Chichimecas - Village of Farmingdale

We were just here with a big group of 14 and I have to say, we had a pretty great time. I was in charge of picking a place and I had Chichimecas bookmarked but was a bit worried because of some of the extremely negative reviews, but our party wanted Mexican food and I just crossed my fingers and hope we would have a good experience. And we did! It took me four calls until someone picked up, but that was about the only bump we had. Making a reservation was easy and I was so happy they could accommodate our large group. We came around 5:30 on a Sunday and it wasn 't crowded, just a couple other tables, but the service was prompt, the restaurant (and bathrooms! were clean, and the food came out hot and delicious! When we got there, our table was ready and in a great spot with a bay window overlooking the train tracks (interesting view! . From our spot, there was a lot of natural light and the restaurant itself is very festively decorated. Unfortunately, no live music that day (but apparently they have it on Friday 's and Saturday 's , but it worked out because it might 've been too loud for us to have conversations. We ordered a bunch of dishes to share and we weren 't disappointed! Everything came out hot and was delicious! We ordered a bunch of tacos, which were filled well and with double corn tortillas; the mole chicken, the mole oaxaqueña, chicken enchiladas, chicken fajitas, the paella, the guac, and for dessert, the tres leches cake, which came out as a good size slice and very moist, the churros, and the platanos, which I would normally not have as a dessert but it came with a cream sauce and someone in our party who didn 't like sweets appreciated it as a dessert. Bottom line: if you 're coming with a big group who 's looking for a good time, try Chichimecas! They waiters were attentive and pleasant throughout the evening (we were there for a couple of hours with refilling drinks and checking up on us and the atmosphere is nice, not too crowded, and festive! We were seated upstairs, as were most people, I think, but there is a small bar downstairs with t.v. 's showing soccer games. One thing! I didn 't notice any music. Luckily, our big group was talkative and didn 't need it, but if I were there with a smaller group, I think I would want some Latino music in the background.

Mantle or Mays? Brady or Manning? Borg or McEnroe? Great rivalries raise great questions, the first being.........who's better? Farmingdale is blessed with two Mexican restaurants which Yelpers apparently enjoy, CaraCara and Chichimecas. Having already been to the former and enjoying it immensely with my group, I dined with them at Chichimecas on 9/14 to pick a winner between the two. The restaurant is adjacent to, and very slightly North of, the LIRR train tracks perpendicular to Main Street in Farmingdale. Seek parking in the large municipal parking lots behind the businesses on Main Street that are south of the railroad tracks. I scurried in quickly to get out of the torrential rain. The very nice bartender gave me a friendly greeting and i ordered some homemade Red Sangria. It was good, roughly similar to the version at CaraCara. Our group assembled and we were led upstairs to a large square table.This is a very casual looking and homey restaurant, with some beautiful paintings. After we were seated, our waitress took our orders politely and helpfully. I wish that I can be as positive about the abysmal performance of the very slow kitchen.There was a fifty minute wait for both appetizers and entrees, which explains my rating. However, the food here was good when it finally arrived. My fellow diners enjoyed soups such as Black Bean, Gazpacho and Carrot. Other dishes drawing good comment were the Wet Burrito, Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers, Steak Fajitas, Carne Asada, Spicy Pork Tinga and Smoked Chicken. I ordered a half portion of guac as my app.It was OK but I thought CaraCara's version was fresher and better tasting.My entree, a full rack of Smoked Spare Ribs was very good, a big enough portion to allow me to have a nice dinner the next day.However, the dish did not arrive with sufficient BBQ sauce. It was after 10:00 p.m. when the waitress asked our group about dessert. Although I came in with the intention of getting Tres Leches Cake, it was simply too late for me to consider dessert. Each of my fellow diners agreed and declined dessert.Bummer!!! My verdict, based upon its slightly better food, and its very superior ability to handle a group of ten plus, and offer my peeps a great experience, CaraCara scores a unanimous decision over Chicimecas .However, both of these restaurants serve good Mexican food.

My friends and I chose this randomly as one of our first spots for our weekend trip (we were visiting Fire Island and staying in Melville right nearby). We were all so utterly impressed by not only the food, but the incredibly warm service. Since it was fairly packed inside the night we visited, we were sat out in the outdoors garden. It was nice atmospheric. Everything that came out was delicious. We ordered a whole spread for the table: tacos, shrimp with rice, chicken with tomatoes and peppers and burritos. Our server was so hospitable and friendly. He even treated our table to a free dessert the name slips my mind, but it's made out of the same ingredient used for churros, and was light and perfect to share for a group that was full. Hands down, one of the best Mexican places we've ever tried.

It's really hard to find good Mexican food on Long Island- I say this after spending a good deal of time in California, particularly San Diego. It's hard to compare, but Chichimecas does a considerably better job at Mexican than any other joint I've been to on the island. I've been to Besito, where you'll find nothing but white people overpaying for a tiny understaffed taco and table side guac. This place is low key (think casual wear- jeans, sweater, whatever you want and very affordable! The place was packed on a Sunday night and there was live music. Two guitarists serenading the room added a nice atmosphere to a saucy dining experience. I had the chicken fajita tacos, which were overflowing and the chicken was nicely cooked and spiced. My friend had half a BBQ chicken and some sides. Everything was great, including the free glass of wine for checking in on Yelp ; Wish it included the sangria, but it doesn't. Womp! Next time. Parking is available just across the way and no permit is needed.

Food: we received complementary appetizers and desert! However... The food was dismal. Nachos and salsa: fresh and tasty Black bean soup: too salty Mole chicken enchiladas: the sauce was so heavy and tasted like medicine. The chicken was beyond dry. i literally was forcing myself to get thru one of them and ended up eating everyone else's dish. Fajitas rip bravo: pretty good. Steak was seasoned well but overlooked. Fajitas rio with shrimp: the description should have said baby shrimp. They were extremely small and chewy. The sauce was fine Arroz con pollo: pretty good! Chichimeca steak: I would recommend this out of the things I tried. Good portion and nicely flavored! Burrito: go to chipotle--it's not worth the bite for that here. Service: They were very friendly and were able to seat us fairly quickly on a Saturday night without reservation. Price: medium