Dos Caminos, why so popular

[bakerboyz]

Visiting son this past weekend. I let him make the reservation because he liked Dos Caminos and wanted to bring Mom and Dad. We had a 8:00 PM reservation at the Park Ave. location. We were promptly seated in the front room which was incredibly noisy but they found us a nice table in the back room which was far better. The restaurant remained packed from the time we got there until the time we left around 9:30 but I do not understand why. I found the food to be very average and overpriced for the quality. We started with the guacamole which I found to be over-salted and edible only because we were hungry. My wife ordered a shrimp with garlic dish, my son ordered a salmon dish and I ordered the 3 course meal off the special restaurant week menu. All of the dishes were fairly bland and not very interesting or complex. In addition, I ordered 2 cocktails which tasted like straight fruit juice at $12 a pop. The only positive was that the service was outstanding, we had a very pleasant and professional waitress. In the end, about $210 including the tip. Not sure what all the buzz was about?

[kim e]

not sure. sometimes i'll end up here for sunday brunch b/c there's never a wait and it's close to my church. but you're right...the food is mediocre and overpriced.

[Ballroomblitz]

Two reasons Dos Caminos is so popular are :
1) They put alcohol in their drinks !
2) The weekend brunch is the best and most delicious deal in town !
I can't minimize the importance of reason 1 ! Many restaurants don't put much alcohol in their drinks..especially those drinks that accompany a brunch dish.
Of the three Dos Caminos locations, I've found the Soho Dos Caminos to be most consistantly the friendliest.

[KTinNYC]

This place is for people who don't know better but then again New Yorkers will put up with a lot to have a drink and a mediocre meal for brunch.

[LeahBaila]

...Furthermore, it's just too hard to justify spending nearly $12 on guacamole and $20 for 2 enchiladas. That's ludicrous to me.

www.thelunchbelle.com

[bakerboyz]

I do not drink much and I am not very big so it doesn't take much for me to feel the alcohol. That being said, I had 2-$12 cocktails, did not feel a thing and they tasted like straight fruit juice but that's just me. Food, which is why we were there, was average, not bad but not very good.

[jsmitty]

only so popular to those that have nothing authentic to campare it to... br guest food is mostly ordinary. a few exceptions

[Stuartmc910]

If it's any consulation; BR Guest is very generous to non-profit charity benefit auctions donating gift certificates, usually $150.00 each. So maybe they won't get 2 or 3 stars from Bruni, but they get 5 stars from all of the charities they support, including mine.

[Hurner]

I agree that Dos Caminos is overrated and overpriced (especially with respect its dinner menu and drinks), so it's popularity is a puzzle to me. But I have eaten on several occasions at the Park Avenue location for its Sunday brunch. It is consistently excellent, and this is its saving grace.

[RussianGirl]

Agreed - every time I get dragged there, I end up hating it - totally mediocre food and drinks, which would be fine if it was half the price, but there's nothing worse than paying $12 for a drink (which you very accurately described as fruit juice) and $14 for 2 avocadoes mashed together with some lime and salt.

[KTinNYC]

Who told you Dos Caminos was popular for food?

[small h]

These people, maybe. Presented without comment.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/589588
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/368241

[harrison]

Not very popular place on this board. It's part of the B.R. Guest marketing machine...

[Lucia]

Agreed. Plenty of mediocre reviews on this board, including my own.