Dos Toros Taqueria
The weather always poses an interesting dilemma on food. If it gets hotter, do I want to eat something that is cool and refreshing? Like watermelon or salads? Or globs upon globs of ice cream? Or do I want something to eat on the go because when it's summery, it's more fun to go outside and walk around? My neanderthal brain can't really handle all these decision points, which is why I fail at the 9 to 5. Last week someone uttered the word 'deliverable' to me at the office and I got confused the same way real critics do when they hear bloggers say 'deliciousness' and 'fantabulous'. (Both of which apply to this post, btw). The food I ended up with last time was the burrito. It's easy to hold, minimally messy, and fills me up with ludicrous amounts of calories, sure to make my bloggers pouch grow. Actually, that's not a bloggers pouch on my belly, it's a lifetime achievement pouch. I don't think eating light salads will make it diminish. Quite the opposite - it would fuel and anger the pouch that more resources (read: fat) is needed. This is New York after all, and you never know when the world is coming to an end you'll need a reserve supply of energy. Someone I knew liked to repeat this phrase, "There's no such thing as luck. Luck is opportunity meeting preparation." So if the world ever ends with a truck or an ice cooler, me and my burrito induced pouch will be there. Around Union Square, the place you want to go for said burrito is at Dos Toros Taqueria.
Dos Toros Taqueria is owned by a brother tandem. Leo and and Oliver Kremer are from San Francisco and they want to bring us a version of the Bay Area taqueria. I can see how they saw we didn't really have the real deal here in New York. If you walk around midtown during the day, you'll see many lemmings lined up at the Chipotle. I kid, I kid, Chipotle ain't that bad. But for those who have a histamine reaction at the sound of the words "fast food", the burrito options in NYC are limited. If you're in the Union Square area, Dos Toros is there to help.
I'm actually not sure how authentic this is supposed to be... whether it's authentic to the Mission area taquerias or whether Mission area taquerias are authentic to Mexico... or if all this is considered Tex-Mex cuisine... all I know is that as a naturalized American (oh boy, sucks to be one of use these days... someone remind me never to smoke pot or something in front of Joe Lieberman), that this stuff is good.
Their burritos are $8 dollars if you don't get guacamole added. Yes, it seems a bit criminal not to add guac to the burrito, but let me tell you the guac-less burrito ain't missing a damn thing. You get your choice of black or pinto beans (or they'll mix it up if you ask nicely), meat (steak, chicken, pork), rice (cooked in chicken broth), pico de gallo, and sour cream. Obviously when you put all of that together and bundle it up, it's going to be delicious.
I had mine with steak and previously I tried it with chicken and it was delicious as well. I can't recommend it enough for those of you who get tired of Chipotle in Union Square North. Hover down past that new-ish Best Buy on 14th, and you'll find a gem at Dos Toros. And a bonus, they serve cheap beer for those of you who like to wash it down with some Mexican beer.
Dos Toros Taqueria
137 Fourth Ave.
New York, NY 10003
212-677-7300
Apparently, the inspiration behind Dos Toros was a local franchise of taquerias in the Bay Area called Gordo's. Having eaten at Gordo's way too many times as a student, I can attest to the faithful recreation of their stylings... with one key failure. Gordo's serves chile verde (pork stewed in tomatillo salsa), a California great that was basically one of two reasons I ever walked through those doors (the other being the fact that I was poor and lived a block away - a Gordo's burrito costs something like $4.50).
So, it's really tough for me to get behind Dos Toros - they've misappropriated the "Mission Style" and neglected the one worthy option of the place they're imitating. The food is fine overall (I'd say that the carne asada and the chicken are definitely better than at Gordo's), but this is one of those cases where the grass - and the burrito filling - really is greener on the other side.
Of course, once you think of it as a Chipotle clone and forget any attempts to import my entitled sense of Californian authenticity, it's plenty tasty. Man, I'd love to take you and some other food bloggers on a burrito tour of CA... just to see what you think of all our burrito snobbery!
James Boo
May 21, 2010 12:33 am