Empellon
Mexican restaurant · Midtown East
510 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10022
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:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19799123/TheMorris_PChang_6916.jpg "Empellon by Patricia Chang")
Highlights
Innovative tacos, creative cocktails, and playful desserts like avocado
Innovative tacos, creative cocktails, and playful desserts like avocado
"Empellon has three locations, two of which are downtown. Taqueria is good for an easy date night in the West Village, and Al Pastor is a little spot on St. Mark’s where you can eat a cheeseburger taco at 1am. Both are pretty casual, and you wouldn’t think twice about wearing t-shirt to either of them. The new location in Midtown, on the other hand, is big, flashy, and feels sort of like the first studio picture from an indie director who finally got tired of his sh*tty craft services table. Compared to the other Empellóns, this place is a blockbuster. Although in this particular film, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are played by sea urchin roe and steak tartare. And, like most summer blockbusters, Empellón Midtown is a little excessive and kind of disappointing, and it might come in handy if you have a few people to entertain. Here, you’ll find octopus tacos, uni nachos, and wagyu fajitas. We don’t have a problem with any of these things, but, at Empellón, none of them are quite as good as you hope they’ll be. They aren’t bad - but if you’re the one paying the check, you might lie awake at night and wonder what else you could have done with your money. Take, for example, the fajitas. They’re $125, and they come with about four domino-sized pieces of beef. Although, to be fair, nothing else costs close to $125, and most other dishes are at least borderline worth-it. Feel free to try the crab and uni nachos. The concept is a little Flavortown-esque - but they’re fun to eat, and there’s plenty of crab and uni. The tacos are also a reliable order, especially the ones that overlap with the menu at Taqueria. Would we rather have the tacos from Los Tacos No. 1? Of course. But you can’t bring a client or a date to a place like that. You can, however, bring them here. Empellón has two floors, an open kitchen, and a giant shelf of all-white sculptures that look like they were looted from a ceramics class before glazing day. It’s a great-looking space, and it works for anything from a team outing to your mother’s tequila-themed 50th birthday. The service is also top-notch, and the restaurant is lively without being too loud. So if you need a last-minute place to impress a group of clients, out-of-towners, or a date who cares more about your body language than the mouthfeel of their queso - this place is a viable option. Although if you aren’t stuck in Midtown, you might as well just go to Taqueria. It doesn’t have the same production values, but it’s less gimmicky, more intimate, and makes this Midtown outpost feel like a Spider-Man reboot from a young director who should be doing more interesting things. Food Rundown Guacamole With Seven Salsas No matter what, start your meal with this. The guacamole is great, but you’ll get the most mileage out of the salsas. They’re made in-house, and you can put them on everything that you order. Crab Nachos W/ Sea Urchin Queso These both look and taste like fancy pub food, but - until fancy pubs start serving them - you can only get them here. If you like uni, go for it. photo credit: Noah Devereaux Chopped Cabbage Salad If you need some greens, this salad is an acceptable option. We like the way it looks, and the heavily-dressed cabbage doesn’t taste especially healthy (which we consider a plus). Queso Fundido With Steak Tartare In theory, this sounds amazing. In reality, however, the steak tartare gets a little lost in all the queso. It definitely isn’t bad - it just isn’t as good as it sounds. Octopus Tacos These probably won’t upset you, but each one feels less like a taco and more like a small plate that just happens to be in a tortilla. Spit-Roasted Beef Tacos Feel free to order these relatively unexciting beef tacos. Paired with some margaritas, they make a pretty decent dinner. Lamb Sweetbreads Tacos With Lamb Barbacoa The lamb sweetbreads tacos would be much better without the lamb sweetbreads. In other words, they’re bad. A-5 Fajitas Unless your boss gave you a company card and told you to offend some clients with a ostentatious display of spending power, you should absolutely skip these fajitas. Your $125 would be much better spent at a steakhouse. Corn Ice Cream Tacos If you get a desert, this is what you want. Whatever yellow powder they put on top of these should be sprinkled on everything always. Avocado You’ll want to take a picture of this, and we don’t blame you. It’s some kind of lime sorbet that’s been shaped like an avocado. We enjoyed it, but we also wondered what else they could have done in the time that it took to make this thing look like an avocado. Strawberries This dessert comes with seven bite-sized things that somehow incorporate strawberry. It’s a cool concept, and the presentation looks great - unfortunately, most of the bite-sized things aren’t good." - Bryan Kim
"Alex Stupak’s bi-level Midtown destination for all things Mexican-inspired also features a coveted outdoor space. Set back on a wide stretch of 53rd Street and enclosed by planters brimming with greenery, it’s where you can enjoy crab and uni nachos, spicy margaritas, and Stupak’s newest taco tasting menu all in relative peace." - Shivani Vora
"Eating deep-fried anything will usually make you feel two things: first, a sense of happiness, and then some minimal amount of time later, the desire to be horizontal. The fish tempura tacos at this West Village Mexican spot certainly accomplish the former, but the urge to apologize to your future self is noticeably absent. That’s because the brined, locally-caught fish is crusted in tempura made from nothing but water and corn masa, and it’s served over sweet jalapeno relish that manages to make you think you’re eating something healthy, or at least healthy enough to feel decent about getting a second order." - matt tervooren
"Empellón Taqueria has a large indoor space, but margaritas and tacos are meant to be eaten outside. Go heavy on the Queso Fundido section of the menu, and make sure you get a margarita and lots of tacos." - matt tervooren, neha talreja
"Offering a straightforward menu of fancy-ish Mexican dishes, Empellon is a welcome addition to the West Village's lackluster Mexican options. While nothing blew us away, the food was solid with the good outweighing the bad. The guacamole was perfect and the signature cocktails and margaritas are excellent. Food Rundown Guacamole & Two Salsas The guacamole had an ideal consistency; chunky enough without being clumpy. Spicy enough to provide a kick, but not require a sip of water after each bite. The chips were good (and came with free refills), as were the two salsasa creamy Smoked Cashew and hot Arbol Chile. It’s a nice serving size. Tetilla with Rajas and Nopales Oh yes, this is where it’s at. Go heavy on the Queso Fundido section and make sure you get this tetilla cheese with peppers and cactus. Tetilla means nipple in Spanish apparently. Obviously, we can get behind cheese shaped like a titty. Tamale of Shortrib Underwhelming. The short rib wasn’t that good, neither was the corn tamale. Skip. Chicken Tacos Big, messy tacos that missed that extra something to make them awesome. The green chorizo is a nice touch. Lamb Barbacoa Tacos This one is their bread and butter. Served with salsa borracha, they burn through a ton of these huge mounds of lamb taco a day. We see why, too. Get into some of this action. Fish Tempura Tacos A weak amount of fish brings this otherwise enjoyable taco with cabbage and lime mayo down. Still worth an order, we just wish there was another strip of fried tilapia. Scotch Egg Taco There’s nothing we love more than egg in our tacos. This needs to be a permanent fixture on the menu. Chef, well done. More please Baby back Ribs Highly recommended by our waitress, but a dish we could have easily done without. The ribs were fatty and minimal in actual meat. It came with polenta and longaniza sausage (chorizo), both of which helped, but couldn’t save this. Off the plates section, definitely go with the Skirt Steak instead. Buñuelos Mini fried dough ballsthat must be on your table to close out this meal. Served with two different dipping sauces, Cajeta (“confection of thickened syrup usually made of sweetened caramelised milk” says Wiki) and Warm Honey. Ridiculous." - Andrew Steinthal
