Click here to view their menu.

When our friend sought out a local spot to hit up for her birthday dinner with a few select friends, she hit the nail on the head in picking Besito in Roslyn. The second Besito on the island (the original is located in the village of Huntington) and one of the restaurants owned by local restauranteur John Tunney (also the owner of Honu and America Roadside Burgers) this restaurant achieves the sophistication of the palate and of the design that you would expect from this powerhouse owner. Located on the North Shore and in a shopping center with Kotobuki, a high-end Japanese restaurant, the crowd is as high-end as the food and drink offered.

The Tequila list is as long as the menu and is the hallmark of the restaurant/bar.  Margaritas, specialty drinks and great cervezas round out the full bar menu as well.

Since we were early, we hopped up to the bar and sampled the drinks of the house.  We ordered the frozen Pomegranate Margarita; served from a frozen machine and also ordered the red wine Sangria while we awaited the other 7 people in our party.  The bar is long with soft pendant lighting above.  The bar area is in the front of the restaurant and since the weather was warm on this Saturday night, the front doors were open to patio seating and we were greeted to a warm breeze off of the exterior.

Once we were all assembled and ready to be sat we all huddled together at the front desk (they won't seat you until the full party is within eye-shot of the hostess) we weaved our way to the back of the restaurant where they had set us up with a table for 10 in a quiet nook.  To our left was a huge wall made up of what must have been more than 60 votive candles providing us with soft light. The atmosphere was very earthy with the ceiling made up of individual tree limbs (or something that resembled it) and light colors transporting us to a local village in Mexico.

Baskets of tortilla chips and bowls of salsa were generously placed on our table before we ordered.  The salsa was fresh with a nice bite to it.  Even though it was popular, the salsa was tossed to the side and largely ignored once the guacamole was placed.  We ordered two bowls of guacamole, each expertly prepared table-side by a waiter and custom tailored to our tastes.  We ordered one bowl mild with cilantro and a medium bowl without cilantro to appease all of the different tastes at the table.

Since there were 10 of us, I won't go into detail about what everyone ordered, but will share with you the two dishes that my wife and I chose.  I chose the Bistec con Mole Chatino, a grilled  New York Strip Steak topped with chayote squash, queso fresco.  My wife ordered the Salmon Manchamanteles, a roasted wild salmon with crispy bananas, pineapple pico de gallo and mole manchamanteles.  My steak was perfectly seasoned, well cooked and was on par with any steakhouse where I have eaten.  The salmon was as fresh as could be, full of flavor, light and tasty all around.  The crunchy banana was a nice juxtaposition on the softer salmon and aided in the textural enjoyment of the meal.

After dinner Churrizos (fried dough with sugar) were dropped on our table fresh out of the fryer and in a paper bag.  Similar to the chocolate cookies that are served at the sister restaurant Honu these were a great end to a long dinner and left us satisfied, yet not entirely full.

Verdict: This isn't your mother's Mexican restaurant, and we're glad that it's not.  With two locations to choose from on the island, we look forward to more Tequila, enchiladas and flavors that we have yet to experience.

* All costs associated with this dinner were paid for by East of NYC