New York City is seeing a surge in new non-taco oriented inexpensive Mexican eateries. There’s La Churreria, serving churros, Pulqueria, serving pulque and other foods, and now Tortaria, a Mexican sandwich shop. Co-owned by Caliente Cab Co. owner Howard Berke, the 65-seat restaurant not far from Union Square emphasizes on house made products:

• There’s a full bar with fresh fruit margaritas.
• Aguas Frescas sitting in giant jars with floating bits of fruit beside the cash register.
• Taquitos using house made tortillas.
• Guacamole is made in a molcajete in the front.
• The hot sauces and the good on just about anything Chipotle mayo are freshly made.

This gives all products a enormous step up from the tortas and cemitas from the street taco carts, well most of them anyway. The Tortas stray from the norm. There’s Chocolate-Ancho chicken, crispy eggplant, and seared red snapper. The braised Short Rib bursts with flavor, though the bun to meat ratio was a bit skewed towards bread, an issue that the crispy Milanesa de Pollo that stuck out on both sides of the bun didn’t have.

Oh, and the tequila menu is superb. Very well chosen and there are 50 or so options.

Tortaria
94 University Place
Union Square
New York, NY
212.776.1830
www.tortaria-nyc.com

Nicholas Gill (470 Posts)

Writer and photographer Nicholas Gill is the editor/publisher of New World Review. He lives in Lima, Peru and Brooklyn, New York. His work has appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, CondeNast Traveler, National Geographic Traveler, Afar, and Penthouse. Visit his personal website (nicholas-gill.com) for more information.