Sgt. Garcia's
A friendly Mexican restaurant.
When he was growing up, Forest Hills restauranteur George Scott admired
Zorro on the television series set in 19th century Mexico. So when he opened
a Mexican restaurant, Scott named the eatery after Zorro's bumbling but
lovable nemesis, Sgt. Garcia. "Sgt. Garcia tried to catch Zorro but
never succeeded," Scott said. "We have pictures of him throughout
the restaurant."
Fortunately for George, his restaurant had more success attracting customers
in the past nine years than its namesake did in trying to track down Zorro.
"It's been a very successful business from the outset. It's been a
good nine years." he said. One of the reasons for the success of Sgt.
Garcia's restaurant is its ability to cater to the tastes of New Yorkers
and another is the personal service provided to diners.
"We have tried to adapt the menu to our clientele," he said. For
example, the restaurant offers low-fat and low-cholesterol meals for health-conscious
diners. "We feature a lot of seafood and chicken entrees." he
said. Rather than use canned beans, the restaurant soaks its beans overnight
in water. Sgt. Garcia's also takes it easy on the spices, although the kitchen
stocks a variety of chili peppers for customers who like hot food. "We
adapted our cooking to satisfy New York customers. The majority of our food
is neither hot nor spicy because most New Yorkers don't like it that way."
The menu is Mexican, specializing in the regional cuisines of Vera Cruz
and Puebla. The restaurant recently added eight different kinds of char-broiled
steaks.
Happy hour from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm on weekdays is very popular. The bartenders
are particularly proud of their margaritas which are in high demand.
George opened the restaurant in 1988 because he realized there was a demand
for good mexican food in Central Queens. "The reason I opened it is
my wife and I got tired of going to Manhattan for mexican food and there
was nothing decent around." he said. "Most of the people working
here, have been with us since the day we opened."
Running his own restaurant has made George a master of all the related skills,
such as cooking, bartending, waiting on tables and operating cash registers.
Most days you can see him darting in and out in the kitchen or making his
customers feel welcomed and making sure that they enjoy their meal at Sgt.
Garcia's.
Because of the overwhelming success of Sgt. Garcia's, George open another
Sgt. Garcia's in Rockville Centre.
70-90 Austin St.
Forest Hills, New York
(718) 575-0007
Also come visit us at our Rockville Centre location
351 Merrick Road
Rockville Centre, New York
(516) 678-4800
Go to Sgt. Garcia's Recipe for Chicken with Mole Sauce
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