MÉXICO 🇲🇽
Two years ago this address was a windowless bookstore selling Spanish-language Christian texts, the facade of the small building completely covered in maroon paint. Now under a bright yellow awning, big windows let light into a space that since the end of 2017 has been churning out good Mexican food, with a focus on tortas, and has a space for customers to sit and eat.
They are open early for breakfast and offer plenty of US and Mexican egg-based plates as well as an enormous chilaquiles ($13.50, below), served by request with salsa verde and two big slabs of cecina. Two fried eggs and a few slices of avocado top everything and it is served with a side of beans. It took a great effort to finish the whole thing.
As noted in the name, they make excellent tortas here, Mexican sandwiches served on not quite round crusty bread known as bolillo. This bread is good here, presumably delivered fresh daily from somewhere nearby. The torta loca ($8.99, below) was tried on the first visit, with sausage, ham, and a fried egg combined with both chipotle and jalapeños. This is all served on a bed of avocado and beans and of course topped with quesillo, the stringy white cheese always adorning good tortas.
If two sources of meat are not enough, try the torta toluqueña ($9.99, below), which includes ham, milanesa de pollo, and chorizo. This does not include chipotle, but all the other ingredients are the same.
A whole range of antojitos are ready to be made by the kitchen, but as usual in New York City, skip the tacos using industrial tortillas and opt instead for something like a quesadilla ($6.50, below). While the tortilla is of the fairly standard Maseca-variety and nothing special, it is better than something from a package and the insides offered are really good. Go for quesadilla favorites like flor de calabaza (squash blossoms) and huitlacoche, a fungus that grows on and "infects" corn.
This combination seen below is flor de calabaza with chicharrón, which they both prepare excellently here. Bits of chicharrón are both fatty and crunchy depending on the bite, while the sourness of the squash blossom makes a well-rounded taste.
On weekends, like many places they add some items to the menu like freshly prepared carnitas, which are on the tostadas ($8 for two, above and below) seen here. After having them, it might be hard to be convinced to choose another meat next time.
They also make really nice tamales ($2 each) on weekends, which you will see almost everyone ordering. They have verdes (below), spicy green salsa with chicken, and rojos with red salsa and pork.
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