CLOSED – Long Island Mexican Food: Freshly Fried Buffalo Chicken Fingers & Salad on Steroids at Pancho’s Border Grill in Great Neck

February 14, 2009

If you didn’t have reason enough to head to Great Neck for Kensington Deli’s insanely delicious brisket with fried onions and gravy sandwich, now you have more incentive: the best Buffalo chicken fingers I’ve ever had and for dessert, a huge salad topped with juicy, marinated char-broiled chicken and Mexican vinaigrette, all at Pancho’s Border Grill.

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I’ve been eating at Pancho’s for almost fifteen years and while it’s lost a bit of it’s edge, it always satisfies with sizzling steak fajitas, a seriously diverse 4 or 5 item combo meal and the two dishes featured in this article, the Buffalo chicken fingers ($8.95) and the large Pancho’s salad with grilled chicken ($9.95).

There’s only one proper way to start a meal at Pancho’s, however, and that’s with a few bowls of their free unlimited house-made chips and salsa. While the chunky tomatoes in the salsa have been downgraded from fresh to canned, the hearty salsa is till brimming with cilantro, garlic and chopped onion, providing an authentic flavor I’ve only seen rivaled at Burrito Box, home of my favorite salsa in Manhattan.

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If you eat the addictive delicious chips and salsa as quickly as I usually do, the Buffalo chicken fingers should arrive by the time you finish your second helping. Thick, fresh chicken tenders are tossed in a light breading and fried until crisp and golden brown before being dressed in a mild house-made Buffalo sauce. Dipping them in the standard bleu cheese is tasty but by no means necessary, the fingers are that good alone.

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The large Pancho’s salad arrives on a massive platter overflowing with chopped iceberg and Romaine lettuce, chopped tomato, cucumber and onion, shredded carrots and shredded cheddar. A massive char-broiled grilled chicken cutlet sits atop the goodness, sliced and covered in a thin layer of caramelized marinade. Ask for some extra Mexican vinaigrette (mix it up with a fork before applying evenly), mix the salad up and you’re in for some serious deliciousness.

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Both Pancho’s Border Grill & Kensington Deli are in immediate walking distance of the Great Neck Long Island Railroad station, 30-40 minutes from Manhattan’s Penn Station. Click here for a train schedule to and from Great Neck. Feel free to email NYC Food Guy ([email protected]) if you have any questions.