Camera in the Kitchen: Rodeo Bar

Perpetually on the lookout for New York's best honky tonk (who isn't?) and craving tex mex, Gothamist headed to Murray Hill's Rodeo Bar last night, fully prepared for a hoe down. Kitschy decor of bulls' horns, old Texan roadsigns, and lanterns made of antlers line the spacious brick walls. Nightly, at 10, there is live honky tonk music in the back room hosting local and touring country/western bands like The Moonlighters, or last night, The Weight. But, honky tonk or not, Rodeo Bar serves up hefty portions of irresistable Tex Mex. Their menu is expansive (not expensive!) and written with snarky commentary -- to describe the Black Bean Chili Cheese Nachos, "guaranteed to appease tree huggers everywhere;" Chicken Chimichangas followed by "bet you can't say it three times fast."

Rodeo offers a full line up of meat-between-bread combos: cheeseburgers, bison burgers, chili burgers, steak sandwiches, and brisket sandwiches, meal-sized salads (often topped with chicken, steak, or cheese), and dozens of options of enchiladas, burritos, fajitas, alongside straight up Texas BBQ. Gothamist's taste buds were melting for the Chicken Mole Tacos, grilled chicken simmered in a spicy, but savory mole sauce, wrapped in soft cornmeal taco shells and quickly broiled with melted cheese. Another at the table sprung for the Catfish and Avacado Tacos, soft flour tortillas encasing a delectable combo of grilled catfish and ripe avacado, with sides of beans, rice, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. The Poblano Spinach Enchilada, one of many vegetarian options denoted on the menu by a slash through bull's horns, married soft goat cheese with spinach and roasted poblanos sandwiched between tortillas and coated with a layer of bubbly cheese. Reports of the Blackened Catfish entree -- a generous portion of catfish filet on a bed of mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables -- were, unfortunately "underwhelming" according to our table's catfish expert, though the dish arrived piping hot and beautifully presented and proved to be the lone let down.

In the end, stomach bursting, Gothamist opted to pass up the margaritas which come in 9 flavors (lime, strawberry, cranberry, raspberry, melon blue, mango, pomegranate, peach, and prickly pear) and dessert (flan, Mississippi Mud cake, key lime pie, etc), but highly recommends them to anyone with a cowboy-sized appetite.

Rodeo Bar is located at 375 3rd Avenue (at 27th) and open M-Sat from noon until 4 a.m. and Sundays until 2 a.m. Live music is nightly at 10 p.m. (212) 683.6500

photos by Jesse Chan-Norris

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By youngna park in Food on January 10, 2006 10:10 AM

Comments [rss]

sallyswerves

ive never eaten at rodeo but i know quite a few women who have been roofied there. yes, roofied. all of them were at the bar, and actually i know one man who was roofied b/c his girlfriend went to the bar for his drink.... the place seems fun, but watch your drinks!!!

li'l trivia

Rodeo Bar Fun Fact:

It used to be called "Albuquerque Eats," and was the location for A Tribe Called Quest's photo shoot for their single "I Left My Wallet In El Segundo."

yp

No, Kendra, we didn't eat for free...and, isn't the other part about being a "true new yorker" trying out new places?

Jen W

Rodeo falls under that category of places I totally love because they are cheesy, gloppy, or nasty, but with fun drinks. It's like going to a Tumbleweeds without as much shame. It was one of the first places I went to when I moved to NYC many years ago, so it's a weird nostalgia thing too.

No-Deo Bar

Yee-Naw. the Rodeo Bar is about the most generic Texish-Mexish place around.

I've always figured that the Times' "$25 and Under" column is written about wherever the reviewer happened to grab lunch that week, and now I'm wondering if this review didn't come out of much the same system.

Not to rag -- Gothamist does a great job on the reviews (and a lot of other stuff). I just think this one was a bit of a dud.

david

Whatever one might justifiably say about the Moonlighters, that they play honky tonk is not one of them.

But props to the venue and its Lone Star

kendra

Ive lived in NY for 10 years and now way no how would I go to Rodeo bar to eat! Its the equivalent (or worse) to a bad chain restaurant. Why on earth when there are so many good places to eat in the city would you choose this. I totally question the inclusion of this restaurant. Did you eat free ? I bet you did. For shame Gothamist. If you are truly a NYer you would have chosen something better and more deserving of this!

yp

C.G.: I pick the restaurants depending on where I go to eat, have access to, or when I am able to get into a restaurant that is new or has some sort of interest point to it that is worth mentioning, write a post about it. There's no specific "system."

Dave H.

I think the food is serviceable Tex-Mex at a reasonable price; I like it. The draw is definitely the large and strong margaritas and the baskets of peanuts at the bar, whose shells you're required to fling on the floor, so you can be drunk and sloppy at the same time. Sloppy drunk optional.

C.G.

These "Camera in the Kitchen" features: how do you pick the restaurants? Are these disguised advertisements? Because, honestly, I don't know why anyone would feature Rodeo Bar.

rikomatic

The only reason to go to Rodeo, besides the great music, is for the enormous and delicious margaritas. My girlfriend and I have always been appalled by their food, with the exception of their burgers and fries which are just fine. But steer clear of anything more complicated than that.