Jackson Heights Colombian - need recommendations

[themish]

I headed to Jackson Heights on Saturday - does anyone have any suggestions for great Colombian places for lunch?

[missmasala]

I don't know enough about colombian food nor have i tried enough places in JH to say "great" but recently went to Listo El Pollo (aka Colombian Hooters) and the mountain plate hit the spot. It was also kind of fun to check out the scene for a night. Not a keen endorsement by any means, just a suggestion. see this thread for more:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/756751

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Listo el Pollo
86-02 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372

[Jeffsayyes]

I thought colombian hooters was cositas ricas? Colombia is a great country...

I wouldn't say listo el pollo is up there with the "best". Casa Colombia is pretty good.

One of my secret places where I LOOVE the flavors is http://www.yelp.com/biz/picanteria-el... picanteria el austro. lovely ladies but know very little english. cook well though. I think it might get LOUD at nights, but for lunch it's great.

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Cositas Ricas
79-19 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372

Picanteria El Austro
37-08 83rd St, Queens, NY 11372

Casa Colombia
86-23 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372

[JH Jill]

By the way, Picanteria El Austro is Ecuadorian, which is a fairly different cuisine.

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Picanteria El Austro
37-08 83rd St, Queens, NY 11372

[Jeffsayyes]

oh, oops. thanks. still love it.

[driggs]

My favorite place for the food is a small place on the corner of Roosevelt and 76th called Los Arrieros.

As Missmasala has pointed out, there is Listo El Pollo that I reviewed here
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/756751

As much as I love Listo El Pollo for the wacko atmosphere, If it was about getting best Colombian food, I would stick with Los Arrieros

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Los Arrieros
76-02 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372

[JH Jill]

If you're headed farther into the 80's, La Pequeña Colombia on Roosevelt and 84th is also good. I haven't been lately, though they recently renovated and it's attractive. All of the restaurants have fairly similar combination platters (bandejas), and they are mostly filling and you'll find something on the plate that you like. The daily soups are also good and extremely reasonable at lunch. Lately I've eaten the lentil soup at Meson Colombiano which has a nice beet and carrot salad along with the meat and rice that accompany the $5-6 soup. (Their arroz con pollo can be good too, but I'm often disappointed in their non-soup items. At Cositas Ricas, you also have the bakery there and can get a buñuelo or other baked good at any time of the day. If you want a rotisserie chicken platter, I highly recommend Pollos a la Brasa Mario where it comes with the outstanding chicken heart consomme (sopa de menudencias).

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La Pequena Colombia
83-27 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372

Cositas Ricas
79-19 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372

El Meson Colombiano
82-11 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372

Pollos a la Brasa Mario
83-02 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372

[Mr Porkchop]

Does anyone have an opinion on La Boina Roja, the Colombian steakhouse? I passed by it a few weekends ago on my way to (a great dinner at) El Chivito De Oro and it was really packing people in.

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La Boina Roja
80-22 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372

[JH Jill]

I have been to La Boina a number of times. I even translated their menu once, but the manager left, and they went back to the humorous old version. They have a lot of fancier offerings, which I haven't tried. Actually, I usually get the combination plates (bandejas), which are fine, no better or worse than most places, in my opinion. In general, Colombian places aren't where a non-Colombian would go to get really great meat dishes (Uruguayan or Argentine are better for that around here), but their combos are kind of fun. I haven't tried many of La Boina's soups, but I'm sure they are also good deals. It's a fairly pleasant space. One of my favorite features is the fresh squeezed orange, carrot, and beet juice.

[Mr Porkchop]

Thanks for the response, I'll have to check it out sometime for something different.

[Jeffsayyes]

ohhh, wait, I have THE place. Villacolombia Bakery on 82nd St. It's one of my favs.
big lunch for $5 and with soup it's $6. one of my fav lunch places.
it's a little difficult to order b/c you have to order through a little hole above the counter, but somehow they can hear you or see you point. great stuff.

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Villa Colombia
40-42 82nd St, Queens, NY 11373

[Cheese Boy]

This is gonna be very interesting, and if it doesn't work out then there's a short trip to Pho Bac. Hopefully it turns out well.