Taco Azul — Restaurant in New York

I came to Taco Azul a few days ago with my girlfriend in search of tacos with some fruity elements to them. The day before we had some really good tacos from a taco truck in my neighborhood and they were good but did have that differential in flavor we were looking for. The restaurant was empty upon arrival, so seating was not a problem. We did notice a lot of takeout orders. The decor was nice however next to where was sat there was a broken window. An issue we had was that with it being November in Whitestone, it is cold. Unfortunately, the restaurant does not have any heat apart from a very small space heater when you enter. Our server was exceptionally helpful. For the starter, we ordered the Queso Fundido. The dish was piping hot when it got to our table, but it cooled very quickly and was hard to dip with the fresh tortillas that were provided with it. The Queso Fundido had a heavy layer of oil we had to skim off. The flavors were good, but both my girlfriend and I agreed this queso would have been better with a crunch element, such as chips. We ordered the chips and salsa with the traditional Pico and the Mango Salsa. The traditional Pico was your run of the mil salsa. The real star was the Mango Salsa. It was fresh and bright and cut the heaviness of the queso. The color was very appealing. The chips also paired well with the Queso Fundido. I had the Al Pastor Taco, Carne Asada Taco, and Shrimp Taco. The portions were filling. The Al Pastor was great, good flavor, perfectly cooked, and the pineapple was a great contrast in flavor. I also put their hottest hot sauce on all the tacos which took them to a new level. The Carne Asada taco was as just as good as the Al Pastor taco, the sous vide meat was exceptional. My favorite was the Shrimp taco. It came with the mango salsa. The taco had a surprising amount of shrimp and was juicy and fresh. With the hot sauce and some more salsa, it was by far my favorite part of the meal. I'll definitely be going back for those tacos. My girlfriend had the Steak Quesadilla. She wasn't excited by it and related it to most other quesadillas you can find anywhere else. Overall the tacos were great, the queso needs chips and the quesadilla was bland. The server was great. Also needs...

Ok maybe there are items that are good at this restaurant but the vegetarian burrito I got was unbelievably bland… I went with this spot instead of Zhumi which looked more authentic because Taco Azul had a options with a meatless crumble, which I typically enjoy as a [fake] vegetarian. The person who answered the phone asked me if I wanted the lunch special and I said yes, assuming it would be a deal. She asked me what side I wanted and I picked a side salad (which was the best part of the meal), then she told me it came out to $20. I was confused because a regular burrito is $15, and an extra $5 for a small side didn’t seem like a discount. I’m looking at their website now and the lunch special is supposed to be $16 which would make a lot more sense, so either they raised their prices or I got scammed. Anywho I wouldn’t have felt like I got scammed if I actually enjoyed the burrito. It was literally 70% rice and barely any of the vegan meat I was looking forward to (it also was barely seasoned). On the phone I asked for regular cheese instead of vegan cheese and I couldn’t detect either in the burrito. Just so much rice. Their salsa is barely spicy (might be a good thing for some) but the chipotle mayo was honestly good, made the burrito edible. I also decided to get a burrito when I usually prefer tacos thinking it would be easy to eat on the go while working in the field. Boy was I wrong, the burrito was wrapped so crazy, like it wasn’t sealed so the copious rice was just spilling out, so it was even messier than if I had gotten tacos. The picture I attached shows the end of it (where there was actually a better ratio of beans/crumble to rice than in the middle), but you can see how it was rolled like a roll cake instead of wrapped like a burrito. The interior of the restaurant is really cute and I could see it being a nice place for a date or happy hour. But the food… idk just def don’t order the vegan burrito if...

Evening drop in on a whim (googled a "reputable taco spot near me" because it was Tuesday - yes Taco 🌮 Tuesday 😌). Anywho, it had the highest number of reviews and was open til 10p. We arrived just after 8p, no reservations required, open seating, and you seat yourself. Service was great, attentive, and flowing, as we didn't have to look around for our server. The eye contact he made from any direction (w/out stalkin 😂) was on point. They were fast, efficient, and super helpful, choosing from the menu. I'm sure he knew by looking at the lost look on our faces that we were trying to figure out what to order.

Not certain that the servers were waitstaff, though in a good way. They were multifunctional, dabbling btwn behind the counter, kitchen, and beverages (they serve adult selections too y'all, dont let it go over your head 😉), cleaning up small spills, going into the kitchen to retrieve our meals and even plating dessert. I'm thinking maybe they were hands-on owners? 🤔 Whatever the role, KUDOS for the teamwork and cohesion. They had a great rapport with each other and their patrons. Seemed like just about everyone that came in and sat down, was greeted with extended conversation at some point. Whether it was regarding the food, beverages, desserts, what brought you to their establishment, etc., it seemed genuine. And the grub was TASTY. 😋

**Don't believe me 😌, refer to the footage or...