Dinner | Dos Toros Taqueria

Per an insistent recommendation by my co-worker, Elan, Dos Toros Taqueria has been on my list of places to try before the end of the year. So when I saw this LivingSocial deal (i.e., $20 to spend on food and drink at Dos Toros for only $10!), I nabbed it so Marcus and I could finally go try it together.


Elan said he prefers going to the Union Square location, but as the LivingSocial deal was for the West Village location, that is where Marcus and I ended up going. Love the "T" in the Dos Toros logo -- minimalist, serifed bull horns!

Leo and Oliver Kremer, originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, started Dos Toros here in New York City. Growing up, the two brothers ate at their favorite taqueria nearly every single day of the week. Later, upon venturing to the East Coast, they were shocked to discover that the same stuff simply was not available, which inspired them to come up with Dos Toros Taqueria. The Kremer brothers has made the focus of Dos Toros to be obsessively about food, spending countless hours perfecting the taqueria's recipes and sourcing fresh, high quality ingredients from local vendors.


The interior of Dos Toros is a combination of custom light fixtures pairs with counter tops made from reclaimed wood. As for the menu, the Kremer brothers is proud to say that it is "short and sweet" in that you can "spend mroe time eating and less time trying to figure out what to order." There's a choice from burrito, taco, quesadilla, and plato as well as the respective protein (e.g., carnitas, pollo asado, carne asada, and rice/bean).


Per Elan's sole recommendation that I "HAD to get the crispy chicken tacos," I, in fact, got the crispy chicken tacos -- crispy meaning the tortilla is heated and grilled slightly with some cheese before plopping on the protein (chicken, in this case) and the token condiments (sour cream, salsa, and guacamole). Oh man -- these tacos were out of this world! Toasting up the flour tortillas with a little bit of cheese made a big difference for the tacos at Dos Toros! The chicken had a nice char to it. The condiment combination of guacamole, salsa, and sour cream were really dynamic in flavors, mainly because you can taste the fresh ingredients used in each. The avocados mashed within the guacamole were rich and buttery while the tomatoes in the salsa were fresh and juicy. The sour cream was a nice unifier of the salsa and guacamole -- it was just enough to get that mildly sour taste going with the rest of the taco. As someone who has a very hard time eating, enjoying, and digesting Mexican food, Dos Toros is a beacon of hope. The tacos did not feel like one big gloppage of Mexican condiments all mixed in with chicken you can barely taste because of the condiments' flavors drowning and overpowering it. By the time I finished them, I was already craving some more!


Marcus not only got a crispy chicken taco but also a crispy steak taco. Elan was right -- the crispy chicken taco simply dominates taco side of the menu. Nothing supercedes its sheer deliciousness.


Along with our tacos, Marcus and I shared a Mexican bottled Coke and a bag of chips.

Findings: I was very impressed with the crispy chicken tacos over at Dos Toros. It not only is crispy (love, love, love that they warm up the tortilla with a little cheese prior to filling it), but it boasts the freshest of ingredients (juicy tomatoes and ripened, buttery avocados) wrapped in its interior. Definitely will come back to Dos Toros when I'm craving some tacos! So if you do make it to Dos Toros, do yourself a favor and order dos crispy chicken tacos. You'll be glad you did.

Kudos to Elan for this great recommendation!

Price point: $7.35-7.81 for each taco, $2.30 for a bottled drink, $0.92 for chips.

--October 28, 2011

Dos Toros Taqueria (West Village)
11 Carmine Street
New York, NY 10014
http://www.dostoros.com