c/o NY Mag

1116 Manhattan Avenue
(at Clay Street )
Brooklyn NY, 11211
view map
718.349.8429

Cuisine: Mexican
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All major
Price: $
Hours: Mon-Fri, 8am-10pm; Sat-Sun, 9am-10pm
Booze: Beer and wine
Subway: G to Greenpoint Ave.
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c/o Buffalo Cantina

149 Havemeyer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.218.7788

Cuisine: Mexican
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $$
Hours: 11am-11pm
Booze: Beer and Wine
Subway: L to Bedford Ave. or Lorimer Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
NY Mag says:

Buffalo Cantina’s Mexican menu has a twist: an extensive wings section. In classic Buffalo, BBQ, and teriyaki flavors, this wings here are served hot, hotter, and suicidal (and they aren’t messing around). You can order them in, but a hundred-count party bucket is ideal takeout for a lowbrow gathering, and a pan-fried tofu substitute ensures that no one has to miss out. Massive burritos and smaller tacos come filled with more than a dozen proteins and wrapped in flour, spinach, wheat, jalapeño or tomato tortillas. The chicken mole comes slathered in a smoky chocolate sauce while the jerk chicken is accompanied by subtly sweet plantains. American influences reappear in the form of sloppy-joe sliders, burgers, fries, and onion rings as well as the bizarre Little King, a buffalo burger crowned with fried chicken and topped with cheese, onions, spinach, tomato and ranch dressing on a bun. South-of-the-border desserts include cinnamon-fried churros, sopapillas, and a pair of banana-and-fudge chimichangas, more than enough to share. With no table service, step to the counter to choose from the large menu boards above. Until your food arrives, you can pass the time with a selection of board games and books or people watch through the restaurant’s glass façade. Three small tables in front are available for outdoor eating.

Citysearch says:

In Short – This casual spot satisfies the neighborhood’s appetite for hearty party fare, i.e. Buffalo wings, nachos, burritos and more. Most customers favor delivery and takeout, so there is always a spot to sit in the fairly large dining area. Everything from jerk chicken burritos to teriyaki wings to fish tacos spice up the menu, although the Buffalo wings (available in quantities of six, 12 or 24) are the main attraction. Mexican beers sit alongside Jarritos, sodas and more in the restaurant’s small refrigerator.

Cafe De La Esquina

225 Wythe Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.393.5500

Cuisine: Mexican
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Price: Expensive
Cards: All Major
Booze: Full Bar
Hours: Dinner: 6pm-12am; Brunch (Sat-Sun): 11:30am-4pm
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
Time Out New York says:

Nolita’s Mexican hot spot brings its tacos and tortas to this 1950s Williamsburg diner. Like the Manhattan original, this outpost is divided into distinct areas, including a takeout taqueria in front, an outdoor garden and a classic diner with brown booths. Retire to the candlelit backroom, featuring dark wood tables and mirrors painted with Mexican-style murals, for chef Akhtar Nawab’s menu of more-refined plates, like chile de árbol—braised-brisket taquitos with pickled cabbage and guajillo chili. You’ll also find the outfit’s signature dishes, including fish tacos, chicken tortilla soup, and grilled corn with lime mayo, chili and cotija cheese. Drinkers can choose from a selection of 100 sipping tequilas and mescals, such as Don Julio 1800 Coleccion, Del Maguey Pechuga and Casa Noble Crystal.

c/o Time Out New York

645 Manhattan Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11206
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347.763.2129

Cuisine: Mexican
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All major
Price: $
Hours: Tues-Sun 11:30am-4am
Booze: Beer and wine
Subway: G to Greenpoint Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: No
Time Out New York says:

Taco fiends listen up: We just got word that the three brothers behind the Eat Out-award-winning Cal-Mex street cart are set to open their second brick-and-mortar location tomorrow—this time, in Greenpoint tomorrow. The new 65-seat spot, featuring a diamond-cut steel facade reminiscint of its mobile outposts, will expand on the Calexico Carne Asada menu with new items like Baha-style fish tacos, elote (grilled corn with queso cotija and cilantro) and a 645 burger (a blend of brisket, chuck and short rib on a ciabatta bun with their signature chipotle “crack” sauce). For the first time, you will be able throw back a brew alongside your carne asada burrito. The joint will have a full bar serving both south-of-the-border and local beers, including house label El Barrio (a dark Mexican-style ale made by Six Points), and cocktails such as a Jalapeño-Mint Margarita and the Manhattan Ave, a riff on the manhattan blending Partida Anejo tequila, Carpano Antica, and rhubarb bitters. Come summer, the eatery—outfitted with formica tables, a 25-foot white oak bar and antique mirrors—will open a 50-seat garden, but for now, you can get your taco on indoors Tue–Sun from 11:30am–4am.

Calexico, the quickly expanding chain of local cart and brick-and-mortar outlets for the best Mexican food in NYC that has grown from its humble beginnings as a pair of Soho food carts to include a delicious spot in Red Hook/Columbia Waterfront District and a mobile unit at Brooklyn Bridge Park, has just opened its latest restaurant at 645 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint. Looks like it’s going to be an all-burritos-n-tacos holiday menu for North Brooklyn this year.

image c/o WSJ

58 North 3rd Street
(between Wythe Ave & Kent Ave)
Brooklyn New York,11211
view map
347.763.2938

Cuisine: Mexican
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Price: $$
Hours: Mon, Sun 12 pm – 12 am, Tue 12 pm – 1 am, Wed-Sat 12 pm – 2 am
Booze: Full bar
Subway: L to Bedford Ave
Menu: www.cantinaroyal.com
Delivery: No
NY Mag says:

While Felipe Mendez’s other Williamsburg Mexican restaurant, La Superior, is designed to be a funky, down-home taqueria, his new Cantina Royal is “somewhere between street food and high-end,” he tells Grub Street. “Cantinas in Mexico are more like a place to sit with friends and hang out and drink and get tapas-style food.” Signature bites include clarinetes, a clarinet-shaped snack that’s “kind of like a flauta” with duck filling, or cappuccino potato soup, made with cinnamon, potatoes, and mushrooms. Even if you’re just dropping by for a cocktail, like one of Mendez’s signature margaritas, or maybe a “tequila martini,” there are complimentary housemade salsas ranging from mild to spicy to smoky for anyone who nabs one of the 42 seats. To position the venue as “a place to have fun,” Mendez created a combination gallery-performance-lounge space in back, where he hopes to screen films and hold dance parties

The Wall Street Journal says:

Cantina Royal is a new Mexican restaurant in Williamsburg that pays homage to the cantinas south of the border with a sophisticated touch. The dining room is a mixture of industrial touches like electric meters in plain view and stylish finishes like the large sparkly chandelier. As at any true cantina, there is a wide variety of tequilas to choose from. There are more than two-dozen varieties, with Herradura Blanco serving as the house’s official brand. The house tequila is featured in a stiff tequila martini ($12) and also in the traditional margarita ($10). The food menu includes a fiery salsa sampler created by Julio Mora, chef and co-owner of Cantina Royal. Chilies and house-made salsas also play a big part in the cocktails. There is El Mescalero ($13), an arbol chili-infused mescal that comes with jalapeño. Another favorite is the Michelada ($8), a beer cocktail with tomato and lime juice and a dressing made of five red chilies.

Cariño

82 S 4th St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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718.384.8282

Cuisine: Mexican
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $$
Hours: Sun-Thur 11am-11pm; Fri-Sat 11am-Midnight
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Lorimer St.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
L Magazine says:

Well, it’s not that new… But thank crikey the geniuses behind beloved, now-shuttered Bedford Avenue mainstay Bonita (the staff and the cooks, to be specific), have managed to open a new spot just a block over on South 4th Street: Cariño. And boy is it good. The menu is simpler than Bonita’s, and the few specials seemed to reflect a trip to the market in Queens that very morning. We started with the house guacamole, a fantastic “more authentic” (we were told) version of the ubiquitous appetizer featuring a hard-to-get Mexican herb called papalo instead of lime juice and cilantro: it was peppery and bright, offering a complexity not often found in the more common recipe… (Unfortunately, papalo isn’t always easy to come by, so if “Ricardo’s Guacamole” is one of the specials, just order it.) We also shared a watercress, orange and jicama salad with a chipotle vinaigrette, a perfect balance of sharp and sweet.

We kept it simple with mains: fish tacos, and rajas (potato and peppers) tacos. Holy shit they were good. The (very fresh) fish was lightly deep fried and sat succulently (what’s with food writing and adverbs?) amidst the usual taco fixings, all fresh and finely minced, with a perfect drizzle of what must’ve been chipotle mayo. The same goes for my rajas, the finest, lightest version of it I’ve ever had.

El Amacen

Cuisine: Argentinean, Mexican, South American
Our Rating: ★★★★
Hours: Mon-Thu, 5pm-11pm; Fri, 5pm-midnight; Sat-Sun, noon-midnight
Happy Hour: 5-7pm daily
Cards: All Major
Booze: Beer and wine
Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Menu: http://www.elalmacennyc.com/menu.php
Website: www.elalmacennyc.com
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
NY Mag says:

The name of this quaint Argentine restaurant is Spanish for general store, a detail referenced most in the old-time-shop décor like the front counter, chalkboard menus, and a glass ingredient cabinet. Wooden tables, mismatched chairs, hanging relics, and bread loaves in wire baskets add to the antique feel, but candles and flowers on every table ensure an ambiance that’s more cozy than museum quality. There’s an emphasis on sharing here, with meat-and-cheese platters and a range of small plates, from an extensive seviche bar to cotija-covered grilled corn or the popular avocado fries. A pepper stuffed with spinach, cheese, and corn that’s served over rice and black beans makes a more filling option. The highlight of the anticipated steak section is the costilla de res, braised for nine hours in maté (a South American substitute for coffee). For dessert, flan comes with a trio of chopped fresh fruits, and churros arrive hot and ready to dunk in chocolate and caramel dipping sauces. Recommended Dishes: Choclo (grilled corn), $5; ceviche de bife, $9; flan, $6

Village Voice says:

Nevertheless, one of the best dishes on the menu is Mexican—chile relleno ($14), renamed aji relleno. A huge poblano pepper, still crunchy, pours out cheese, corn, onions, spinach, and rice, and the entire mess sits atop a bed of tomatoes and beans. It’s ugly, but tasty. Other entrées strike an Italian note. Argentineans—half of whom boast some Italian blood—are notorious for preferring gnocchi to other pastas, and bathing them in a cream-laced tomato sauce. Inundated with a brown oxtail ragu, El Almacén’s papardelle ($15) flies in the opposite direction: The ragged chunks of beef have been braised in coffee by a chef who’s chosen to get creative with a traditional Italian recipe. The only real bomb among main courses is the suckling pig: Lechon asado ($16) has been rendered as a sweet-and-sour salad of baby-pig frags mixed with black beans; in the dim light of the restaurant, you can’t quite tell what you’re eating. The menu has evolved since the place first opened six months ago, decreasing the number of taco options but adding ceviches. Originally, El Almacén was the only Argentine restaurant in town that wasn’t a parrillada, or grilled meat specialist, even though the menu contained a small assortment. But recently, a much larger selection was introduced, with the characteristic meats offered as separate items. Served on a tree stump with chimichurri and an angry-looking knife, the ones I’ve tried have been on the money, especially the hulking beef spare rib ($15 each). An assortment of ribs, steak, and chorizo is also available for $38. It’s plenty of meat for two to share, though you might prefer the lamb chops, pork chops, or squishy blood sausage instead. Really, you can’t go wrong in making a meal of appetizers and side dishes at El Almacén. Among the latter ($5 each), find wonderful avocado fries (crisp-on-the-outside green boomerangs served with a dubious “yerba mate ketchup”) and papas provenzal (steak fries seductively sprinkled with paprika and vinegar). While the place is perpetually expecting its liquor license, you’re not allowed to bring in alcohol, though it was permitted in the early months. This is sad, since the best things at El Almacén scream for a glass of red wine. With the welter of Argentinean, Italian, and Mexican dishes, putting a meal together can be a headache. Accordingly, you might just stick with the stenciled words you saw on the windows when you came in. The cold cuts, in particular, are unimpeachable, swerving in Spanish and Italian directions. The $15 charcuterie assortment is a thing of beauty, including hand-cut Serrano ham with a splendid rim of fat, cured and cooked salamis, mortadella, dill pickles, a few stray olives, a pot of creamy mustard, and, best of all, a couple of slices of matambre.

c/o Thousands Bars

519 Metropolitan Ave
Brooklyn, NY 1121
view map
718.384.6429

Cuisine: Mexican
Our Rating: ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $
Hours: 12pm-Midnight Daily
Booze: Full Bar
Subway: L to Lorimer St.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
NY Mag says:

A restaurant claiming to serve Mexican “style” food usually warns off seekers of authentic eats, but if you hold off on the rush to judgment, first impressions are fortunately deceiving on this corner of an as of yet ungentrified chunk of Williamsburg. Past the slapdash streamers and liquor ads, a few well-chosen pieces of art dot the unassuming space. One sip of a margarita or mojito showcases an able hand at the bar, and a glimpse behind a curtained-off area reveals a comfy lounge, prone to playing contemporary Latin rock come nightfall. The menu proves itself in similarly small, impressive ways. Crunchy, El Paso-style shells on the taco plate are an initial turnoff, but a cautious bite delivers a stuffing of particularly well-seasoned chunks of beef. And while enchiladas Suizas may look sloppy and gloppy, the accompanying salsa verde is agreeably full of cilantro, and crema fresca as a welcome, authentic touch. The real finds, however, are the Ecuadorian specialties: Shrimp ceviche marinated in fresh tomato, lime juice, red onion, and cilantro, and weekend-only specials like goat stew pull out all the authentic gustatory stops.

Blackbook Mag says:

Fronts as Mexican, but actually serves South American versions of staples like salsa, enchiladas, and burritos. Hard-shell tacos and nachos. Probably best if you’re here to knock back a few margaritas and not eat at all. Cheap interior is actually comfy, with mellow wood, crimson walls. Loungey feel near the long bar, cranked volume on the sound system keeps things festive.

c/o NY Mag

N 7th st & Bedford
Brooklyn, NY 11211
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Cuisine: Mexican
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: Cash Only
Booze: None
Subway: L Train to Bedford Ave.
The Village Voice says:

Endless Summer is a taco truck owned by two dudes (seriously they’re dudes) named Jeff and Curtis. The joint venture is almost a year old, though has only been making waves on Bedford Avenue for a couple of months. I finally got to experience Endless Summer and was extremely surprised. My friends and I ordered a pork taco ($2.50), a chicken burrito ($5), a Mexican corn ($2.50), and a side of beans and rice ($2.50). They also sell vegetarian tacos and burritos. The first thing that stood out was the tenderness of the pork and it wasn’t greasy at all. The use of light sour cream and queso fresco in the taco really enhanced the pork’s flavor. The (big) burrito was a bit bland, but their salsa gave it that extra kick. And even though I’m not a fan of Mexican rice, this rice was superbly plump and the pinto beans were juicy (just the way my mom makes them). The corn was also yummy, although it wasn’t grilled which I don’t mind at all because the steam preserves the corn’s flavor and juices, they did overload it with chile powder but the side of lemon cools it off. Hopefully Endless Summer (without the brotherly bickering inside) will still be around this hot season.

NY Mag says:

They don’t yet have set hours, but bless ‘em, Bad Wizard front man Curtis Brown and The Jewish front man Jeffrey Jensen have finally parked their Endless Summer taco truck on North 7th Street and Bedford.

c/o Brokelyn

727 Grand St
New York City, NY 11211
view map
718.218.9441

Cuisine: Spanish/Bakery/Diner Food
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $
Hours: Open 24 Hours!
Booze: None
Subway: L to Grand St.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
We say:

Great cheap tacos (provided you aren’t a vegetarian).

Brokelyn says:

I get the chicken torta with everything on it—fresh Mexican cheese, avocados, refried beans, mayonnaise, blah blah blah. It’s open 24 hours. It’s easy to eat junk a lot when you’re eating on a budget so it’s nice that you can get a sandwich with vegetables for $5.50. Anything to break way from those really obnoxious cold-cut sandwiches. People get really turned off by the amount of meat in our sandwiches.”