San Antonio Bakery

In our continuing quest to eat food from every World Cup 2014 country, we made stop # 3 at San Antonio Bakery for Chilean food. For our World Cup challenge in 2010, M went to Barros Luco which is now closed, and we both went to Pomaire which, sadly, is also now closed. We're hoping that the closing of Chilean restaurants after our visits ends there since we really don't want to be known as Chilean restaurant killers...

San Antonio Bakery is known as the "Home of the Completo" so we knew we had to get at least one to share. After seeing pictures, we decided that it would be a much better idea to each get our own since sharing, while caring, wasn't going to happen. We did also share a Chacarero Pollo as well.

The food comes with a large bowl of their hot sauce which tasted similar to both Tabasco and Cholula sauces, but it had fresh onions and cilantro mixed in. The hot sauce was really good. There was a definite vinegar hit like with Tabasco, but it had a slightly sweeter flavor like Cholula. It also wasn't too hot unless you got a chili pepper seed, but it certainly had a great flavor.

The Completo is described as "The Chilean Hot Dog topped with sauerkraut (chucrut), tomatoes, avocado, and mayonnaise, served in our own freshly-baked bun."

I thought the bun was the weakest part of the dish which was surprising since they're a bakery. It was drier than a regular hot dog bun, and they must have toasted it a bit because it was crisp and a bit crumbly. M was also expecting a softer hot dog bun and was surprised to find it drier, but thought maybe that's how it was supposed to be. The hot dog was just a hot dog to me. I don't know if they do anything different in making it, but I couldn't find anything special.

The other toppings, however, were amazing. The sauerkraut is very mild in comparison to German or Polish versions, but it offered a bit of moisture and a little tang. The cabbage also wasn't reduced to mostly mush so there was a little bit of crunch to them as well. The avocado is mashed up similar to guacamole, but it wasn't seasoned so the flavor of the avocado really came out well. The mayo was a really nice accent as it gave the hot dog a little richness.

Overall we really liked the Completo and would definitely get one again.

The Chacarero Pollo is described as a "sandwich with sliced grilled chicken breast, tomatoes, and string beans in a freshly-baked bun."

In contrast to the Completo, I enjoyed this bun. Perhaps it's my own idiosyncrasy of expecting a softer bun for hot dogs and slightly toastier bread for sandwiches, but who knows. M wanted to get the chacarero because it came with the string beans, and I was very happy she made that decision. They're such an interesting addition because of the freshness, crispness, and sweetness they add to the sandwich. The tomatoes add water, and the grilled chicken is, well, grilled chicken (but it wasn't dry). But as simple as these ingredients seem, the sandwich was amazing. It was fresh and bright, and only because of our adding of the hot sauce did it make any sort of mess. 

The chacarero was what M always got at Barros Luco and it was one of her favorite sandwiches ever, so at least there's somewhere else we can still go to get one.

We were really happy with our choice of coming out to San Antonio Bakery for our Chilean meal for the World Cup (it also might be the only option left...), and we really want to go back out and try the rest of their menu as everything that came out for the other tables looked and smelled really, really good.

San Antonio Bakery is located at 3620 Astoria Blvd in Astoria, Queens.