A welcome addition to the already restaurant-laden triangle of Kenmare, Lafayette, and Cleveland/Centre, La Esquina Taqueria is a Mexican eatery with quality ingredients. La Esquina (”The Corner”) encompasses a narrow wedge of space along the southern edge of the triangle, with a row of barstool seating along the window, and an open kitchen. All but one wall is glass, affording a nice view of the One Kenmare Square construction scaffolding across the street, and the ample natural light makes the restaurant feel bigger than it is. The minimal decor focuses around luchador masks and posters, and the take-out bags are a brilliant parody of the “I heart NY” logo, with an iconic red luchador mask in the place of the heart.

For a quick, no-frills meal, La Esquina is a choice destination, but don’t expect your usual bargain-basement NYC taqueria prices. The prices here ($3 for a small 6″ taco, $7-$8 for a torta) reflect the effort put into location, design, and food, to the detriment of portion size.

There’s even a bit of intrigue surrounding the place. Daily Candy, a NYC mailing list, today published semi-cryptic instructions on finding an unadvertised, reservations-only (at least for now) basement restaurant, down a flight of stairs behind the employees-only door. Read a bit more about the owners’ intentions with the below-ground space — including serving over 100 different tequilas — in an article on Thrillist. Hopefully, the exclusivity implied by the Daily Candy piece won’t be a long-term situation, as the novelty of that will wear off pretty quickly.

Update 08/06/2005: The phone number for making reservations downstairs is 646-613-7100. They may change it at some point if they’re really trying to be exclusive, or not if that’s just a PR ploy.

Recommendations:

• Cochinita Pibil Taco (pulled pork, shredded cabbage, pickled onions, jalapeno) The sweetness of the onions complements the spiciness of the pulled pork and jalapeno.

Avoid:

• Papa y Chorizo Taco (chorizo, potatoes, shredded cabbage, salsa verde) The chorizo is disappointingly dry and mild, with no spice for the potatoes to absorb.

Alongside the taco options, La Esquina serves a large selection of tortas, including the standard Milanesa as well as unexpected options such as scrambled eggs & grilled cactus and achiote-rubbed pork & pineapple.

Currently, the hours are noon to midnight, and there’s no delivery, but the restaurant’s only been open a month or so, and the plan is to start delivering in the near future.

La Esquina Taqueria 106 Kenmare St New York, NY 10012 646.613.1333

This entry was posted by Chris on Wednesday, July 20th, 2005 and is filed under Restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.