NYCReview

Empellon Taqueria image

Empellon

Mexican

West Village

$$$$Perfect For:Late Night Eats
Earn 3x points with your sapphire card

Included In

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

Empellon Taqueria image

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.

Empellon Taqueria image

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.

Empellon Taqueria image

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.

Included In

FOOD RUNDOWN

Infatuation Logo

Company

2024 © The Infatuation Inc. All Rights Reserved.

FIND PLACES ON OUR APP

Get it on Google PlayDownload on the App Store