Tehuitzingo has awesome tacos
Tehuitzingo Deli Grocery in Midtown is serving up some of the best delicious Mexican fare you can find in Manhattan. Going all the way to 10th avenue to find some tacos seems counter intuitive because good food is now all over Midtown. The reason you want to go to Tehuizingo is because just about any taco on their menu is good. During lunch time, the crowd has its share of Latinos and the eye-test would reveal that this place is authentic. Perhaps authenticity is overrated and unimportant. If the clientele can't be used to categorize restaurants, I feel like what tastes good is subjective. Then what you can measure objectively would be a quantitatively comparison of one store versus another store, right? To that I say that almost any single Chipotle store outsells Tehuizingo. Blam.
Even if authenticity is unimportant, I can at least attest to the fact that tacos from Tehuizingo are undeniably enjoyable. Perhaps if you travel to the outter boroughs, you can find taquerias that heap on more proteins, but in Midtown a delicious taco for under $3 is pretty awesome. Of the five tacos I tried, the Taco al pastor was the one to skip. Not that it's any less delicious than its siblings, it's just that someone has to be DeShawn Stevenson next to Dirk Nowitzski. (Yea you thought my pointless basketball fake analogies were gone.)
The beef belly was probably finished over a griddle, to add charred crispness to the edges of protein. It was a salty bite that went with with hot salsa and a swig of Jarritos. I especially like the pineapple version of this fizzy soda. The meat on this particular taco isn't what makes it great. I've had great chorizo filling from Chipotle (the one where Nate Appleman works). But most Chipotles don't have awesome chorizo fillings, and overall they all pale in comparison to something cool like beef belly from Tehuitzingo. It's cliche to believe that eating a more exotic beef part would make the experience great, but it's true.
Moving from one part of the cow to another, the beef tongue was a more substantial taco than its belly counterpart. Between the two, I might prefer the belly. However, tender tongue is difficult to pass up.
The two tacos to get at Tehuitzingo are the barbacoa and the chicharron. You want the goat taco because it's meaty and distinct enough not to be mistaken with other kinds of proteins. You might mistaken NSync with Backstreet Boys, but there's only one Boyz II Men. Yea it's like that. The chicharron is fried first, and then braised. It has the consistency of lumpy pork fat, and every bite fucks with your brain because something without any structural integrity shouldn't be delicious.
Tehuitzingo is a gem that you should definitely try to visit if you get a chance. For quick research, you can head over to the restaurant detail page, where you can easily get links to other noteable by respected bloggers and publications. There's links to Midtown Lunch, Serious Eats, Chowhound, and others! I know we've gone over how this is a dead-end game, but in the end I feel like listings like this are useful to me personally. So I'll keep it up somehow.
Tehuitzingo Deli Grocery
695 10th Ave.
New York, NY 110036
212-397-5956
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I feel like such an ass. I live around the corner from this place but still haven't gone. Shall I give up my blogger pass (though it's probably a part time pass anyway) now?
hungry
July 19, 2011 2:45 pm
@hungry,
took me a while to get to this place too! you should totally go if you're within walking distance from home. they have goat tripe, which i have to try next time. plenty of good things on the menu.
Danny
July 20, 2011 1:42 pm
@Danny - When I said I live around the corner, I meant I literally around the corner. I don't have to cross any streets to get there.
hungry
July 21, 2011 12:07 pm
@Hungry: I went a couple days ago. Hot inside but that's to be expected. Food was good. Don't trump the place up too much or it will be packed all the time.
CheeeeEEEEse
July 22, 2011 3:39 pm
whoa. Why do I feel like I stumbled into a secret ML clubhouse? I too confess that I haven't made it here yet. It's on my list but I don't work or live nearby. My go-to for mex is Great Burrito, 23rd & 6th--probably not quite as good, but far better than Shitpotle, etc.
stevenp
July 22, 2011 6:00 pm