Make The Time for El Vez

Tonight I met a friend downtown for dinner and she recommended we walk over to El Vez. While I'm naturally skeptical of all Mexican food in NYC, I trusted her judgment and couldn't turn down the opportunity to eat outside on such a perfect evening. Apparently, many other people had the same idea because we were looking at a 30 minute wait. The time passed very quickly as we enjoyed some extremely refreshing Cucumber Mint Margaritas.

Press Dinner: El Maguey y La Tuna

El Maguey y La Tuna: Taquitos al Guacamole

El Maguey y La Tuna started as a favorite local Mexican spot in Williamsburg from 1992-2001. Then in 2003 they made the big move to Manhattan in 2003. At this point Leonides Cortez and his daughter re-opened as a co-owned venture and brought their rustic, homestyle Mexican joint to the people of the Lower East Side. Tonight, they invited me to get a taste of what they are all about.

Sweet Sueños are Made of These

Michelada & Guacamole

Finding decent Mexican food in NYC is like the hunting for a unicorn. Everyone tells you that it's not gonna happen, but in your heart you just can't help but hope but believe. I read some good things about Sueños so was excited to try it out, especially since it's located in my 'hood: Chelsea.

Things started off well since they had Micheladas on the menu, so we ordered a couple of those and an order of Guac. They arrived and we cautiously gave them a taste and it was --

Everything's Rosy at Rosa Mexicano

Guacamole

Had a team lunch at Rosa Mexicano today as part of a team building outing. Once we walked in we were faced with a giant waterfall wall with tons of miniature cliff diving figurines- pretty neat. Our hostess led us up the stairs to the second floor, where we were treated to a pretty decent view of Lincoln Center. It's an impressively big space which is refreshing for NYC, but also gives it a decidedly chainlike feel.

Like any decent Mexican restaurant, they offer tableside guacamole, which we took them up on right away. They asked us if we wanted mild, medium, or spicy and we decided to go with one mild and one spicy to accomodate everyone in our group. Unfortunately, we could not for the life of us tell the difference. The 'spicy' one was incredibly tame.

Hard to Stay Skinny at Skinny's Cantina

Chips & Salsa

We were in Long Island City for a Grand Opening Party at Alewife, but The Mr. was on a temporary non-meat-eating kick (long story), so afterwards we decided to walk down by the rapidly developing  waterfront to find some more grub. We passed a Mexican cantina and The Mr. suggested we try it out. My initial reaction was 'heck, no', since I find myself disappointed with even the well-researched Mexican places in this city. But then I realized- Totto we're not in Manhattan anymore, this is Queens! So we decided to give it a go.

Holy Mole!

Mole

I was invited to try the newest location of Mole, the fourth restaurant child of husband and wife duo Nick Cervera and Guadalupe Elizalde. Guadalupe hails from Mexico City and runs the kitchen cooking authentic family recipes while Nick manages the front and is also responsible for the amazing decor. The bar which can be seen above has over 100 tequilas and mezcales, making it a great place to learn to appreciate the finer tequilas than the ones you got sick on in your college days.

Tasty Taco Treats at Tacombi

Tacombi Cart

The Tacombi cart showed up in Chelsea Market a few months ago, but I hadn't had a chance to check it out yet. So when The Mr. and I were hunting around the neighborhood for an afternoon snack it seemed like as good a time as any to see if they pass our Texas Taco Test.

Anejo Tequileria To Kill Some Time

Anejo Tequileria

My friend and I were wandering around the Theatre District between shows, looking for a little place to grab a drink when we spied this charming little tequileria on the corner of 47th and 10th Ave. The doors and windows were flung wide open, letting in the sunlight and surprisingly fresh breeze.

Much ado about Mexicue

I'm not sure if Mexicue is a new addition to Seamless or if I just missed it before, but when we needed our post-Thanksgiving in Texas fix- it popped up. The two staple foods in Texas are BBQ & Mexican, so it's surprising that I've never seen these cuisines fused before. 

Green Chile Mac & Cheese, Short Rib Taco, Pulled Pork Slider, Spicy Potato Salad,
Chopped Salad, and Burnt Ends Chili Rice Bowl

Everything looked so good! Unfortunately, we just found it all OK. For me, the Mexican flavors just fell flat. I think that in order to make it interesting, they need to really kick it up. I'm also not a big fan of the sweeter style of BBQ so wasn't a huge fan of the BBQ aspect either. It was interesting to try, but the consensus was that we wouldn't order it again.

Charmed by Chiles & Chocolate

Earlier this week, I was walking home up 8th Avenue and was surprised to see a Mexican restaurant I've never noticed before called "Chiles & Chocolate". I am huge fan of using hot chiles in sweet chocolate concoctions and unsweetened chocolate in savory cooking, so I was immediately intrigued. Then when I signed on to Seamless tonight to order something in for dinner, it popped up as a new restaurant and already had some good reviews! We didn't hesitate and were quickly 30-45 minutes from what we fervently hoped would finally be some good Mexican food in our neighborhood. 

Chipotle Monday!

Back when we lived in Boulder, CO we had a Chipotle Monday tradition with our coworkers. Today the craving hit so we darted off to their experimental kitchen on 8th Ave btwn 17th & 18th. There I got to get my usual burrito bowl, but with brown rice and their Garden Blend soy protein. Naturally, the brown rice isn't as good as their normal famous cilantro-lime rice, but if you've ever wished to have your burrito minus the guilt of eating processed grains, this is your chance. And sure enough Nate Appleman was there, working away.

Normally I try to avoid chains like the plague, but even in the midst of all the amazing food available in NYC, Chipotle holds its own.

Dos Caminos Diverges

A going away lunch for a coworker recently brought us to Dos Caminos in the Meatpacking District. 

The decor

The ambience was great, and I was in great company, so was very optimistic about the meal. The chips & salsa were tasty and full of zip.

Lobster Tacos

Sadly, I just wasn't excited by my dish. The sauce completely overwhelmed the lobster and wasn't particularly tasty. Very disappointing, especially for an almost $20 dish. Although I didn't realize it when we went, as I look it up to link to, I see that it is a chain. Unfortunately, I do not find this surprising.

Mercadito Grove a Mexican retreat

Trio of Guacamole

Two weeks ago we introduced our friends G & L to korean fried chicken at Mad for Chicken, in return they introduced us to the concept of the Michelada. It sounded delicious so the Mr. whipped out his iPhone and found Mercadito Grove in the West Village that had them, so we piled in to a cab and were on our way. For some reason this Mexican drink has not caught on in Texas which I can not for the life of me understand. It's like Bloody Mary & Mr. Modelo got married and had a delicious baby drink. We got some chips & guac despite being full on the fried chicken and were immediately saddened by the fact that we had so little room in our stomachs. These were some Grade A chips & guac and we decided then and there to come back for an actual meal of food.

Last night I got an intense craving for a Michelada, but didn't feel like going out. Surprisingly, the craving stuck with me and remained just as intense all day. So back to Mercadito Grove we went. Started with the Callo (Scallop) Ceviche and split the Carne Tacos. Delicious, delicious, delicious. The couple next to us got the enchiladas and assured us they were just as good as they looked. Although honestly, you could easily just go and get the trio of guacamole or the trio of ceviche. I also love how if you are sitting facing into the restaurant it is extremely easy to believe that you are actually in Mexico and that the beach is behind you.

Cinco Estrellas para Dos Toros

One day The Mr. comes home from shooting some pool claiming that he's found his new taco joint. We had been told that it was pretty hard to find decent Mexican food in NYC, so we were both pretty excited, especially since it's just south of Union Square. It's a small walk-in taco joint with very limited seating and a pretty basic menu. The best way to get your tacos here is 'crispy' which is just the soft tortilla fried a little bit (as opposed to your normal hard shell). We got one of each- chicken, steak, and rice & beans. Each one better than the last. Perfect place to pop in for a quick taco fix and we will be doing just that again and again.

Puebla: Ain't my kinda town

The Texans in us started craving some breakfast tacos, so I did a little research on the internets and found a place called Puebla in the East Village which had breakfast tacos. Now this part is my fault, I shoulda just stuck to a simple breakfast taco, but I went for the huevas rancheros. It was a tortilla, with some eggs, and a ton of beans. That was it. Nothing special, not big on the flavor. The Mr got a breakfast taco, but also was unimpressed.

So for the time being, we've finally discovered a craving that NYC can't seem to satisfy. I guess we'll have to dig a little deeper to scratch this itch.