A new Manhattan taco hotspot is already expanding this fall. Nolita taqueria Santo Taco is opening a second location in Greenwich Village at 94 University Place, at East 12th Street, sometime in the fall. Compared to the original tiny storefront running in a shared space with La Esquina that opened in May, the new spot will be larger. The 1,400 square-foot location will offer more standing and seating space, plus an open kitchen. The menu will include the popular steak trompo taco and, for the first time, margaritas and Mexican beers. Owner Santiago Perez, who was a founder of famed NYC Mexican restaurant Cosme, leaned into his Mexico City upbringing for this casual spot. This new restaurant is opening on the same block as Mexico City taqueria Cariñito Tacos’s extended NYC pop-up.
Texas taco pop-up comes to Brooklyn
Austin chef Joseph Gomez — the James Beard Award semifinalist who ran award-winning taco truck Con Todo — is bringing his newer Texas pop-up Sana Sana Taqueria to New York City. The pop-up’s happening at the recently opened Fort Greene restaurant Los Burritos Juárez, run by Alan Delgado (who had worked in Austin). It’s part of Delgado’s new collaboration series, Border Kids, highlighting chefs who draw from their experiences growing up along the Mexico-U.S. border. Gomez’s cooking is centered on the Rio Grande Valley.
Gomez will be serving bistec estilo matamoros tacos (a beef taco with queso fresco, avocado, and grilled onions on a corn tortilla) and a frijoles especiales burrito made with Delgado. It takes place on Thursday, September 18, at noon.
Bushwick dive bar’s new boardwalk foods pop-up
A new pop-up is taking over the space recently vacated by popular dive bar food pop-up Lori Jayne inside of Bushwick’s Alphaville in Bushwick. Frybaby opened inside the 140 Wilson Avenue space between Willoughby Avenue and Suydam Street on Wednesday, September 10.
Co-owners and chefs Clarke Bliss and Ben Tomaiuolo are whipping up what they describe as “upscale East Coast boardwalk nostalgia” food. Clarke is from Ocean City, Maryland; Tomaiuolo had co-run a fish and chips pop-up at Smorgasburg this year. The menu results in corndogs, fried pickles, fried cheese curds, fries, poutine, sandwiches with fried chicken or pulled pork, cheeseburgers, portabello mushroom French dip, nuggets, salads, and an array of sauces.
The duo were studying acting at Pace University when they met and became friends, working together in plays, films, and kitchens. Bliss used to work for Union Square Hospitality Group and chefs and restaurateurs such as Andrew Carmelini, Steven Starr, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Tomaiuolo had worked at NYC Philly-styled sandwich restaurant Fedoroff’s Roast Pork, Brooklyn neighborhood bar Kilo Bravo, and hot dog spot Dog Day Afternoon.