Hot Harry's serves Mexican food for American tastes

BY IRV DEAN For The Sunday Gazette

SCHENECTADY - Does a cheeseburger quesadilla sound good to you? Talk about fusion food. At Hot Harry's Fresh Burritos, which specializes in Mexican food designed for American taste buds, you can also order a Buffalo chicken burrito.

Hot Harry's, which is a relatively new franchise business based in Pittsfield, Mass., opened its latest outlet last month on Upper Union Street in the same building as the new Army recruiting station. (There's also a Hot Harry's in the Hannaford Plaza in East Greenbush). The first opened in Pittsfi eld in January 2004. Young entrepreneur Samir Abdallah is the founder of the company, and he and his wife are operating the Schenectady eatery, along with the original. Four others have been franchised so far, one of them in Iowa.

I stopped in on a recent Sunday and picked up lunch for two to go and spent just $12.17. You could spend more, but you'd be hardpressed to spend a lot. The menu $29 & Under items are very reasonably priced and it seems the word is already spreading.   

Abdallah told me he had opened only the Friday before and had a respectable crowd even that early on. Even on this sleepy Sunday, the place, decorated in a pleasant Southwestern style, is dotted with lunchtime patrons.

At present, they don't have a liquor license; so no beer or wine if you're looking for dinner, but that will come, Abdallah says, as might also breakfast burritos.

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I found the menu quite easy to understand, which isn't always the case in places like this where you step up to the counter, peruse the menu hanging above and place your order.

The burritos are enormous, easily a meal in themselves. I ordered the regular burrito with adobe chicken ($5.99) and a "Harry's T" taco ($1.89). Warm tortilla chips come with your order and there are several salsas you can help yourself to on a sideboard.

Burritos come with your choice of meat: cilantro lime steak, Yucatan-style chicken, chipotle barbecued pork, seasoned ground beef and the adobe chicken, which the menu says is their spiciest chicken marinated in a red chili sauce. I found it to be quite tasty and not really that spicy. (You can also get a Baja citrus burrito, with extra-firm tofu flavored in a citrus marinade.)

Besides chunks of the marinated meat, the adobe chicken burrito was stuffed with seasoned rice and black beans, shredded lettuce and cheese. For an extra $1, you can make it a super burrito and add sour cream and guacomole.

You can also get a Thai chicken burrito here - chicken, rice, red onion, lettuce and spicy Thai sauce for $6.39, or a Cajun catfish burrito, with grilled Cajun catfish, lettuce, rice and cheese for $6.99.

Tacos come in a soft or crispy shell and range in price from $1.89 to $2.99 for the grilled Cajun catfi sh with black beans, salsa, cheese and lettuce.

The Harry's T taco was a delicious combination of seasoned ground beef with cheese, lettuce and salsa. For the warm tortilla chips, which come with your order, you can select from several freshly made salsas including a "cowboy's caviar," which features a lot of pinto-style beans.

Quesadilla choices include the bacon cheeseburger version ($6.99), with cheese, bacon, ground beef, lettuce, tomato and a side of southwest ranch dressing. The Buffalo quesadilla ($6.99) contains cheese, chicken, Buffalo sauce, lettuce, tomato and onion and the southwest ranch dressing.

You can also get quesadillas with the same meat innards as available for burritos.

Soups also are offered - the house chili, a cream of corn and poblano and a soup of the day for $3.25 for a cup or $4.25 for a bowl. Also, there are salad selections, including taco salad and a house salad ($5.99) of mixed greens, black beans, cheese, tomatoes, red peppers, guacamole and chips.

A variety of chips and dips and nachos is also on the menu for appetizers or if you just want to nosh.

If you're not interested in eating out but want a quick meal on the run, Hot Harry's offers call-ahead packages that you can assemble at home. One of them, a meat fajita meal, sells for $27.99 and contains a pound of your choice of meat, grilled peppers and onions, eight soft tortilla shells, cheese, lettuce, chips and a pint of salsa. Salsas, cheese sauces, guacamole and other condiments, as well as meats, rice and beans, can be purchased in pints.

One final word: If you visit Hot Harry's, treat yourself to a xango (pronounced zango and priced at $3.39), a traditional dessert that is a crisp pastry, dusted with cinnamon and sugar and wrapped around a banana cheesecake confection.