Can mashed refried pinto beans be found anywhere anywhere around NYC? Or is the only option that comes remotely close, a bean burrito at Taco Bell?
My wife loves rice and beans made a certain way. Her Mexican grandparents make her favorite version using refried pinto beans (made with corn oil) and red/orange Mexican rice (made with medium grain rice, canned del monte tomato sauce, white onion, and corn oil). And while theirs is best, it was a relatively easy task to find a “good enough” substitute when we lived in California.
In most of the state, this is what seemed to be meant when saying “rice and beans.” However, since we’ve moved east, finding refried beans made with mashed pinto beans has been almost impossible.
We’ve searched mostly in Florida, where we live, and New York, where I grew up and where my family lives. And we’ve found only one spot in Orlando Florida and zero in the city or on Long Island. Most places serve refried black beans, whole black beans, or whole very watery/soupy red or pinto beans. No luck finding what we want most.
We’ve since resorted to making rice and beans ourselves, using her family recipe, while visiting my family in NY. However, it would be far more preferable to have a restaurant to buy from when the craving hits.
So my question is: can mashed refried pinto beans be found anywhere anywhere around NYC? Or is the only option that comes remotely close, a bean burrito at Taco Bell?
Picture attached for reference is an order of rice and beans from Mariachi Mexican Restaurant in Orlando.
by bnzjamin
16 Comments
Every homestyle Mexican place in Brooklyn has this. Go to sunset park, parts of buswhwick, etc
My local spot Refried Beans in Washington Heights has this. It’s not the best Mexican food otherwise, but they do have the style of rice and beans you’re describing.
Omg thank you for posting this. I’ve been dying to find a place with good beans and rice like this. Hoping to get some good recs here!
My current favorite refried pinto beans are from El Encanto De Lola 2 in Harlem. They are super rich and creamy. It’s the closest I’ve found to what I crave from back home in AZ. Their rice is also quite good.
The black beans they serve here are a slap in the face ☹️
If you’re in the city. [taqueria](https://yelp.to/700uKJR8kL)
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Go to “little Mexico” 116th St & 2nd Ave in Harlem & you’re bound to find that & more. Otherwise a few spots in the Hunts Point area of the bronx but thats quite a trip from Manhattan.
not the same, but the beans & rice (w/ liberal in-house hot sauce) at Tacombi makes a bomb snack
That looks delicious.
Xochitl Taqueria in Brooklyn!
resident evil looking food
When I lived at 3rd Avenue and 103rd St in East Harlem, there was a tiny bodega right next to my apartment that was run by a Mexican family. Their rice and beans were delicious, some of creamiest pinto beans out there!
The bodeg doesn’t even show up on Google Maps, but I remember the bodega is in between a lash shop and a KFC.
This has been hands down my biggest complaint about the food scene here. I can’t find the good beans! I grew up in Southern California where these beans are the default bean. But in NYC it’s black beans! Thank you for posting this, I needed these recs.
Salvatoria Kitchen and Bar has pretty good mashed refried beans.
…..also, side note, but their papusas are some of the best I ever had!
In sorry but that looks so grim, like actual diarrhea .. the Mexican food in nyc just sucks so much …