The Star-Ledger/nj.com on Friday had a review of Beana’s Para Siempre restaurant on St. Georges Avenue. (Para siempre, by the way, means “forever” in Spanish; I had to look it up).
Of course, one of the first things mentioned is the decor (which really is one of a kind):
“You’d shriek if you stumbled onto this restaurant along a dusty stretch of Route 66, pulling out your camera to document your touristy luck to your disbelieving friends. The place is thoroughly fun and kitschy, its walls crammed with 70-year-old license plates, sombreros, commemorative dishware, velvet paintings of bullfights and countless crosses, lizards and chili pepper lights.”
Not sure what it says about a review that spends so much time waxing about Census figures and decor though. In the end, Bean’s got two stars through the appetizers (chorizo, flaky empanadas) seemed to be a bigger hit than the entrees (standbys that you’d expect), and there were some drawbacks: “The kitchen is too cozy with salt, even for those who consider salt a friend. The salsa disappoints, and service is inconsistent. And no, you can’t order a margarita.” (Always good to have BYO options though.)
“Beana’s is fun, and perhaps offers a taste of what’s to come: an ever-evolving mashup of Mexican and American, even if that means the quite unexpected…”
At last count, there were more than 50 reviews aggregated on the restaurant’s Google listing, coming through Yelp, Urban Spoon, Yahoo! and others. What do you think?
