Macario is located at 463 Fourth Avenue, at the corner of 11th Street, and is currently open on Tuesday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
“You have to get messy when you eat a lonche bañado,” Marshall Dean told BKMAG, and he is correct. This wonderfully saucy sandwich— a staple in Guadalajara, Mexico since the 1950s, but shockingly unknown in Brooklyn and, apparently, the rest of the US as well—is absolutely delicious. Simple, bold, and hearty as hell.
But until you get the hang of the three-fingered, one-spoon eating method of longtime lonche bañado pros, know that you’re going to go through a lot of napkins here at Macario, Dean’s brand new spot in Park Slope—the only place anywhere in town making these beasts right now.
The Macario, a pulled pork lonche bañado, $16, only half is pictured (Photo by Scott Lynch)
Dean, it should be said, is a lonche bañado superfan; like the biggest booster any sandwich has ever had. Raised in Guadalajara and a resident there for more than 40 years, he moved to the states a dozen years ago with his wife Vanessa and their two kids, and he’s spent much of that time missing his beloved lonches and scheming up how best to introduce them to New Yorkers. “Opening Macario is a lifelong dream for me,” said Dean. “I have a passion to share what I love, which are these lonches. I really love them! It’s my favorite food, and something I truly want to share with Brooklyn.”
There are three key ingredients to a great lonche bañado, all of which Macario nails. First and arguably most important is the sauce, which is made here using Martin’s grandmother’s secret recipe. It’s warm, thick, creamy, tomato-based, and packs just enough spicy zing to get your attention. Dean says that everyone who eats at Macario asks if they sell the sauce by the jar, to bring home (they don’t). Heck, I’d buy a bucket of this stuff and stick my whole face in if I could.
Then there’s the bread, a unique, no-yeast, slightly salty sourdough roll called a birote, custom-made for Macario by the La Bicyclette folks at their Carroll Gardens location. The trick is to make it sturdy enough so it doesn’t completely break down after getting bathed in all that sauce, because the lonche bañado is hand food—even when sodden, the birote can’t turn to mush.
The Macario de panela, a cheese lonche bañado, $16, only half is pictured (Photo by Scott Lynch)
Finally, there’s the sandwich’s stuffing, and there are three options here, all of them good. The pulled pork and pulled chicken, both marinated for 24 hours in yet another terrific housemade sauce, make for a terrific lonche, but the sleeper hit might be the Macario panela, essentially a big slab of queso blanco topped with lettuce, tomato, slivers of onion, and a welcome jolt of heat and acid from a row of pickled jalapenos.
Half of your lonche bañado is already smothered in sauce and a generous drizzle of cream when it hits the table. When you’re done with that, one of Macario’s friendly staffers will drench the other half. Dean will also teach you the proper Guadalajaran eating technique to minimize (though by no means eliminate) the mess.
Cheese and chicken quesadilla, $13 (Photo by Scott Lynch)
Guacamole con chicharrones, $13 (Photo by Scott Lynch)
There are a couple of other items on the menu, including a decent quesadilla that uses the same fillings as the sandwiches and a bowl of first-rate guacamole with either tortilla chips or, better idea, chicharrones for scooping. Dean is waiting for Macario’s liquor license to come through—there will be mezcales and a few other spirits from Mexico at the bar—but in the meantime, you can grab a Jarritos or a Squirt from the fridge.
The post Macario Brings Gloriously Messy Guadalajara Specialties to Park Slope appeared first on BKMAG.
