I stopped in this spot with some ebike friends before our Electric Wednesday weekly meet-up. I was blown away by the size and quality for the price. Tacos range from $4.50 to $5.00, but they’re packed with quality ingredients, and the blue corn tortilla sets them off as unique.
I ate six tacos; carnitas, al pastor, grilled pig’s ear, chorizo, tongue and tripe. All were excellent, but I think the carnitas was the best. The shredded pork was thrown back on the plancha to get crisp. So delicious. I can’t wait to go back and try more.
TACOS EL GUERO
48-11 43rd Ave.
Long Island City, NY 11104
Rosie’s is a big, fun Mexican spot on the corner of 2nd Street and 2nd Avenue. The Cake Dealer and I tried a few items at the bar. They make some nice margaritas here, so definitely start with one of those. If you want a nice bar snack, get the chicharrones. They’re huge and delicious.
One of my favorite items was the squash blossom quesadilla. Everything about this was just perfect. I wish I had ordered three of them.
The tacos here are pretty good, as are the tortillas, which are made right in the middle of the restaurant. You can watch them being made at a bar, like you’re at a sushi counter.
We tried the shrimp, fish and al pastor tacos. Of these, the al pastor was the best, with the shrimp coming in just behind at second place.
We also tried the flan, which was really light and tasty.
Comal is a new Mexico City -inspired restaurant in the lower east side. They offer up some really unique dishes that you won’t commonly see at popular Mexican restaurants.
We started the meal with three skewers: al pastor chicken, beef tongue, and mushrooms.
The al pastor was our favorite of these. I think the mushrooms would have been better grilled, and the tongue was a bit gamey in flavor.
Next up, the cobia aguachile. This had great flavor; bright, fresh and refreshingly spicy.
The beef tartare was nice as well. It came with some lettuce cups and was topped with fried crickets! I’ve had them before. They’re not really my thing, so I let The Cake Dealer have them all.
For our main courses we did the skate wing in squid ink sauce, which are like a delicious spicy mole/curry cross breed. The fish was perfectly cooked.
We also had the half chicken, which was really tender and juicy. All the flavor was in the skin and the earthy, spicy sauce.
The stuffed wing with pickled tomatillo was a nice tough to go with it, but ultimately it seemed like a lot of extra chef work for little reward on our end. We liked the regular parts of the chicken better.
On the side, we had the Comal rice, which was essentially a small bowl of rice and beans for $10 (overpriced), and the squash and zucchini with cherries and cheese (so unique and awesome).
For dessert, we had their raspberry and vanilla soft serve swirl. This his the spot on a hot day.
I pulled up on this Bushwick spot before hitting Electric Wednesday nearby at KCBC.
I went with their $11 special; three carnitas tacos.
These were really great. They’re served sort of gringo style, meaning they have lettuce, tomato and sour cream on them. I’m totally fine with that!
I think the tortillas could spend a bit more time getting toasted on the flat top, and the carnitas could have more variable chunks in the mix. The meat almost seemed more like pulled pork that had been crisped up a little bit on the plancha, but really no complaints about that at all.
I will definitely go back here and try more!
TORTILLERIA MEXICANA LOS HERMANOS
271 Starr St.
Brooklyn, NY 11237
The rib eye with bone marrow and fried chives packs a ton of flavor. I’m not sure if there’s a lot of aged flavor happening, but we both enjoyed this steak.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8
There are a few large format steaks and a few single portion steaks available on the menu here. I’m not really sure this place can be called a full blown steakhouse, but there is enough beef on the menu to justify the categorization.
Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions are great here. The rib eye is 16oz, off the bone, which is pretty good. The only drawback is that the steak is skinny, and you run the risk of overcooking if you want a really good char on the outside. There was some gristle that I didn’t eat, but over all the fat was nice and tasty too.
Price: 7
The pricing here is scary. $85 for the 16oz rib eye seemd crazy to me. However, there are other places around the menu that are more budget friendly, and since this place is in the heart of midtown, you sort of have to expect crazy pricing.
Bar: 8
This place has a gorgeous bar at the entrance, and they mix up some great cocktails.
Specials and Other Meats: 7
The move here for “other meats” is to go with the tacos. We tried the carnitas, because we saw that there were two in the order; one for each of us.
The braised pork shank was good, but the sauce was slightly bland. I was expected a deeper, more earthy punch with heat.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 9
We loved the roasted truffle cauliflower app. It packed a ton of flavor and was huge. This could be a meal if you’re going veg.
I already mentioned the tacos above, which we had an an appetizer; and below in the seafood section I will touch on the octopus chicharrones.
The grilled mango dessert was unique and light, just what we wanted to close out the meal.
Seafood Selection: 8
There’s a nice selection of fish here. We tried the octopus chicharrones with our appetizers, and the meat was tender inside and crisp outside. Very nicely cooked.
Service: 10
Service was excellent here, as is expected when considering the location and the price. The chips and sauces that come to the table here on the house are fantastic.
Since we were celebrating a special occasion, they even gave us each a little passionfruit frozen martini on the house. Awesome!
Ambiance: 9
This place is absolutely gorgeous inside. It’s big, it smells good, and it isn’t too loud either. I would definitely go back to try more of the menu – especially the steak tacos.
My wife and I hit up this Caribbean/Haitian joint called Rebel nearby. We started with some nice cocktails. Mine was the tumbler – lime, burnt sugar and rum. It was really nice without being too sweet.
We had their jerk wings, which were super tender, and perfectly spicy.
For our mains, we shared fried pork with red beans and rice, and stewed goat with black mushroom rice. Both were great, but we agreed that the stewed goat was the winner. Also the black rice was excellent (no pics, but it’s in the video).
For dessert, we tried their potato bread pudding. This had nice flavors, but the texture was different from what I expected when hearing “bread pudding.” In any event, I think this would be great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
Careful when paying at this place. The 18% tip is already included on your bill. While this is illegal (can only do it with 15% for parties of 6 or more, last I recall), we still gave an extra $5 on top since the service and food were both great. We would definitely go back.
I finally made it over to Greenpoint to try out the papa restaurant to Carnitas Ramirez.
I ate two tacos here on a really quick pit stop while riding with some ebike nerd friends. I tried the tripe, which was buttery and almost tasted like foie gras, and the al pastor. The al pastor was probably the best of its kind that I’ve ever had. Nice grilled pineapple, really tasty and generous amount of flavorful and juicy meat, and a little bit of crisp skin.
This place is a winner, and there’s a reason why it draws a lot of long lines and hype. It’s worth it. Luckily for us, there were no lines and the food came out in about 12 seconds (not kidding).
TAQUERIA RAMIREZ
94 Franklin St.
Brooklyn, NY 11222
I hit up this little taco spot with some friends while riding around on our nerdy ebikes. I have to say it was really great. A little pricey at $5 per taco (before you add the crispy cheese), but totally worth it.
Best: El Pastor (gringa style with crispy cheese)
Awesome pastor tacos, especially with that slice of grilled pineapple on top.
Second Best: Bistec en Pasilla
This was really nice. Excellent spiced flavor on the meat, and tender through and through.
Third Place: Chicken Tinga
I usually don’t get this unless I need a change. It was still good, but I wish I had tried something else instead. Next time.
CHELA & GARNACHA
33-09 36th Ave.
Astoria, NY 11106
