Santa Clarita

MÉXICO 🇲🇽

A double take at the beautiful al pastor trompo (below) was the beginning of our flirtations with Santa Clarita. At first, it takes a moment to figure out this place, a few seats and tables in an outdoor covered area near the trompo are usually occupied by families and solo eaters, but inside it reads as a dive bar. But do not be fooled, grab a booth on the other side of the pool table or one of the tables by the door, order a $22 cubetazo (bucket of 6 Mexican beers), and ask for the menu.

Constant orders make sure this is replaced often and fresh

In addition to the trompo, a big Mexico City-style vat of simmering meats is in the outside window, cooking most of the meats available here for tacos ($2.50 each). All meats sampled here were excellent, with a heavy recommendation for the al pastor and buche. As you can see below, they pile on the roasted onions and serve the tacos with excellent red and green salsas to suit all tastes.

Please note that these items might only be cooking visibly during more busy times, evenings and throughout the day on weekends. Plan your trips here accordingly if pointing at your meat is part of the fun.

In addition to these beauties, Santa Clarita also makes great quesadillas de tinga ($5.50, not pictured), full of smokiness from chipotle and wrapped with a nice homemade tortilla.

Unusual for New York City menus is the metate, a dish named after the stone tool it is served on that is traditionally used for grinding grain and seeds and has been used since Mesoamerican cultures. It is not unlike an alhambre, which is another tool used as a vehicle for delivering a variety of meats.

They serve three varieties, the one above being the metate "El D.F." which is heavy on meats and omits some of the vegetables from others. Basically it is a way to eat antojitos without filling yourself up with corn masa of some form. Everything is so delicious that I cannot recommend against it, especially since the tacos are using packaged tortillas. That being said, they do a good job filling them with oils and toasting them up before serving.

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MOTT HAVEN Bronx

237 Willis Avenue

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