El Paisa Taqueria & Restaurant 324 Suydam Street Brooklyn, NY 11237 (Bushwick) 718.417.4328 On the corner of Irving Ave. and Suydam St.

Once in Colima my cousin Alejandro and I went to a taco stand and before I ordered he said to me, “order the al pastor.” I looked at him confused and he continued, “that’s what’s good here,” so I ordered four tacos without hesitation. What this taught me was that sometimes taquerias can serve 15 different tacos, but only one will be a perfect ten. Does this make the taqueria bad? Not really, I suggest you try a variety of things and see what works for you. Maybe you might find out that the tacos are not good but they serve an awesome bowl of menudo (aka pancita in some parts of Mexico) or their mole is out of this world.

This is what happened at El Paisa, I ordered three different types of tacos, and the tacos Al Pastor (marinated pork) was a perfect ten. The steak and the beef tongue taco were… uneventful. Would I go back to El Paisa, of course I will, I feel that El Paisa’s strength lies in its other dishes. Next time I’m there I’m ordering chilaquiles.

What to get: Tacos Al Pastor

Price of tacos: $2.50

Directions: L Train to Dekalb Ave. Walk south on Dekalb Ave. to Irving Ave. make a right, walk two streets and it’s on the left hand side across the street from Bushwick Park.

View Larger Map

Tortilleria Mexicana Los Tres Hermanos 271 Starr Street, Brooklyn, NY 11237 (Bushwick) 718.456.3422

A hipster kid with skinny jeans and a bad haircut told me about this tortilleria that serves tacos some time ago, Anthony Bourdain likes this place and “Underground Dining in NY” does not. Again, I judge every taqueria by the steak taco… why you might ask; because in NYC you judge every pizza by ordering a plain slice, if the slice is good then you know their other pies will be great.

So what’s the verdict? I have to agree with Underground Dining, I wasn’t into the steak taco, in fact the meat was a bit low grade. Having freshly made tortillas is good, but what fills the tortilla should be great. However, I have to give them mad props for their chicken quesadilla, it was amazing, and for the price of 3 bucks!

What to get: Quesadillas, fresh tortillas, chorizo taco

What not to get: Unfortunately the steak taco was weak.

Directions: Take the L train to Jefferson stop.

View Larger Map