Good Eats: NYC Mexican Food

I know just saying the words "east coast Mexican food" seems like a oxymoron. Everyone knows the west coast has the best Mexican food and the east coast, primarily NYC has the best bagels and pizza.  I decided to prove once and for all that New York City does have some respectable Mexican food establishments and try the "best tacos and taquitos" in NYC.

1) Taquitoria 

First stop on my quest to trying the best Mexican food in NYC was Taquitoria on the Lower East Side. I found out about Taquitoria, though TimeOut New York's list The 50 best cheap eats in NYC. Have I mentioned this list enough yet?, lol. The menu is super simple and consists of strictly taquitos, which are rolled and fried tacos. You have the option of beef, pork, chicken or black bean taquitos. You have different topping choices, which include: classic (guacamole sauce, lettuce and cotija cheese), cheesy (nacho cheese, sour cream or pickled jalapeño relish) or you can get a combination of both classic and cheesy. You can get 3 taquitos for $6 or 5 taquitos for $9.  I got the chicken taquitos with the classic topping. I'm a big fan of taquitos so these definitely held up to my expectations and I enjoyed the addition of the guacamole sauce and cotija cheese.  I really liked the guacamole sauce and would love to try to replicate it so that I can kick the trader joe's taquitos I usually buy up a notch. I also really liked the graffiti on the wall, which was a little like deja vu after I just gone to Num Pang Sandwich Shop, which has similar graffiti.  Another unique coincidence was discovering from reading the Taquitoria website that one of the owners was a communications major at Ithaca College!  I went around 8:00 PM on a saturday night and it was pretty quiet at Taquitoria. The storefront is small and it's very casual so this is a great place to go for a quick bite for lunch or if you are alone and need a low key place to eat. This would also be a perfect option if you are looking for a late night meal after a night of bar hopping on the lower east side.

                                                                                   

 2) Los Tacos No.1
The second place I checked out was

 Los Tacos No.1, which is located in chelsea market.  When I saw a big line at Los Tacos No.1 I started to get really excited to try the tacos. Since Los Tacos No.1 is situated among numerous amazing food vendors their tacos have to be really good in order to attract attention and draw big crowds.

 The menu consists of: tacos, tostadas and quesadillas. Your choice of fillings include: carne asada, pollo asada, adobada (marinated pork) and nopal (grilled cactus). Ordering from Los Tacos No.1 is quite an experience. First, you go up to pay for your tacos. I got one adobada taco on a flour tortilla and one carne asada taco also on a flour tortilla. You also have the option of corn tortillas, which a lot of people behind me ordered and made me question my choice of flour tortillas.  I got my tacos with all the toppings: guacamole, onion, cilantro and salsa.  I also got one of their agues frescos. The day I went they had a hibiscus juice, which was what I ordered. the two tacos and drink cost me $11, which wasn't super cheap, but the tacos were very filling so in the end it was pretty good value for the money.  Once you pay for your tacos you walk a few more feet and are greeted by a line cook who takes your order and then you can watch into the open kitchen while the chef prepares your tacos.  When I was looking at pictures of Los Tacos No.1 on Instagram  I saw a lot of comments saying that Los Tacos No.1 had  the best tacos in NYC so I had very high expectations. The tacos definitely met my expectations and both the pork and carne asada were cooked perfectly and the toppings just accentuated the delicious tender and juicy meat.

3) Oaxaca Taqueria   
 The third place I went to was Oaxaca Taqueria, which is chain restaurant with 6 locations in New York City. Oaxaca's menu consists of tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, tortas, burritos and even salads. There are also a variety of different filling choices, which include: chicken, chorizo, al pastor (adobo marinated pork), carnitas (citrus marinated pork), roasted potato and poblano peppers and a few seafood options. I decided to try one al pastor taco and one carnitas taco because I was curious to taste the difference.  The two tacos cost $8, which I thought was average and you get a lot of meat and toppings in  each taco so the two tacos left me full and satisfied.  In both tacos the pork tasted exactly the same even though the pork had different marinades and  it was really just the toppings that differentiated the two tacos. The Al pastor taco had delicious fresh pineapple and cilantro and the carnitas taco had pickled red onion, which I really enjoyed, salsa roja, cotija cheese and cilantro. I really enjoyed both tacos and I would definitely go back to try something else, such as a potato and poblano pepper enchilada or one of their tortas.  I first heard of Oaxaca Taqueria when I went to smorgasburg last year, but this was my first time in one of Oaxaca Taqueria's storefront locations. I went to the upper west side location, which is small but has a nice low key atmosphere.  I also enjoyed that they had good music playing, which was a nice bonus to the delicious tacos.

I  thought I would also share an easy taco recipe so that you can enjoy some delicious homemade tacos in the comfort of your own house.

Grilled Chili-Lime Fish Tacos

Photo & recipe courtesy of: Ambitious Kitchen