Empellon Taqueria & Bar
Mexican restaurant · West Village ·
Innovative tacos and creative cocktails in a fun setting
Innovative tacos and creative cocktails in a fun setting
"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 salsas a 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
"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
"Empellon is offering Cinco de Mayo taco kits with various fillings and sides, as well as alcohol delivery, including pre-mixed margaritas." - Luke Fortney
"I noted that Empellon Taqueria opened in the West Village in 2011 after Stupak’s stints as a pastry chef at Alinea and the now-closed Wd-50; it debuted to strong reviews and kicked off his solo Empellon mini-empire." - Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya