Oaxaca, 251 Smith Street Brooklyn between Douglass St. and Degraw St. (Carroll Gardens) 714.643.9630

I so didn’t want to like this place, why… just because it is located in Carroll Gardens! But, I have to admit Oaxaca served a good carne asada taco so I might be cruising CG more often.

Of all the taco places I’ve been to in NYC they cut their steak into thick cubes, giving it the feeling that you’re eating grilled steak that happens to be wrapped in a tortilla.

Tacos range from $2.95 to $3.95 for fish tacos. The best way to get there is the F or G Train to Bergen St., walk south for about 5 blocks.


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The View

I will upload my reviews from the taco crawl soon. On another note I just watched "The View" and the Exec Producer came out and gave Elizabeth a carne asada plate from "Frontera" restaurant in Chicago and according to him the best Mexican food is not found in L.A. or Texas but at this Shy Town place. Hmmmmmmm, not sure about that.

Weekends at the Red Hook Ball Fields. Court Street at Bay Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn

Looking for something to do this weekend? Head to Red Hook in Brooklyn, the ball fields remind me of a typical park in the L.A. neighborhoods of Lynwood or Pico Union... if you know what I am talking about then you know what the scene is like. But at this field not only can you get Mexican food but Guatemalan, Salvadorean, Colombian, Dominican, and it goes on. This year there seems to be two or three vendors that sell tacos.

Hours of operation: 11am to 8ish, Saturday and Sunday, April/May through October.

Price: Expect to pay 3 bucks a taco… I know this upsets me too.

What to get: Carne Asada tacos. Good spot for a steak taco, definitely worth the schlep to Red Hook.

Getting there: Court Street at Bay Street. By subway from Manhattan take the F train to Brooklyn and get off at Smith St. /9th Street and walk on 9th towards the BQE and hang a left on Court to Bay. You can also try getting the IKEA water taxi and walk to the ball field.

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Tacos Xochimilco (pronounced Zoh-chi-meil-co) 4501 5th Ave. Brooklyn, NY 718.435.7600 (Sunset Park)

It’s been a while… the cold weather turns me into a huevon, which is Spanish for “unmotivated” (you can look this up). Now that we’re in the low 50’s I decided to venture out and I made my way to Sunset Park. I have read and heard so much about this neighborhood that I had to see it for myself. Stetson hats and cowboy boots for sale is what I found followed by several taquerías. I made my way into Tacos Xochimilco, I couldn’t eat everything on the menu so I am giving you the 411 on what I managed to stuff into my face.

What to get
Tacos de carne asada were delicious, the beef was nice and juicy; served with this guacamole-type salsa, which was a nice flavorful touch. The carnitas tacos were also good, this isn’t my favorite taco but this place does a good job. I had half a ham torta, which went down well with an horchata.

What not to get
Tacos de lengua… wasn’t impressed (sorry).

The prices are recession friendly and they have a breakfast menu. Easiest way to get there is to take the R train into Brooklyn and get off on 53rd street, walk east one block to 5th Ave.

Los Hamptons Edition: LA HACIENDA 48 Jagger Lane, Southampton, (631) 287-6814

Located across the street from the “Fresh” supermarket, La Hacienda is a no frills kind of place. As my girlfriend puts it, “La Fondita has a cute ambiance and La Hacienda is all about the food;” food and drinks are served on Styrofoam plates and cups (nuff said). They were recently mentioned in a NY Times article along with other restaurants in the area and I think this has brought in a new breed of customers. When we showed up the staff seemed a bit overwhelmed by the amount of people lined up to chow down.

What to get:
The tacos are delicious. All I can say is it’s the best tongue taco I’ve had so far in the state of New York. The carne asada tacos are better here than at La Fondita, the meat is good and the tortilla is not dry. The asada torta ($5.00) is decent, the bolillo bread which is often used for this Mexican sandwich was soft and smooth.

What NOT to get:
Hard shell tacos, you the douche with no neck driving the Porsche, you made it this far so please don’t be a schmuck and order hard shell.

Los Hamptons Edition: LA FONDITA (open May-October), 74 Montauk Highway, Amagansett, (631) 267-8800

I know this isn’t New York City but there’s a small taco scene out in the The Hamptons that’s legit. After deciding not to wait forever at the Sunset Saloon in Montauk, I drove over to “La Fondita.” Perusing through the menu I quickly noticed I was now dealing with the real thing, which surprised me that a place like this would be in the middle of Amagansett. Are these East Coast Güeros finally wising up to the ways of the West?

I sampled every taco on the menu even after getting weird looks by the skinny bitches (hey I’m thin too). I’ll start off with the tongue tacos because I love this taco the most, it’s simple yet in my opinion it’s the hardest taco to get right. The meat needs to be tender and some shred the beef so it doesn’t harden. La Fondita’s tongue taco was okay, I wasn’t blown away. In fact the tortilla on all the beef tacos I ordered were a bit on the dry side, which distracted from the meat. The tacos were okay, a place like this would be run of the mill in Los Angeles and for a lot LESS.

The taco to get here is the Tacos de Camarones, Shrimp tacos. La Fondita hit the ball out of the park with this one. The taco is filled with several shrimps; the corn, cilantro, onions, and red pepper add a lot to this taco.

The corn (elote) here is amazing, I think because it's locally grown and the corn in Long Island tends to be good. Make sure to wash the the shrimp taco and the elote down with some expensive horchata ($3.75 ouch). I’m going back this weekend to sample their Pozole, stay tuned.