Oaxaca Taqueria
“We wanted a quick bite before our happy hour shenanigans and gave this place a try since we aren't fans of the Mexican restaurant in the corner (not going to mention the name here).”
“Hole in the wall taco joint in Murray Hill that's under-rated and hard to spot!”
“Beverage-wise – the hibiscus aguafresca here was okay, not too sweet which I really like.”
Oaxaca Taqueria
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Tasty Tacos, Good Guacamole, Easing Eating Enchiladas
I went here on cinco de mayo to get some tacos to bring home and they were quick despite the heavy amount of orders that were coming in.
The food was good for a take out spot and if I decided to stay it is BYOB! I got the 3 taco special, 3 enchilada special, chips and guacamole. The specials come with rice and beans which are very bland. I thought the enchiladas came out well with the melted cheese on top and it has a little bit of guac on the side. The tacos were good too and the chicken was my favorite. If you are in the neighborhood and looking for tacos quick this is the spot you got to go to.
In short:
– Good food
– Fast Service
– Friendly staff
Ok I've been back a few times since and can safely say this is a 4.
Have had a couple of their tacos and the flavor is certainly there.
Pricing is weird here. I don't think I've been here and not seen someone go, wait, how much is it? Thought it was X but instead it's Y. For example, today some guy went through it and had to pay $1 for sauce, the sauce that COMES with it. Like I said, weird.
Anyways, it's now a regular lunch spot for me.
I seamless-delivered the 3 taco deal
I didn't realize the deal came with a side of rice and beans, but I quickly found it underwhelming anyway. The rice was under-cooked and the beans were bland. Litmus test of authenticity was immediately failed given that no latino could ever sell that.
Nonetheless, who cares about the rice & beans when the tacos are great. I ordered the braised beef, braised pork, and stewed chicken. Individually, they were all delicious, but as a group, you could easily sense the lack of creativity as their preparation/seasoning seemed essentially identical to one another. It seems as if the recipe for their proteins are exactly the same with only the protein itself changed among the tacos.
Overall, I was impressed. I'm looking forward to taking advantage of their byob.
4/5 means great. 5/5 means damn near perfection and Oaxaca isn't quite there.
I write this review hoping to turn a few more people into the deliciousness Oaxaca has to offer. You can't go wrong with anything you order. Really. Seriously. Go for any of it you won't be disappointed. I love the enchiladas an guacamole especially! Really cool staff. My ONLY WORRY is that the person at the counter taking orders is extremely overwhelmed. While I get the whole idea of having one person manning the kitchen and one person manning the cashier, taking orders, serving and picking up the phone, it's too overwhelming to watch. I hate to see such a successful busy place lose customers because there's only person doing so much. I watched him spend so much time trying to appease people calling to complain that they haven't gotten their orders. It looks like I will personally avoid the lunch crowd. Didn't like to see full on panic mode and droves of people waiting around. A little sad to watch to say the least. One extra helper wouldn't hurt. Just saying.
Pronunciation guide by your friendly non-Spanish Guy (joking:)
Oaxaca: Wa (as in what) Ha, Ka, Wa-ha-ka/Oaxaca
Already had dinner so I stopped in here for a snack. Had a personal favorite, Esquites and a Horchata to drink.
For people who don't know Esquites, think of it as Elote, (commonly worded as "Mexican Corn,") but served in a bowl instead of just being well on the cob. It's a South/Central Mexico food, such as well Oxaca. It's corn flavored with lime, some cheese, some hot sauce or chile powder, salt and mayo.
The version here had a bit more mayo and was quite spicy. Nice little treat.
Horchata, as noted by another person is a bit too watery here (even for being an agua fresca.) Needed a bit more cinnamon also.
Food overall here is a bit pricy, around a buck or so more than you'd expect, but it's quite good. I'm surprised at the super poor reviews, I mean it is Murray Hill so it can't be dirt cheap or else the place will be losing a whole lotta $ daily and would close quite soon.
Place is super small by the way, not many tables, everyone there was speaking Spanish, felt very different there.
This place is in-between a 3 and a 4 but I'll give this place a 4 for the little snacks as the other reviews are way too low for how spicy/good the Esquites is.
Hole in the wall taco joint in Murray Hill that's under-rated and hard to spot! The prices at Oaxaca Taqueria were not absurd as other taco restaurants in Manhattan. Normal priced tacos average around $3.75, with a killer lunch special of 2 tacos (may get a surcharge if you get fish tacos) with beans and rice for a total of $8.66 (tax included). The tacos are small, authentic Mexican street tacos, so while it's a nice size for a taco deal, I could use an extra taco for satiation purposes. I ordered the barbacoa and the chorizo– barbacoa was BY FAR the better option. The chorizo wasn't bad, per se, but it was grainy and didn't pack the same flavor of the barbacoa. Other lunch specials were offered, I believe a torta option and burrito option were given. However, I am always partial to tacos.
Therefore, I gave this place a 4 for their authentic tacos and the fact that they offer lunch deals; however it would get a 5 if I could get more in the deal (even if the price increased slightly).
Damn this was good! Today I was strolling around during my lunch break and passed by this hole-in-the-wall type of place. From the outside, it's easy to miss and on a lower level as you step inside. The space is tiny with only a few tables along and edges (two face the street), but has a bar like ordering counter. Having never been there before, I ordered a Ceviche Pescado taco and three Barbacoa quesadillas. Out of this world! The flavor was bursting and the crispiness of the quesadillas was to perfection. The food came out piping hot and was brought to my table by the very nice staff. They made sure I was aware where the utensils, napkins, and sauces were which was even more hospitable. Both selections were delicious without a doubt. I can't speak for other locations after learning this is a chain, but this one that I went to was great. The wait for the food was super quick and I paired it all with a Sprite (which came in a nice glass bottle). I forget the prices of everything, but don't think it was much. Highly recommend for a tasty lunch choice.
I came here awhile back with some coworkers after imbibing in a few fancypants cocktails at a speakeasy-type bar nearby. It was on the coming dime since this was a team bonding kind of outing so that was nice…but food afterwards to ease our ragey, booze-fueled munchies was on us…so we wanted cheap, but yummy.
After spotting the warm glow of this hole-in-the-wall eatery I exclaimed to my crew, "LOOK YOU GUYS!! TACOS!!! YOU GUYS WANNA DOOOO TAAAACOS?!!" – I was buzzed and this is how buzzed Steph communicates. I kid you not. Lucky for me they all nodded enthusiastically and off we marched, single file, into Oaxaca…like the hungry little ants that we were.
For having enthusiastically yelled about tacos earlier I ended up getting a chicken burrito and it cost me about $7.50. For a burrito in Murray Hill that isn't from a Taco Bell kind of spot, this is GREAT. Tacos were about $3-4 depending on their innards.
My chicken burrito was pretty small without much girth (so many jokes here…so many jokes…) but it was also cheap so keep this in mind guys who can eat their weight in food – for me, a girl of below average vertical stature – it was just what I needed. I left full, but not too full that I felt gross and pukey. Considering that I was really hungry – this was like the Goldilocks/Baby bear of burritos – it was "just right".
My coworkers all opted for tacos and one opted for a quesadilla. They were happy with their tacos and I was happy I didn't go that route. They seemed not very filling to me and without much substance inside. I prefer my tacos to be filled with lots o' meat, cheese, cilantro and sour cream and these seemed to have more greenery than meat.
My coworker who ordered the quesadilla was jealous of my modestly-sized burrito and he ended up getting anther quesadilla and was still hungry. Guys, you might need 2 burritos here to leave content.
Beverage-wise – the hibiscus aguafresca here was okay, not too sweet which I really like. They also have sooooo many hot sauces here – really fantastic selection of all the standard and necessary Mexican hot sauces – my beloved Cholula sauce included.
Overall, I really liked this place. Good tasting food with good flavor + friendly and efficient service. I would totally come back here again if in the neighborhood!