Top Quality
Summary
This is a local neighborhood spot that has plenty of outdoor seating and social distancing. It’s an interesting place in that it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere. The restaurant reminds me a lot of Williamsburg areas in that they take a warehouse and convert it into a nice comforting eatery. We sat in the outdoor patio area which is very airy and has plenty of comfortable space. We saw they had some electric heaters mounted in the roofs of the patio, so it seemed they are prepared for the colder months.
The frozen passionfruit margarita came with Reposado tequila, chinola passionfruit liqueur, lemon juice, and agave. It was good, but it was not out of this world good. The passion fruit liqueur was not that prominent in it.
The grilled corn esquites had yuzu kosho, kewpie, black lime, and cotija cheese. This was actually very enjoyable and better than Tacombi’s version. If you love corn as much as us, this is worth getting.
The banana leak wrapped pork chili colorado tamal came with guajillo, pasilla, ancho + chipotle chili’s, onion, and garlic. As you can see, the tamale was pretty simple, but it was good. The pork was flavored plentifully.
The carne asada tacos came with char-grilled flank steak marinated in hibiscus and chili morita + grapefruit peels. It’s tossed with carrot and a cactus salad and salsa verde. The flank steak was actually very tender and full of flavors. Note that the marinade is actually quite heavy and strong, so the vegetables are kind of overpowered by it. However, the salsa verde was sublime and cuts through some of that marinade. They gave us ~5 corn tortillas in the bag. This probably wouldn’t fill you up by itself, but I certainly wasn’t hungry after.
The carnitas came with config pork shoulder with grapefruit, cinnamon leaf, and OJ + garlic. It came with salsa borracha, which had this very chipotle kind of flavor to it. The pork was delicious and by far was the favorite tonight for the meat. It was tender, juicy, and had a nice crust on the outside. Like the carne asada, they gave us about 5 tortillas to make mini tacos out of. You can’t go wrong with either of these 2 meats, but the carnitas would be the preference if you had to choose.
Service was prompt, and they take your order on tablets. They have a very good beer selection too!
Final Verdict
This is a nice taco restaurant as an alternative to Tacombi in the city. I’d argue that a lot of the meats here taste better than Tacombi though you can’t really get tacos a’la carte. Nevertheless, the atmosphere and vibe makes this place a great place to bring friends or to enjoy yourself.
Yelp Jabs
This is a partial review which is why I’m only leaving 4 starts.
What does leaving 4 stars have anything to do with a partial review?
I don’t think they can survive especially under this circumstance but i don’t feel pity.
The rents in LIC are probably a lot less than Manhattan. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were able to live for a while. If yesterday was an indicator, they had decent foot traffic.