El Nopal — Restaurant in New York

This is a long overdue review for a place I've frequented since moving to South Slope/Greenwood Heights in the summer of 2016. Mexican restaurants are abundant in this part of Brooklyn, but El Nopal stands out from the others for several reasons. One, the presentation of the food--in addition to being flavorful, the dishes are colorful and well put-together. Whether it's serving their burritos on a bed of lettuce or their black beans sprinkled with cojita cheese, I always feel like I am getting a hearty, balanced meal here. Their salsa is also superb; all their dishes come with a side of their two signature salsas (green/red); they have a creamy quality to them that adds flavor to almost anything without too much weight. I usually keep the leftovers and dress salads and omelets with them. This is not a steakhouse per se, but all their steak dishes that I've tried have been delicious and with good portions. They have a pretty extensive menu, of which I have only tried maybe 5-10% of (I am a creature of habit), but given that I have never been disappointed here and it's located conveniently nearby, I look forward to trying more of what they have to offer. True...

Excellent Mexican food. It's the first place we tried when we moved in a year and a half ago. And has been a regular part of our diet since.

Our favorite is their incredible chicken fajitas. The tomato sauce it comes with, with peppers, onions, rice, beans, and guac are just awesome. My wife has an embarrassing video of me completely zoned in building a perfect wrap and just obliviously stuffing it in my face. Happy as could be.

Their nachos are also worth mentioning. Especially the al pastor nachos. Where a lot of places give you a pile of chips and some toppings on top, the nachos here are well layered with all the fixings. And when I'm splurging, I dip into their empanadas as well. With plenty of their awesome hot sauce added on top of everything to taste. They are no slouch with their fresh guacamole either.

In the pre-covid times, any time we had a friend visiting, we'd come here to feast and share pitchers of margaritas. We look forward to doing so again...

I really went back and forth on giving this place 4 or 5 stars because my hubby had the fish tacos and used a little green sauce, not a lot, and said it was so spicy his lips went numb and he could barely finish it. My chorizo burrito was awesome though! Also spicy but not to the level my husband experienced. We also had the queso appetizer and.... well it sure isn't like the queso we're used to being from Texas but it was still very good.... just pricey and small for an appetizer. All in all though it's the best Mexican food in a sit down restaurant that I've found so far in the few months we've lived here and been looking so I will definitely be back for...