La Lupe Cantina — Restaurant in New York

I really wanted to like this place because I kept passing by it, and it looked cute. I finally tried it, and 2 out of 5 is very generous rating, honestly. The ambiance and the semi-par wings(6 pieces) i got with my order helped give it a 2/5 instead of 1/5.

I ordered the wings, which tasted like corner store spot wings - very bready and greasy. I also ordered a Carne Asada taco and an Al Pastor taco. Two classic tacos that usually always taste well in almost all establishments. But it definitely fell very short here.

The small tortilla and meat portion wasn't horrible. The tortilla had a funny aftertaste, though. Smh. But the overall taste of each taco bite was truly disappointing. No flavor, no salt. Especially for the carne asada.. there was no "asada" flavor! That got to me. LOL. Sorry, not sorry. Then there's the salsas, the red and green one. Usually, the green salsa is never a miss. But again, no flavor. The red salsa - all you tasted was the heat. It has absolutely had no salt. They could have at least added some onion / garlic to give it an actual salsa taste to both of them, smh.

Brooklyn has always been a place where you can get really good mexican food. I grew up in these streets... Mexican food is a staple. So to find this place that -dare I say- caters to non-latino, hipster VISITORS that probably wouldn't know any better (is probably the only reason why or how this place remains open.) It's harsh, I know. But I just couldn't believe it. About $25 and change spent for food that was just unflavored and being hungry is not a good mix, my friends. Lol

I don't mind spending money in this horrible economy, but if the portions are small, THEN the food NEEDS, MUST, HAS TO BE delicious.

Anyways, if those that actually want to eat really good Mexican food, just keep walking down Broadways Ave, you'll find another Mexican restaurant where the food is amazing! Don't waste your money here.

Now, I can't comment on the alcoholic drinks, so perhaps that's the other thing, other than the esthetics that is good in this place.

I hope this place gets better cooks. Because baby, this was a HUGE disappointment.

Please do better! There's way too Mexican restaurants that outshine this place.

From, a really OG...

Ordered online for pick up, swung by, waited just a few mins and it was ready! The guy that greeted us was super friendly, and the place is really cute inside. We drove home (about 6 blocks away) and got right into it. Unfortunately though the tinga and the grilled shrimp tacos were completely funked up. They just had one tortilla instead of the standard two. I thought was weird especially for spicy stewed chicken like tinga or shrimp tacos that have crema on top. But hey, if the taco is sturdy, I really dont care. Sadly they were totally soaked and broken into pieces already! Just from leaving the restaurant and driving a couple mins down the street! We had to eat the tacos with forks and spoons. The shrimp also was definitely not "grilled." Poached perhaps, but not grilled. Which was a bummer.

Also the meats had no flavor outside of the cilantro topping. We added salt and their homemade sauces and that helped. those are sauces great!

I think the weirdest thing of all though was the "tostada." Its just a taco with lettuce and cheese and tomato. As in - the tortilla is not toasted or fried or crunchy in anyway. just a raw tortilla with a ton of wet toppings, so once again totally soaked, broken, and had to eat with spoons. Weird right?

We got the birria quesadilla which was just fine. Pretty floppy and wet but birria is juicy by nature so that ok! Probably will stick to the taco trucks we know, love, and trust moving forward. Just sucks because we were so excited to try La Lupe and find maybe a new go-to spot since?

The...

The tacos where really really tasty, however the burrito's and churro's not so much. decent prices and cool atmosphere inside.

Beyond the food, I had a very uncomfortable experience eating in the restaurant. By a total fluke (and no fault of the establishment) my kneecap popped out of its socket for about ten seconds causing me to drop my drink on my way to getting a seat. I was clearly in a lot of pain and was in some shock from what had happened, but I sat for about a couple minutes holding my leg before a man came to mop up the beer I spilled. Despite me loudly exclaiming my pain, and moving tables so i could make room for my leg, the bartender/server did not really lift his head from his conversation with patrons at the bar except to offer me another beer after a few minutes (which I never ended up getting). This made me feel super awkward/uncomfortable at the time because the guy (who i was about 10 feet from) did not even ask what was wrong or if I was okay so I was left to deal with myself in the corner. I was not expecting him to come rushing over with a first aid kit, but his total lack of any sympathetic reaction was just really uncomfortable and unprofessional.

The guy was not really rude or anything about it, but seemed totally unconcerned with what was going on merely a few feet away from him. It is the kind of experience in a restaurant that would make me not go back, I felt like a major disruption for what was a total accident all because the bartender was...