Empellón Taqueria - New York

Consistently wonderful and creative Mexican cuisine presented in a lively scene . Empellon and Buvette are my go to West Village restaurants.

I had made reservations for my visiting friend’s birthday a week in advance. I confirmed when I got a confirmation text. We showed up on time and host said it would be a few minutes for our table. 25 minutes later he tried to seat us at the communal high top table. I told him I reserved a table and it was a birthday. He, Aaron, was unapologetic explaining some bigger parties had come in so we would need to be seated at communal table. I was surprised how bossy and unapologetic he was about the situation. He said we could be put on the walk in wait list if we wanted a table! He was extremely rude. We left mad without eating so he cancelled my reservation so I couldn’t leave a review. We went back the next afternoon because I do love the food and I’ve enjoyed this neighborhood restaurant for years. Again, the hostess was not welcoming but the waitress and waitress staff were wonderful as were the food and cocktails. Not a place with a warm welcoming hospitality/host staff.

Spouse and I had a fun and delicious dinner here, we enjoyed the queso fundido with shishito peppers and mezcal margaritas. The lobster tacos were our clear favorite over the duck tacos. But the revelation of the night was the Kishu mandarins dessert, the ice bar that breaks open and spills out tequila toffee was a delight!

Forever and always my fave place for tacos and margaritas

If you are looking for a place to have a conversation and/or a nice relaxing dinner, this is not the place to go. It was so loud in there that my sister (who I dined with) and I had to yell in order to hear each other. The restaurant had a lot of empty tables as it was early in the evening but they put us all in the front of the restaurant I guess they think that if the restaurant looks packed it will attract people to come in. They should consider the comfort of their existing customers and not cram a bunch of people in one small area I am NOT going to this location again. Their other locations are better