January 5, 2006
Ask and Ye Shall Receive
Ask.Metafilter is our favorite answer site-- the NYC tag provides a weekly dose of New York questions and answers. This week, the theme seems to be food:
I'm in New York City and I'm hungry. What's a good, cheap place for breakfast? Some answers:
- Floridita, 3219 Broadway at 129 St.
- Veselka, Union Square.
- The Hungarian Pastry Shop
We'd add: Cafe Gitane in Nolita (order the waffles!), the Grecian Corner diner in Park Slope, Balthazar in SoHo (one egg is only $3, and the croissants are around the same price), Shopsins in the Village (pancakes, obvs,) City Bakery in Chelsea (order the blueberry muffin!), Cafe Luxembourg on the UWS (parmesan eggs), and the Clinton Street Bakery in LES.
Another: I've been told that there isn't any good Mexican food in NYC, but I find it hard to believe. Although - after searching and trying places after only living here a few months, it may be true. If it is true, why?
It's obviously not true, as the Mefites were able to name several authentic Mexican places:
- Cafe El Portal
- Mary Ann's
- Bean
- La Palapa on St Marks
- Bonita on Bedford in Williamsburg
- Florencia 13 on Sullivan Street (LA style)
This is a tough call for us, because our Mexican tastebuds have mostly been destroyed by too many nights at the Rivington Street branch of San Loco-- what places would you add?
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Uhm, Veselka is on 2nd Avenue and 9th Street. Not Union Square. It'll never be as good as the old Kiev though (oh, how I rue the day they took my beloved Kiev away...).
wow, i'm going to start selling jake some $3 eggs after i buy a bunch from the store!
I had the same Mexican food conundrum when I moved here from Northern California last year. The best I've found so far is Taqueria y Fonda La Mexicana on Amsterdam between w 107th and w 108th. Their food is cheap, tasty and traditional (no cheddar cheese on the quesadillas here -- they use the not-so-melty white cheese instead). I once asked one of the guys who works there why the food is so good and he told me they use family recipes from Oaxaca. Yum!
Mary Ann's? Um. . .
But I'd recommend Mama Mexico (warning -- Mariachi music on website) at a UWS and East side location which has a large menu and full bar, as well as Noche Mexican at 852 Amsterdam Ave, and Taqueria y Fonda la Mexicana at 968 Amsterdam which are both small, but have delicious and authentic (i.e. not Tex-Mex) food.
Noche Mexicana on 101st and Amesterdam is the best mexican I've had so far in the city, and definitely worth the trip if you don't live nearby. It's much better than Taquieria y Fonda. I go there about once a week. Try the cheese flautas!
I would recommend Maz Mezcal on the Upper East Side, or Mexican Radio in Nolita.
I tell everyone this, so you'd think I'd remember the name, but there's this bodega on 10th ave and 47th, west side of the street, that has the best Mexican in the city. Go through the front, and in the back there's a little counter with these three women held prisoner behind it. Get the Chorizo taco--amazing, and only $2
For Mexican, all you have to do is head to El Barrio, which has become a haven for little authentic taquerias. Just get off the 6 train at 103 and Lex and take your pick. I had my first haurache in that neighborhood at a small taqueria with brown awning (sorry can't be more specific) on the corner of 103 and lex. There's also The Corner on Kenmare and Spring. It looks like a regular diner, but it's one of the few places in Manhattan where you can get fish tacos.
As for Mama Mexico, I'd pass.
For Mexican, all you have to do is head to El Barrio, which has become a haven for little authentic taquerias. Just get off the 6 train at 103 and Lex and take your pick. I had my first haurache in that neighborhood at a small taqueria with brown awning (sorry can't be more specific) on the corner of 103 and lex. There's also The Corner on Kenmare and Spring. It looks like a regular diner, but it's one of the few places in Manhattan where you can get fish tacos.
As for Mama Mexico, I'd pass.
For Mexican, all you have to do is head to El Barrio, which has become a haven for little authentic taquerias. Just get off the 6 train at 103 and Lex and take your pick. I had my first haurache in that neighborhood at a small taqueria with brown awning (sorry can't be more specific) on the corner of 103 and lex. There's also The Corner on Kenmare and Spring. It looks like a regular diner, but it's one of the few places in Manhattan where you can get fish tacos.
As for Mama Mexico, I'd pass.
I love the little taco stand next to the Sideshow at Coney Island.
Is Gabriela's really going to reopen?
Barrio Chino on Broome & Orchard is the farthest thing from authentic, but damn it is tasty. Jalepeno tequila and michelidas to boot.
It all depends on what kind of Mexican food you consider the best. I prefer Sonoran style (birthplace of the chimichanga - yum) but have not found ANY place in NYC that serves up real Sonoran style. Plus most native New Yorker's idea of good Mexican food is truly pathetic.
park slope: cafe mexicana and los pollitos.
noche mexicana on the upper west side is terrific and authentic, too.
Broadway in Astoria has a number of excellent Mexican places and taco stands, both to the east and west of the N/W train stop.
Mercadito on B. Best. Ever.
Best Mexican (cheap too): Tacos Nuevo Mexico on 5th Ave between 11th and 12th streets in Park Slope. Thumbs up to Los Pollitos II on 5th also.
Real Azteca - East 163rd Street, near the Hunts Point Ave stop on the #6.
Wow, City Bakery and Cafe Lux are cheap? Great, yeah, but I don't think you'll find them on the bargain rack...
yay to jim for big upping tacos neuvo on 5th!
i used to live near there (now in les) and i go back frequently
god i love that place
i'd also like to add El Maguey y la Tuna on houston just east of attorney street
and since i'm waxing nostalgic for the slope at the mo, i'd like to nominate Cafe Steinhof as the BEST breakfast joint on the face of the earth!
the eggs with mushrooms and dumplings w the water cress salad is SIMPLY TO DIE FOR!
Head on over to Roosevelt Avenue in Queens.
IN Park Slope, there are much better altertives than the Grecian Corner. The guy's a rat.
You might’ve noticed that not many Mexicans live in the bulk of Manhattan, you kind of have to go where they’ve settled to find semi-authentic food. Try Roosevelt Ave. in Jackson Heights and Corona, Fifth Ave. in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, pockets of Bushwick. There are tacqerias (not overstuffed veggie burritos) all over these areas.
Mary Ann's? Good?
On the best day any of those dumps ever had, their food still tasted like ass.
Cabana on 60 and 3rd it has amazing cuban food
Mary Ann's is gross and overpriced. Nuevo Tacos Mexico is awesome, I am happy to find a tasty chicken torta, I'll tell you. Los Pollitos is ok, but it's never a good sign when there are no mexicans in the restaurant except those that work there.
After reading this posting and some of the other responses, I'm disheartened at the love of rotten food. Noche Mexicana is tex-mex crap and the Hungarian Pastry Shop, a place that has no good pastries and can't even make a decent cup of coffee. For a cheap eat in Chelsea, I'd say check out the taqueria on 8th Ave @ 26/27th St. It's not fantastic but you can get your grub on for less than $5 and not feel like you have eaten the equivalent of gastro-intestinal draino.
Is Los Pollitos the one that puts the spaghettios sauce on all their burritos? One of those places on 5th on the right-hand side facing north does, and it's grody.
That's Los Pollitos - and it's awful. Cosmic Cantina has pretty decent food - it's not totally authentic but very fresh - California style.
mercadito on avenue b is yummy mexican food. their tacos are the bomb, though expensive!
Puebla - 1st Ave b/t 2nd and 3rd Sts - delicious.
Best tacos I've had, and I haven't been to sunset park, are in the back of a bodega called Fast and Fresh Deli on Hoyt St. above Atlantic ave in brooklyn.
Yep, the best is Taqueria Y Fonda on 108th and Amsterdam..
And nope, Maryann's should not be on the list..
Itzocan on 9th/A is amazing, but it's so small it's hard to get a table. Go on an off night...(and don't rely on a reservation!)
Bean is overpriced tex-mex from the Frozen Food Section. Poor service and the place is dirty. I have also seen them let dogs run around in the kitchen.
Best cheap mexican on the rock is El Paso Taqueria...outposts at 97th between Park & Madison and 104th and Lex. Also quite good and authentic (most of the time) is Taco Taco on 2nd Ave around 88th St,
I totally agree...El Paso Taqueria is the absolute best Mexican, tops places in East LA in my opinion. I go to the one on 104 & Lex. Simply wonderful!
If you are looking for some place that is not a taqueria, and is more of a fancy night-on-the-town Mexican restaurant, try Hell's Kitchen. Simply amazing.
Ashamed to admit it, but I like Chipotle Mexican Grill...
Taqueria de Mexico on Greenwich used to be ranked high pretty regularly (over on Chowhound, it was the only place that would get listed in lower Manhattan regularly). Then it closed and reopened (same name, I think, new owners). I've had tacos before and after this, and I'm still a fan (though they are more expensive).
I loved Kiev too, but having eaten at Veselka, Kiev, Christine's and Odessa with regularity over the past ten years, I never understood why people seemed to have it in for Veselka. Yes, it costs more, and it's often harder to get seated, but I've always thought it was the best of the lot in a walk.
My Texan friends swear by Lobo -- both branches (Park Slope and Carroll Gardens). McK nearly wept the first time he ate there; he swears it's the closest to authentic Texan Tex-Mex he's had in the city. I'm from Jersey, so what do I know from good Mexican (I always thought San Loco rocked), but Maria's Mexicano's guacamole is really really good.
If anyone would care to email me with a place where I can get a veggie burrito that ISN'T full of fucking carrots, please, feel free.
Two blocks from the Hungarian Pasty Shop is a hole in the wall: Taqueria y Fonda la Mexicana. They have AWESOME burritos. Me and my peeps at columbia go there all the time. They have cheap breakfast too, and their horchata cures a hangover instantly.
Best part: they make something called the "giant burrito" which can be vegetarian, sars, and is $7.50 for more food than you can possibly imagine. Their tacos are the real thing too.
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7171340/new_york_ny/taquerea_y_la_fonda_mexicana.html
i have not had any good mexican in the year i have lived in nyc. instead i have settled for the alright food and taken to eating pizza. i used to live in san diego, so i have given up hope on anything comparable here. most new yorkers have no clue what really good authentic mexican is like. just imagine people in...kansas... making pizza and you living there..you will understand.
Castro's in Ft Greene has the best burritos.
Am I the only one who tires of people bitching about the lack of authentic Mexican food (and obviously THEY don't even agree on styles and levels of "authenticity")? Get over it. You moved here, and knew what you were getting into. New York will never be California, but I'm sure you're bound to find some palatable options in this city.
For the record, someone once pointed out the "best and most authentic" place for tacos, somewhere on 9th or 10th avenue, through a winding tunnel, in the back of some crusty bodega. So there.
- not a native NYer, but a lover of many cuisines
native californian, taqueria y fonda la mexicana
El Huipil on Sullivan Street in Red Hook. Really small, but fantastic, and a good place to get several tasty and varied dishes to split between two people. If the place were in Manhattan, it would be mobbed daily.
Two places in East Village -- Itzocan Cafe on 9th between First and A, imaginative and consistently great. For a decent taco, go to the Mexican deli on A between 13/14 (West side of street, awning the colors of Mexican flag) and see what they have behind the counter.
New Mexicali on Court, just off Atlantic is good - great for pork chops with pipian - pumpkin seed sauce! $10.95, 2 chops, rice, beans, salsa and chips. And not a bad margarhita either.
most of these are great... except about the NYIRN.
Let the NYIRN starve.
These wanna-be do gooders should be using their non-profit time for something good.
Maybe its just time for some manufacturing to move? This has been happening forever.
Musicians and Artists live in illegally zoned lofts because they can't afford to live elsewhere and continue to work in NYC. To defend corporations over them is just. plain. retarded. (or an easy way to create a tax shelter non-profit)... NYIRN... go do something GOOD with your time!!!
to the anonymous who's tired of the whiners
HEAR EFFING HEAR!
dear god people, do you think just b/c we live in new york we've never flown in a PLANE before?
that since we're on the east coast we've never chosen to go to mexico for vacation?
that some of us have never lived on the west coast before?
do you know for a fact that none of the chefs at the higher class mexican places in nyc aren't from say, border cafe in santa monica and don't go to oaxaca and quintana roo to get culinary inspiration for their dishes?
oh, and while i'm at it... note to west coasters, fish tacos are GROSS! its like, tuna salad on a taco, i mean, why would you DO that?!?!
so, here's some advice: stop whining, go back to la-la-land where you belong, and eat your nasty mayo laced tacos
theres too many people in OUR city anyway
Now that there are Mexicans in NYC, I'm sure there's awesome Mexican food around. I just haven't found it. Taqueria y la Fonda is close- loved the chicken torta, but the al pastor and asada were lacking in flavor, though the carnitas was better. Tulcingo Del Valle on 10th and 47th is also good, not great.
Thing is, most people have bad taste, no matter where they're from or where they've travelled.
And Ann, done right, fish tacos are amazing- slices of fresh fish or shrimp, battered and fried, then instantly deposited into a fresh tortilla, piled on with lime, cabbage, salsa and crema. You know, just like you've had in Ensenada at the fish market.
Los Pollitos I is in Sunset Park (5th and 36th-ish? It's been awhile). Los P II is the yuppie outlet. Like 'em both, but I think LPI is a little better, but Sunset P is inconvenient, unless I'm going bowling).
The Spaghetti-os sauce place on 5th in the Slope is I think Calexico (LPII is on 5th/St. John's Calexico is a few blocks north); I always referred to it as "that gloppy Mexican place."
matamoros. williamsburg. bedford & 7th. beautiful sopes for $1.50. Muy authentico, w/ a bit of grease dripping off them, avocados sliced on top if you remember to ask, & everything super-fresh; the chicken is torn up right in front of you. Not much for atmosphere, but far, far more authentic than the hazy, horrible faux-mexican place next door.
re good mexican
try soho cantina on prince
they make all their own sauces and moles from scratch and the chimichurri steak is the best in town
they marinate it overnight so it's extra tender amd flavorful plus it's large like as big as my forearm
Only place for homestyle mexican cooking and the best in town is El Maguey y la Tuna
on houston street
www.elmagueyylatuna.com
Hey, I'm a recent SoCal transplant, from orange county, and I'm used to being able to get cheap, tasty, fattening (beans made with lard, mmm..) mexican food whenever I want. For those of you who think we Californias should go back home, have you ever stopped to think that we're not all here by choice?
Now if anyone's from southern california, and you know what I'm talking about- beans with melted cheese, that tasty orange colored rice, carne asada burritos, no healthy crap mixed in, greasy homemade chips and salsa- let the rest of us know where you get it.
Hey, this aint the same as a hole in the wall place, but the chain Chevy's (one in times sq, one battery park) is pretty tasty and fresh. Unlimited fresh chips and chipotle salsa and get this concept new yorkers, free drink refills!
grecian corner 234 7th ave poor food dont know why very expensive especially paying the illegal mexicans 2 dollars an hour
Has anyone tried this New place called Vamos! ? it's on 1st and 20th street. I've had the best Tacos ever, the fish taco is to die for and the steak sandwich they serve at Brunch is incredible.
I think we have here a serious contender for the Best Mexican in NYC !