Taqueria al Pastor — Restaurant in New York

I've been going to the original location for years and though I've raised eyebrows a bit at the steadily skyrocketing prices, it's always been delicious and consistent. The meats and salsas are excellent and it's one of the only spots in NYC with good flour tortillas. Very solid, reliable place.

I live nearby Ridgewood and I've been to the new Myrtle location 3 times now. I regretfully have to give the new one a thumbs down, all around.

To start with, they don't have the consistency down like the old location. Each of the 3 times I've gone in I've ordered Al Pastor tacos, and all 3 times they weren't perfect in different ways. Once the meat was super dry, another time the pineapple was huge 3/4 inch cubes, another time they put some odd yellow cream sauce on it that was different from every other time I've ordered Al Pastor tacos from this chain over the last 5 years. The pastor was gristle-y this last time too (which I didn't even know was possible with pork.) I have been to lots of taquerias that taste different every time you go, but they're all cheaper than this place is.

Also, the service isn't great at this one. While the counter people are all sweet and pleasant, they seem to make a lot of mistakes and don't hear very well. I've had orders taken wrong twice in the 3 visits -- wrong type of tortilla, wrong number of items, etc..

Also, the place is poorly kept. It's all white tile and very minimal design, but the floors are often sticky and covered in grit, and the shallow wrap around eating counters are crowded with napkin dispensers and other things.

When I was in there recently there were workmen blocking the door with a ladder and they were using super loud power tools in the dining room. For a Mexican grocery or deli I wouldn't care about the experience but this place is a lot more expensive than those places.

My son ordered a burrito and it was as good as at the Wyckoff location, but it was also $17 with tip, and pretty small, and with a lot more rice than beans. Burritos at the local neighborhood Mexican groceries and delis are bigger and sometimes better. The burritos at Vianelly Deli around the corner at Myrtle Wyckoff blow these out of the water, and they're $11, comparatively.

It seems like the management should slow down a little on opening new locations and work more on ensuring they live up to the quality at the original location, especially if they're going to charge...

Redacting my 5 ⭐️ to 4, will mention why at the end.

I’m super happy they opened another location right close to my apt, their food is always great! The staff that opened this location was overwhelmingly nice. I get take out all the time and the occasional delivery if I was sick.

My delivery complaint: I called and a girl w/ Argentinian or Uruguayan accent answered the phone and said they don’t do deliveries if it’s super close by. Ok I do take out. When I asked her why that had changed, she said they only have one delivery guy, he’s at the DeKalb location and they would complain if he had to drive to the Myrtle location. And if I wanted delivery so bad, to use Grubhub. I prefer to give cash tips to local delivery guys instead of using an app that charges fees on top of tip that gets taxed.

Her answer didn’t make sense and she was curt also. Didn’t feel great spending almost $40 after that convo. The food is great but since they don’t do delivery if you live “too close”I can’t buy as much...

I stopped in just for the tacos — and that’s all you really need to know. The al pastor taco is the star of the show: perfectly seasoned pork shaved right off the trompo, topped with pineapple, fresh onions, and cilantro, all wrapped in a handmade nixtamal tortilla that holds everything together like it was meant to.

It’s not the cheapest taco in NYC (around $5.75 each), but the quality backs up the price. The meat was juicy, not greasy, and the sweetness from the pineapple balanced the richness of the pork. Flavor-wise, it’s easily a 9 out of 10.

Didn’t try the burritos or other menu items, but the taco game here is strong. If you’re into real-deal tacos that remind you of a Mexico City street cart, this is worth the trip.

Would definitely go back — especially to try a few more while they’re hot...