Chela & Garnacha — Restaurant in New York

Best tacos in the city, in my opinion. Moved out of Astoria years ago and still I regularly travel back to this restaurant for the tacos. Must get the fried cheese. Unique touch. Great margaritas, as well, and good drink specials.

EDIT/UPDATE: my original review was from 2020. In the years since then, we have since been back to C&G (I think) 8ish times. We make it there from Connecticut whenever we possibly can (which is usually when we’re in the city with the car and spending time in the outer boroughs). We stopped in tonight (a Thursday) after busy day, and we had to race over from Bushwick around 9pm to make it to the restaurant before closing time at 10pm. We arrived at 9:40pm and we sheepishly poked our heads in to see if we could still place an order. Esther, who I remembered had been our waitress a few times before, was very kind and said it was still ok to order and even eat in the restaurant. You might think, “but the restaurant is still open, of course they should serve you.” Well, firstly, many restaurants will stop putting orders into the kitchen 30ish minutes before close. They might even lock the doors before the official closing time. And honestly, secondly, I don’t have a huge problem when this happens. I get it. My wife and I have both worked in restaurants and know what it’s like to be at the end of a shift and looking forward to getting home. If we had been told the kitchen was closed, it would have been completely understandable. Alas, we were allowed to order and though we both ordered pretty much the same thing we always get (Gringa, Camaron, Carne Asada tacos, cebollitas, a beer, a lemonade), we weren’t disappointed. The food was as good as ever. So good. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that every bite gave me such happiness.

And that’s the reason why I felt like I had to come back and update this review: the consistency. It must be 6+ years (can’t even remember how long) since we first discovered Chela & Garnacha, and I can’t count the number of times we’ve eaten there. If the food was half as good as it is, I might still come back now and again just to support the business because the staff are super kind. But the food is 10/10 every freaking time. To maintain that level of consistency when your customers’ expectations are high when they walk in the door is really impressive.

I’ve read some other reviews addressing the long wait times when it’s busy. Even when we eat here when it’s pretty full, any wait time is outweighed by the fact that the servers are always so kind. To each their own; those reviews are fair and entitled to their opinions. For me, I think the food is always worth the wait. When a place is good, is popular, and a lot of people recognize that, there are trade offs.

Esther, thank you so much for seating us tonight. Honestly, that would have been my one chance to have the Gringa taco (which you won’t find anywhere else in that exact cook style) for the next several months. You...

Absolutely one of the best restaurants in NYC, period. The tacos are beyond delicious, the chips are always hot and crispy, and the avocados are perfectly ripe. You can do no wrong with any of the menu, but I highly recommend the birria, nopales, or tinga tacos. Also good and highly recommended are the tinga volcanes, which are next level with the melted cheese and crunchy tostada. Most of the menu is gluten-free and allergy-friendly if you ask/talk to the staff (the tortas are not GF of course, but also neither are some of the steak dishes because Worcestershire sauce is involved — ask to confirm if you order anything with steak). Also, the drinks are all insanely delicious — the jamaica margarita, spicy tamarind margarita, limeade, and jamaica agua fresca are especially good. I’ve supported this spot for years, and am eternally grateful for their staff, menu, and all they do. Cannot recommend this...

First things first: this place should be two dollar signs ($$), not one. I had tacos and a margarita, no appetizers, and my bill was about $35 with tax and tip. The food was delicious, so I don't mind the cost, but be aware.

The tacos that I tried were all great- flavorful and satisfying. The margarita was tasty as well. I would definitely like to come back again and try more of the menu.

I went in expecting more of a casual environment, so that colored my experience. The server tried to upsell us several times. The craft beers were all $8 a pop, for bottles/cans. I don't expect every place to have beer on draft, but still I can't bring myself to pay $8 for something that I could easily buy for $2 at Key Food.

Overall, I liked it, but I would go somewhere else if looking for a cheap...