Dos Lugares de Tacos para Pete Wells

[yana paskova for the nytimes]Before the current barbecue craze (BrisketTown, Mighty Quinn's, Fletcher's, and Dinosaur Barbecue next month), Mexican cuisine took New York by storm. You might say it started with Alex Stupak, who opened Empellón Taqueria and Empellón Cocina less than a year apart from one another. DUMBO later welcomed Gran Electrica. John McDonald and Josh Capon (Lure Fishbar and B&B) came along and opened El Toro Blanco, and Roberto Santibañez took Fonda, his beloved Park Slope template, across the river to LES. Santibañez was also a consulting chef on the menu at Salvation Taco, April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman's latest project and another member of the new wave of Mexican restaurants to open in the past few months.

Though the joint effort at Salvation Taco wasn't enough to earn the eatery any stars from Pete Wells, who filed on that restaurant and Taqueria Tlaxcalli in the Bronx this week. Of the latter, Wells enjoys the story that's told through the food. "Mauricio Gómez founded Taqueria Tlaxcalli seven years ago," he writes, "because he was homesick for the food he had grown up with in Mexico City." That means dishes like sopes, gorditas, cactus salad, and tacos - each executed with authentic precision and a sense of pride. Wells awards one star.

Salvation Taco rings in different results. The critic is none-too-pleased with the portions, writing, "The tortillas were a little bigger than an English muffin." And he notes "those tiny portions cooled quickly." "But the things you’d hope any taqueria would nail could be dispiriting," he writes later, citing mishaps with guacamole, margaritas, and an al pastor quesadilla. Though the effort found in Bloomfield's Mexican-inspired, albeit more adventurous dishes, i.e. kimchi, pork, and hominy soup, pigs ears, and beef chili (made with various dried Mexican chilies), helped balance the missteps. But not enough for the critic to award any stars. He gives Salvation Taco the "Satisfactory" stamp.

Mexican food is a soulful cuisine. It's heart warming, rustic, flavorful, often spicy, and perhaps most importantly (or the reason it's so popular) cheap. New Yorker's can be senstive to over-priced fare of any kind, and when there are better, cheaper options to be found elsewhere in the city, as Wells finds at Taqueria Tlaxcalli in Parkchester, it makes steep price tags that much harder to swallow. [NYTimes]