It feels like yesterday when I asked Jaquie to marry me before free falling on a ride in Six Flags. I wanted her to experience all feelings at once to represent our lives together. Now in less than a week, we'll be celebrating our nuptials in a beautiful Hacienda in Zapopan, MX.


















The owner of Hacienda Santa Lucia, Humberto Zaragoza is also a well known chef in Mexico. The food tasting was well worth spending time on the countless other details that guys care a little less about. I don't want to give away the surprise so I'll be sure to post on the food and the whole event when we return but for the time being, Here's a little tease.

Every Monday morning I find myself in Jackson Heights as I attempt to defeat my common allergies. Do allergy shots work? Who knows? What I do know is that I'm not allergic to these tacos and as long as they're here on the corner of 75th street and Roosevelt ave, I'll be here every Monday.

I had a chorizo and al pastor taco. Generously served and tender meat mixed with a combination of flavorful spices, onions, cilantro and real saucy guac.

Stay tuned for the rise of the taco trucks. They seem to be sprouting all over NYC slowly conquering the halal street meat strongholds.

$2 Tacos/$5 Tortas

If you are familiar with Sunnyside, Queens, you know about Dalia's Taqueria on 46th street on the Southern side of Queens Blvd. This taco truck has been satisfying late night taco craves for the past 15 years yet when searching for the truck online, I found very few comments.


















It seems that the Vagabundos truck is overshadowing it's presence. I've yet to try Vagabundos but it's buzz has made me curious and we will post about them next week.

Could this be a classic case of everyone loving the underdog or are the Vagabundo tacos better than Dalia's. We'll shed some more light on our next post but here's our feedback on the ever-present 46th street tacos.


















Of course I brought along my Mexican food meter (a.k.a. Jaquie) who rated the tacos 9 out of 10. Our hunger may have skewed the rating system but overall the quality of the meat was great and the double tortillas were warm and fresh. I've had all the meats here and prefer the tacos al pastor and chorizo.


















The tortas (Mexican sandwich) were also very tasty. I'm not exactly sure where and when the word torta was transformed to signify sandwich but it's original Spanish meaning is 'pie' or 'cake'.
Either way, Dalia's tortas are served on toasted fresh bread with lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and mayo. It definitely hits the spot after a night of partying or to grab a quick snack on the way back from Manhattan.

Cheap Eats: Tacos are $2.50 and Tortas are $5.50

Someone once said "All there is in New Jersey are chemical factories and malls." Well I add that there are some fantastic restaurants in these Malls. One of which is Rosa Mexicano (390 Hackensack Ave/ 201-489-9100), a chain of Mexican restaurants that started in New York and now exists in six states on the east coast. It's popularity is less due to the authenticity and more to the quality and consistently great tasting food.

While my first experience wasn’t exactly exceptional, I could eat Toloache’s quesadilla de chapulines (grasshoppers) again and again. The chapulines themselves were nutty and I detected a chili seasoning though Jaquie thought I was crazy and the lady behind the bar said they were only seasoned with lime, salt and olive oil. Who am I to argue with two Mexican ladies about Mexican food?

I strongly suggest that you try Toloache and allow yourself to venture slightly outside your comfort zone or stick to the delectable dishes that are more customary. Prices are in the mid-range with an order of tacos ranging from $10-$15 and entrees from $20-$30.

A visit to Citi field is only complete with some ballpark food. Even though hot dogs, pretzels and cracker jacks have been the staple foods of New York baseball since I can remember, a little diversity is certainly welcome. The dawning of a new stadium for the Mets opens the opportunity to satisfy the diverse taste buds of this equally diverse fan base.

















I would have expected Dominican food to be the representation of Latin food since most of the Mets players are from the Dominican Republic, and they are the 2nd largest Latin nationality in terms of population in New York. I guess the truth still stands that Mexican cuisine is the reigning ambassador of the Latin food world across the U.S. (hence the name of this website).

Though Citi field would benefit from some mangu (popular Dominican plantain-based dish), it needs to be said that the Taqueria in the outfield food court has done a good job of mass producing some tasty tacos. In the seventh inning Jaquie and I descended from our nosebleed seats to wait impatiently on a long line for our Metsican treat.

















The elusive elote was the best I have tasted and even tops the elotes I had in Jackson Heights. It was everything you can ask for from a piece of corn, juicy, sweet and delicately crumbled cheese and chili powder with every bite.


















Believe it or not, the steak tacos score a 7 out of 10 on Jaquie's authenticity scale mainly because of the poor quality of the tortillas. The steak was seasoned just right and the cilantro and lime brought out its fiery flavors. The chicken mole tacos tasted nothing like mole though they were still pretty good solely based on flavor.

















Taco numero uno (#1) on my list of Citi field tacos was the taco al pastor (pork taco). The meat was shredded tender and cooked with a spicy flavorful sauce. Again, the cilantro and lime highlighted everything. While not very authentic, they were a nice variation from the typical ball park cuisine.

















The Salsa was medium spicy. If I remember it correctly, it was completely gone after the tacos were done; it ended up on our fingers and in our bellies.

















Along with the must-have beers and our thunderous screams cheering on the Mets, the food at Taqueria made for a great night at the ball game. Not to mention that the Mets won the game in extra innings, a successful end to an enjoyable evening.

Jaquie's trip would only be complete if she had coco con chile, sal y limon (coconut w/ salt, lime and chile powder). Luckily our only trip outside of the resort to the ruins in Tulum, gave us the opportunity to savor this refreshing snack, which is native to the Yucatan. While Jaquie was in the bathroom of a hole-in-the-wall tourist bodega, I asked the guys to chop up some coconut using the machete sitting at the entrance. After we drank the water, the machetes were blazing and the hard round coconut became what you see above. Laced with habanero chile powder, salt and limejuice, this plain ol' coconut was the highlight of Jaquie's trip and a new experience for me. A fun fact: Coconut was named after the Spanish word for boogeyman "el coco" because of it's three spots and hairy surface.

















I love animals... I couldn't fight the urge to post a picture of my iguana buddy. We saw dozens of them in addition to nutrias, raccoons and countless exotic birds in the jungle pathways of the resort. Even though we didn't venture out much, we met a taxi driver that promised us discounted tours of the cenotes (caves and underground rivers) and other places where the classic authentic foods of the region are best prepared. Expect a post detailing the sequel of this journey after our trip in January ’10

The Red Hook Latin food vendors have built up quite a reputation in recent years and have earned a following of Brooklynites and Manhattanites alike. Now we can add Queensites (doesn't sound as cool huh?) to the list.
We walked up and down the block trying to choose wisely and decided to wait on the longest line. We figured people must have been waiting for a reason. So, we waited to savor the Salvadorian pupusas (thick tortillas stuffed with cheese, meat, beans or loroco). Loroco was a new discovery for us. It's a flower grown in El Salvador and used in many native dishes. I get excited when I find new food; it fuels our exciting journey to discover the less known culinary treasures in Latin America and expose them to the world.

We finally made it to the front of the pupusa line and were enthralled at the instinctual flow of the women preparing the meal. They grab the stuffing, place it inside the doe and roll it together until it's flat and round then smack it on the grill in less than 10 seconds.

We had a loroco and a pork pupusa, both also stuffed with cheese. They were very delectable paired with a ton of pickled jalapeños, pickled cabbage, heavy cream and salsa. The pupusas themselves were like meat stuffed tortilla pancakes with the doe still moist inside. A different experience that is sure to become more popular as the world is exposed to this Salvadorian delicacy. It definitely made believers out of us.

















We finished the feast with the Mexican truck and indulged in a huarache, which in this case was essentially a HUGE taco. This huarache was too messy for a picture but just imagine a Monster Taco! On Jaquie's authenticity scale, the Red Hook huarache scores a 4 because what should’ve been a corn based dough that is slightly thicker than a tortilla was just a giant flour tortilla instead.

We also shared a taco al pastor (spicy pork taco), which was one of the better tacos i've tasted in New York. The chiles de arbol (dried tree chilis) were deliciously soaked in olive oil and salt. It's curious to know that these "tree chilis" are actually not grown on trees.


















I wanted to take some shrimp ceviche to go from the Chilean cart, but early bird brooklynites had beaten me to the punch. I made the lady at the cart promise to bring more next time.

The Colombian truck, while lively with the loud music, was lonely and had a variety of typical fried Colombian dishes. A little creativity would probably attract more customers. I suggested they make the milk-based fruit juices that I grew up loving.

Though we were expecting more carts from all the hype, the experience was fantastic. I would recommend going with a few friends and spending a few hours on the picnic tables munching away the afternoon.
Get Directions.

Next stop, a walk-up Colombian establishment, Los Chuzos y Algo Mas, located on the northeast corner of 79th street and Roosevelt Ave. The name translates to Skewers and Something Else; in this case, the something else was typical Colombian fruit juice. Though guanabana (soursop) was on the menu, I decided to go with mora en leche (blackberry milkshake). Jaquie had the pineapple juice that seemed to disappear like any other drink that has ever been at her arms length, given her habit to drink very fast. Colombian juices are made from a wide variety of fruits, some of which are not well known in the US. The less known ones are guanabana, tomate de arbol (tamarillo), lulo (no translation). Reason enough to visit paradise.