Presto: Classy? Maybe?
Hey Ammuurrica!
G. Luis Manga here. Sorry for my absence of late. I have actually been pretty busy, kinda. Last weekend I was fortunate enough to get to go to Manizales (sp?) which is one of the Coffee capitals of Colombia. A little outside the city there is a Coffee themed amusement park that my cousins and I went to. You go in, and you walk down this huge hill and see all the different kinds of Coffee that Colombia produces and how it is harvested. Then at the end you ride rollercoasters (which by the way did not seem that secure) and drive go-karts. It was pretty fun, but the best part of the trip was by far the drive from Bogota to Manizales. It was 6 hours of twisting roads through the Andes mountains and awesome, dare I say breathtaking, views.
But enough about my travels, on to the main event, Presto.
I consider Presto “AEOTV” because it is kinda in between El Corral and El Corral Gourmet in terms of food, classiness, etc. (if you don’t get that reference please see my previous review of El Corral Gourmet). I ended up sampling a lot of Presto’s food last week because it is very close to the office where my internship is and ordering is very easy (ordering in spanish at restaurants almost always ends in awkwardness for me). So far I have tried there “Clasica” , “Premium” , “Napoli” , and “Azteca” burgers as well as their chicken sandwich. They have a couple other options too, such as a “Light” burger, which looks really weird, for instance everything looks the same except that the the bun is white, like almost translucent looking white. Who knows though.
My first time eating at Presto I ordered the “Clasica” combo, which comes with fries and a drink. What in my mind puts Presto above El Corral is that at Presto they then proceed to bring your food to your table. They also have a TV, which allowed me to watch Colombian day time television as I ate my lunch. The “Clasica” is your basic hamburger. I loved that it came with Mayonaise on it, even if it didn’t come with cheese. The Fries were surprisingly good, but the best part is that they come with a side of what tastes like Tartar (sp?) sauce. I love mayonaise with my French Fries, and Tartar sauce is even better. Fun fact, the Fries are made by “McCain” who also makes “Elios’ Pizza.” Given my house didn’t have a microwave until I was about 14, those delicious toaster oven cooked Elios Pizza squares were a fundamental part of my childhood.
The following day I decided that I should try another burger, this time going for the “Premium.” From the picture on the menu, it looked like the Premium came with bacon, which makes sense given how many things in Colombia come with bacon. However, I came to find out that what I thought looked like Bacon was actually caramalized Onions. I like caramalized onions, but I really have to be in the mood for them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t, but the burger was still good. Once again the food was delivered to my table and came with papas al frances y un gaseosa.
The third day of my Presto journey was the day I decided that the only acceptable reason for me to eat there for three days straight was that I was going to write a review. So as the women at the cash register looked at me like “your really unhealthy, why are you eating here so much you gringo” I went on and ordered the Chicken Sandwich. It sucked. You know when you order a breaded chicken sandwish and it is delicious and crispy on the outside, with all the juicy flavor locked in on the inside? Yeah, that didn’t happen. The breaded element just seemed soggy and the chicken sucked. I also realized that Presto also has one of the strangest wall art pieces I’ve seen in a while. It is a guy eating a burger, but then off of him in a sort of hallogram/bad trip way it repeats the same image. Adjacent to this is writing that in my mind translated to something like “That first bite of the burger is delicious, I look forward to it and everything is perfect, 14 times this week.” Needless to say, don’t go to Presto if your tripping on shrooms/acid.
Day four I went for the “Napoli.” This is a burger with mozarella cheese, marinara sauce, and semi-fococcia bread with a tomoto grilled on top. It was great. I love foccacia bread, even if I can’t spell it. And adding a burger to it makes it that much better. The Brookline Spa, who already has delicious Foccacia sandwiches such as the epic “Uncle Junior”, should really have a burger that comes on that bread. My only complaint was that there was a little too much marinara sauce. This was however, my favirote burger there.
My fifth and final journey to Presto I decided that I needed to once again venture into the unknown. I ordered the “Azteca” burger. I thought that it kinda looked like a Big Mac in terms of the condiments on it. It turns out, that it goes a step further. Though it lack the three slices of bread and is only one patty, the Azteca comes with (are you sitting down?) ………….frito like chips on it. WOW!!!!!!!!!!unfortunately, the chips were kinda stale. However, the idea is great, and the burger was still decent. Throw some fresh fritos on that thing, and you got a winner Presto my friend.
Presto also has some other burgers and options, all of which you can view here: http://www.presto.com.co/catalogo.aspx?cid=2
they also have a burger called the “Hamburquesa” which is play on words of course. It is basically a double cheeseburger, plus a shitload of cheese sauce. I love cheese, and even cheese sauce, but the picture makes it look fucking disguesting.
All in all, I like Presto, but I’m gonna try and not go there for atleast a week. It’s classier than El Corral, but not as classy (or tacky) as El Corral Gourmet. They also deliver, which I thought was cool/dangerous. I’ll try and come back with another review sooner. Across the street from Presto is a Hooters, which could be hilarious. Almost as hilarious as the fact the the TGI Fridays down here has commerciales that say “Aqui en Fridays, Siempre es Viernes” I found that funny, given that in Colombia the restaurant should probably be called “Gracias a Dios esta es Viernes” or “GADE Viernes.”
Pop culture side note:
I imagine a decent amount of our readership is familiar with the show 30 Rock. I personally love it, and am dissapointed that Hulu doesn’t work in Colombia and I therefore had to hunt down the season premier online. Well, the other day I was watching Seinfeld, with spanish subtitles of course. It became apparent to me that Elaine on Seinfeld and Tina Fey’s “Liz Lemon” character share many of the same traits. Watching Elaine I saw many of the same mannerisms, problems, situations, and speech patterns as Liz Lemon. Maybe this is because both characters play the “I’m a quirky women in the city” role? Just sayin. The only big difference is that Elaine got a shitload more ass than Liz Does. I don’t see Liz Lemon needing a closet full of sponges anytime soon. But then again, both Denis (liz’s ex) and Puddy (Elaine’s on again off again man) are very similar. I’m not hating on Liz Lemon or Tina Fey (who by the way is looking real good this season), I am just thinking outloud that NBC kinda new that Elaine worked, and might have told Tina Fey to create a similar character who was just a little more sexually frustrated. By the way David Puddy has his own wikipedia page.
