Urbano is a new joint by the owners of Tapas on Main, The Flying Egg, and Cachette Bistro & Creperie in Bethlehem, AND Mesa Modern Mexican in Easton. It’s basically like we’re playing Monopoly and they’re buying up Park Place, Broadway, and alll the properties in between 🙂 But I doubt anyone is upset. These are all generally great restaurants, so if they keep making good stuff, I’ll keep showing up and renting a table.
When you walk into Urbano, the vibe is upbeat and urban, with exposed brick, cool lighting, and pumping music. The bar is cool and slick, with a huge mirror that really opens up the space. The menu is varied, and prices are reasonable (with the exception of the guac, which I’ll talk about in a sec).
On this particular night, they had only been open one week, and were still working out some kinks. So yeah, there were some issues that I’ll note, but I’m guessing these are the kinds of things they’ll iron out before their grand opening. For example, we had some loooong waits for service, which seemed odd considered that there were staffers *everywhere*…
I opened with a basic margarita- tasty, nothing amazing, but a solid drink and a good portion for the $8. We opted to also try the standard guacamole. It was good- not amazing, but solid. However. It was $12. For what was *maaaaybe* 1.5 avocados. I get that avocado prices can be unpredictable, etc. But considering the portion, this was not a $12 guac. #sorrynotsorry.
We also ordered a couple portions of the street corn, and they were a solid size for $3.50 each. Small problem- they were ice cold. I wasn’t sure if this was deliberate, so I asked, and turns out it was not 🙂 They kindly comped the freezing corn and offered another portion, but we declined. This is one of the issues I alluded to earlier, and I would assume it will be corrected in the future. Overall, the flavor of the corn was pretty good, but it could definitely have used a bigger slather of the spread and a bit more chile.
Now let’s talk tacos. We ordered the tuna tacos and the duck quesadilla. It is a bit of an annoyance that you can only order 3 of the same style taco- there are no options to mix & match. The actual tuna was delicious- great quality, only lightly seared, and coated with sesame seeds. However, they made the odd choice to serve each taco with one large chunk of tuna in the middle- not slices, not bite-sized chunks, just one large ~2″x2″ chunk of tuna…
Then there was the duck quesadilla- now that was *flawless*. Very generous portion of duck (my favorite protein, btw), lots of gooey gouda, crispy tortilla, and a delicious savory aioli drizzled over the top. #wouldeatagain, pretty much every day. I’m craving it right now, as I sit here writing this.
Oh, and don’t forget the churro ice cream sandwich- our server almost did haha, he didn’t even ask if we wanted dessert and just brought the check! This was one of the few times we managed to leave space for a sweet, so we made sure to ask what was available 🙂 This dessert was well-done. I like my churros undercooked, which leaves the insides custardy and creamy…and the chef nailed it. Crispy outside, light in the middle. I would have preferred a bit more cinnamon sugar, but was impressed with the dish overall.
Verdict? Do it. Yeah, there were some hiccups, but the quality of the food is enough to make me give it a solid thumbs up. I do hope they adjust the guac prices, because I would not order it again at those prices. But everything else is enough to bring me back. They were also out of horchata that night, so I obviously have to go back to get my hands on a glass of that (with rum added, of course).
Score:
Food/drink: 17/20
Service: 7/10 (will revisit this score when we go back after the opening jitters have calmed down)
Total: 24/30
