Suenos Restaurant

Chef Sue Torres has a fantastic menu of creative and standard Mexican dishes familiar to those north of the border as well as some specialties that are less known here in New York. Fans remember her well from the Rocking Horse Cafe, and her venture here both succeeds and fails. The subterranean restaurant has some great touches, including the charming bar area with subdued colors, and the two different dining areas with whimsical decorations. Every dish we have repeatedly sampled is terrific, whether a pumpkin seed mole, goat, duck or seafood dishes, exotic fare for the special the Week of the Dead menu, as well as regular fare (guacamole, enchiladas, etc.). But the service somehow has never been up to snuff. You might wait 20 minutes for a drink (we have repeatedly), your dishes might not appear all at once or even within 15 minutes of each other, and even when the place is nearly empty your waiter might disappear for extended periods. Frankly, the waiters don't seem to show much interest. A restaurant can have fantastic food, but if the service is nearly insufferable, then there is little choice but to persevere or go elsewhere.