(This post is based on a visit when the restaurant was known as El Globo, with the same address, phone number, and, reportedly, ownership.) When this is the point-of-purchase display, it's a good bet that the kitchen takes a homey approach, too.
Those tiny grasshoppers (like the restaurant owner, from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca) are offered in mojo de ajo, limon y sal, and adobado varieties. They don't appear on the menu board, but on request, the kitchen will set them aswarm on a taco (about $3), for a crispier, earthier chewiness than, say, barbacoa (shown on the companion taco below). An underlayer of queso blanco helped hold the chapulines in place, but even in their toasty form, a few 'hoppers sprang clear with each bite. Also shown below: a huarache topped with cheese and huitlacoche, the mushy, bland, black fungus also called "corn smut." It's improved considerably by hot sauce.
La Estancia de la Espiga
(formerly known as El Globo Restaurante)
42-13 102nd St., Corona, Queens
718-779-7898
