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Papacitos, located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, is an outdoor restaurant serving Mexican street food. Soon it will have an indoor area, but for now it’s a simple patio area with picnic tables, a few plants, a couple of signs for Mexican beers, an eclectic mix of music blasting from a boombox and a bar. Very basic and very relaxed. More like a friend’s barbecue than a restaurant, which gives it a ton of charm.
Then there’s the food.
My girlfriend loves Mexican food and fish tacos are one of her favorite dishes. She’s had them across the country. New York, Florida, California. Though you don’t know her, trust me when I say that she knows what she’s talking about. What is she talking about? How Papacitos has the best fish tacos she’s ever eaten.
I’m no expert, but I agree. Made of tilapia, pickled cabbage, onions, cilantro and a, we believe, sour cream-based white sauce, the tacos were absolutely delicious. Warm, fresh and totally satisfying. You can order 1, 2 or 3. She got 3, I got 2. Luckily, she was nearly full after 2 and I got to eat most of her third. If my stomach was big enough, I would have eaten 9. The flavors were so distinct, clean and just damned tasty.
In addition to the tacos, we got an order of chips and salsa. The chips, which are made from scratch, were warm and delicious. As was the salsa, which was finely chopped, but still thick and hearty. So good. So, so good.
The whole experience lead my girlfriend to utter the above quote during our meal. I had no answer for her.
Walking back to our apartment afterwards, we were positively beatific. Belinda Carlisle was right, Heaven is a place on Earth. A place located conveniently in our neighborhood."
