La Esquina
“Also my coworker said the Tortilla soup was quite possibly the best he's had…and we go to Mexico every few months for work.”
“The CARNITAS BURRITO was succulent and accompanied by properly portioned smatterings of avocado, cheese, rice and salsa verde.”
“Go down stairs, through a kitchen to what looks like an old dimly lit mexican prison with largely lit candles on all surfaces.”
La Esquina
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Some of the best Mexican food I've ever had (understandably so being on the upscale/gourmet end of the spectrum), really incredible food.Cocktails are fantastic as well, and the place doubles as a very cool and suave lounge on the weekend nights.
Atmosphere is super neat – it's a "speakeasy restaurant" – hidden beneath a street-front taqueria. Getting a reservation can be a bit tough: "Call 646.613.7100 for reservations for the brasserie, taken 21 days (3 weeks) to the day. Reservations on OpenTable are taken 20 days to the day"…I set a reminder on my phone for the 20 days in advance, and by the time I got to Open Table only the 6 o'clock seating (which is when they open) was available! So definitely make the phone call!
My only gripe was waiting until 6:10 for the door to open in the crowded little space inside the corner deli. When the hostess came out to a substantial line she sort of portrayed a "Yea, what do you want?" demeanor when no one spoke up. We were just trying to be polite and not accost you the second you came out the door!
TODO:
Yelp won't let me put this restaurant on a list unless I write a review (Yelp, please change this policy!)
Therefore, this is a stub review for the purpose of populating my list. I'll write the review later.
However, whatever rating I give the restaurant with this stub review is the rating I'd give the restaurant with a real review.
La Esquina has 3 different restaurants, the Corner Deli, a small sit down restaurant around the corner, and then a speakeasy type restaurant downstairs that only takes reservations. The Corner Deli has the best chicken quesadillas I've ever had! The restaurant around the corner is a bit more pricey but serves alcohol, so if you're looking for drinks definitely go to the restaurant, although it's very small so you may have a short wait if it's a busy night.
Wonderful atmosphere, delicious food, and creative drinks. The brassiere was an experience that we will not forget! We will be returning next time we are in the city.
I love this spot!! The outside facade of an inconspicuous corner deli transforms itself as you walk past a man in a black suit guarding a locked door. You'll find yourself walking down a set of dimly lit stairs into a kitchen, and eventually ending in a dark and sultry underground spot. Music is spicy, and the remnants of authentic old jail cells far exceed any other speakeasy atmospheres I've been to.
Oh, and the mojitos are f****** out of this world for New York City.
My date and I shared our dishes, all of which were fantastic. Street corn was exceptional, as well as the three tacos we ordered: Pulled pork taco, Chicken taco, Beef taco. The enchiladas were excellent as well.
Be sure to end with the chocolate lava cake.
Will be making many returning trips here.
What a sexy place! I had drinks with my girlfriends downstairs and it was so lovely. If I had a date, I would want to go on it here. Beware, this is not your $10 margarita place, but it's worth the money!
Splurge for the $20 casa dragones Marg!
I had the fish tacos and black beans. Tacos were tiny but so yummy! Beans seasoned especially well.
Pro tip- make reservations ahead of time for downstairs for be a really good sweet talker to the guy upstairs 🙂
This is a 3-in-1 place – taqueria（order and get food by the counter), a cafe with outside seatings and a hidden bar/brasserie. To enter the hidden restaurant at the basement level, you would need to check in with the suit-clad host standing by a door next to the taqueria ordering counter. After he checks that your name is on the list (through making a reservation), you will then go through another suit-clad guy who would open the door to the stairs going to the basement level restaurant. You would then walk past a kitchen to get to the restaurant. A hostess/host would greet you and someone would take you to the table.
The underground restaurant is really small, but it has a lounge/bar area. Music is blasting at this place, so if you're taking someone on a date, that's probably not a good idea, as you literally have to yell at each other in order to be able to hear each other.
They have an extensive cocktail list, along with a wine and beer menu. Cocktails are priced $13-$20. Their food is on the more expensive side (which you would expect at a hidden restaurant/speakeasy kind of place) compared to the order-by-the counter taqueria upstairs. We ordered the fish and pork tacos, they're both $12 and each order comes with 2 tacos. Please note that the tacos are very small, if you're hungry, that's definitely not enough for an entree. One more thing is that this place does not serve guacamole!! There were 2 big groups dining at the basement restaurant that night, they seemed to be having fun celebrating special occasions. So, if you wanted to go to a place where music is blasting and it's exclusive access for a big group to celebrate your birthday, this place would be fun. Other than that, the food is mediocre.
After our meal, we were still hungry, so we ordered beef taco, pork taco and a corn on the cob upstairs. The tacos upstairs seemed a little bit bigger than the tacos served by the underground restaurant and they're priced less. However, I don't think they are that good. If I wanted good tacos, I would go to Los Tacos No. 1 in the Chelsea market where they have freshly made pico de gallo for you to top your tacos with, and the taco stuffing is flavorful. Their Mexican corn on the cob was ok, but I had better ones I got at street fairs.
So overall, this place is overrated, the food is mediocre and the selection is limited. The music played at the underground restaurant is too loud, so you can barely talk with people in your party unless you sit next to each other. Their service is also not good at all. The hostess greeting us that day (Saturday around 8pm) also had an attitude, maybe she was having a bad day. If you wanted good Mexican food and good music, there're way more places NYC has to offer. If you just wanted a hidden restaurant experience, you could get that from so many other hidden restaurants/ speakeasies in the city.
I came here on a Thursday night and ate at the inside part of the cafe. They also have outside tables on the corner. Overall summary: food was great, service was terrible.
For dinner, I had the shrimp BLT tacos. They were very tasty and I would highly recommend them. They had a nice kick of spice to them and the bacon and shrimp together made for a great combination. My friend had the burger which was a pretty decent sized portion, if you're hungry. Pretty good value for your $$. It came with a side, he got fries but the fries were flavored in some kind of paprika and lime sauce.. made for an interesting tasting fries that I didn't quite care for.
Service was incredibly slow.. no one came to take our order. We waited for like 20 minutes to order drinks! We had to track down the waitress each time we needed something, water, ordering, etc. There were 4 people working right behind the bar, the restaurant is small and there were only 5 tables inside. I don't understand why we had to wait so long for service, anyway, clearly it was frustrating!
I'd consider coming back and eating at the downstairs venue, I think they have a different menu and hopefully better service! 🙂