Boxcar Cantina Awards

Boxcar Cantina Restaurant Review:

Having trouble finding Boxcar Cantina? Just follow the noise echoing from inside the restaurant, which is amplified by its tin roof. The eatery is on Hamilton Avenue, an extension of Railroad Avenue, and not on Old Field Point Road, which usually gets first-time diners turned around. The organic Northeastern Mexican menu sets itself apart from the conventional Southwest Mexican cuisine found seemingly everywhere. Appetizers get the festivities going, as do the king-size margaritas made with any number of tequilas on hand, including Jose Cuervo and Don Julio. Start with a Navajo organic chicken basket served with hand-cut fries or the Mexican pizza topped with Jack-cheddar, plum tomatoes, kalamata olives, scallions, sour cream and pickled jalapeños on a flour tortilla with an optional addition of chicken or beef. Crispy corn tacos are a hit, and a Quatro selection --- two organic chicken tinga and two Niman Ranch pork, topped with Jack-cheddar and served with organic Spanish brown rice and pinto beans --- takes the pressure off having to choose between filling options. Pasture-raised ground beef or wild-caught shrimp can be substituted for a surcharge.