I heard about La Esquina, a NoLIta eatery with three faces (Brasserie, Café and Taqueria), from another blogger (the great Everywhereist, who makes me laugh, and will likely make you laugh too) and thought what the heck — it’s exclusive, but no harm trying. So I called, I got reservations at the Brasserie (I’m sure it was my charm that did it, and not the fact that we were willing to eat early on a World Cup night), and we had dinner there with New York friends on Saturday. It was delicious — ditto everything Geraldine said in her review — and not the tiniest, tiniest bit snooty. The bouncer and the doorkeeper with the walkie-talkie both smiled sweetly at us, our server was endlessly patient and informative, the other patrons were not so astonishingly beautiful that I wished I’d had a chance to change out of my sweaty sundress and Keen flip-flops before dinnertime (I mean, I wished it, but it didn’t ruin the evening for me). It was a great meal.

Photo by A. Strakey

The Brasserie is, however, indoors, and that’s not good for travelers with dogs. Never fear. The street-level taqueria (the Brasserie is in the basement, and the café is around the corner) serves the same I-can’t-eat-them-fast-enough soft tacos that we had, and it has a walk-up counter, pictured above.

There are a handful of seats inside (again, off-limits to dog owners), but there are also some outside tables and a nice little park just across the street. Take your tacos to a table or a park bench and soak up the sun and the deliciousness.

Taqueria at La Esquina
114 Kenmare Street
New York, NY 10012
T: 646-613-7100
Taqueria open 12 pm to 2 am