41 AM
i made an advance reservation for a large group here, only to arrive and find out that they had neglected to actually reserve a table for us. after waiting an hour and a half (without being comped any drinks at the bar or receiving any sort of apology, i should add), we still didn't have a table. we ended up going to bean, which we probably should have gone to to begin with - it has better food, better service, and better prices.
Posted by: dan | October 24, 2005 02:24 AM
OK so its really hard to mess up Nachos those are ok.
But, How can you respect any Mexican restraunt who cant cut the fajita meat correctly. Cut against the grain DUH. Also, could you at least put some seasoning on it, maybe salt and pepper is a good start. I could only imagine how much better the food would be if the loco cocina cooks from Matamoros where making the food.
And where are my refried beans with LARD!!!
Posted by: bruce | October 13, 2005 12:09 AM
Go for the margaritas, not the food. there are better mexican restaurants in the area. Sit and drink and chat here, but leave before you eat.
Posted by: Greg | September 27, 2005 03:56 PM