Casa de Catrina Mexican restaurant opens in Carle Place
The molcajete de carnes at Casa de Catrina in Carle Place is a meat-lovers delight, with skirt steak, chicken and chorizo in a stone bowl. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
La Catrina is one of the most potent symbols of Mexican culture, and she's never looked as ravishing as she does here, staring out at this colorful new restaurant from behind her wide-brimmed hat. The iconic skeleton maiden is the focal point of one of Long Island's most impressive murals, a sprawling panel of psychedelic skulls floating around a delicate web of flowers.
The dining room at Casa de Catrina is dominated by a wall-length Dia de los Muertos-themed mural. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
The theme is Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, the Mexican holiday with indigenous roots where family members reconvene with the departed spirits of their loved ones. And the place is Casa de Catrina, a lively Mexican restaurant tucked into a shopping center near the Roosevelt Field mall. Long Island artist Celeni Filpo, who was raised in the Dominican Republic, painted multiple murals of the Catrina and other calaveras, or sugar skulls, across the restaurant. The music swings more toward salsa than Mexican cumbia, but keeps the energy going in the lively bar area.
Not to be overshadowed by the surroundings, the menu features heavy hitters of regional Mexican food, including piggy-shaped molcajete stone bowls stacked with meat and seafood. The molcajete de carnes ($40) arrived sizzling, packed with slabs of steak, chicken and chorizo that poured smoke over the table. The meat itself may have been a bit overcooked but the veggies underneath were perfect, fat cactus paddles and a white onion bulb with its green stem hanging off the side of the bowl. Slipped into flour tortillas, they made some nice tacos.
Shrimp enchiladas ($23) were better executed, folded over in the Central Mexican style and bathed in a light chile guajillo sauce with squiggles of white crema. The shrimp inside was delightfully tender and plump.
Casa de Catrina, 223 Old Country Rd., Carle Place, 516-385-3796. Open noon to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon to midnight Friday-Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday.
Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.
