Restaurants in Adelphi

Jumbo shrimp sautéed with garlic-cream sauce. Pan-seared pork in a white-wine sauce. New york strip steak and quail. Many of the menu items at El Paraiso Tex-Mex Restaurant expand on the restaurant’s designation as a spicy, south-of-the-border-inspired eatery. There are plenty of staples, too, such as burritos, chimichangas, quesadillas, and enchiladas. Most come stuffed with vegetables, ground beef, shrimp, or chicken, and all feature a dollop of guacamole, a scoop of pico de gallo, or a troll’s spoonful of sour cream.

In 1988, Haydee and Mario Vanegas realized their lifelong dream of owning and running their own restaurant. With Mario running the kitchen and Haydee manning the bar, the entrepreneurial duo share the flavors of Mexico through a menu that puts traditional fare, such as sizzling shrimp and steak fajitas, alongside American classics, such as buffalo wings. Live music plays throughout the week, a dance floor hosts leg-shakers, and Sunday karaoke sessions let crooners exhibit their golden pipes as they sing through a medley of all national anthems.

Healthy Bites assembles meals that are healthy, organic, and made from local farm-fresh ingredients, and its Lite Bites meals keep fat-burning hormones revving. The selection of available fare changes weekly based on seasonal ingredients; the Sept. 8–13 Lite Bites menu, for example, showcases dinners such as a salmon filet blanketed in a horseradish-almond crust and mango compote, accompanied by a mixed-green side salad topped with ginger dressing. While meaty morsels do appear throughout the dinner options, Healthy Bites specializes in veggie-centric meals to help your heart cross the finish line at another birthday-celebration race. Flavorful and fitness-bolstering concoctions on the Sept. 8–13 menu include spiced black-bean cakes with corn radish salad and lime Greek yogurt, or the chicken-and-broccoli stir fry. Be sure to check out the weekly menu before ordering your dinners via phone call or flare-gun signal.

The Jerk Pit’s white wood siding and covered porch might lead folks to think they’re stepping into owner Lisa Waddell Rose’s own house—and that’s likely what she intended. The chefs apply spicy blends of seasonings to transform morsels of chicken, pork, fish, and tofu into traditional Jamaican jerk dishes, served alongside other staples such as curried goat and ackee with saltfish. While sipping on Jamaican soda or sweet iced tea, patrons can utilize the Pit’s free WiFi to download sounds of crashing waves or pictures of the Caribbean's blueberry-flavored waters.