New York's Best Steak Tacos: The Definitive Guide
Short reviews of Empellón, Oxomoco, Santo, Soledad, Cuerno, El Chato, Frijoleros, and others
Please give a warm welcome to Steak Tacos, a long column that I’ve been plotting for quite some time!!! This is my third big beef guide, after The Steak List and The Budget Steak List.
Putting together a steak taco guide wasn’t initially on my radar. But so the story goes that that spots like Santo, Soledad, Cuerno, and others have been changing the way we eat red meat. These newer spots specialize in thinly-sliced and sometimes minimalist steak tacos meant to be inhaled in just a few bites. Mexico City’s El Califa de León will join this growing club when it debuts its first stateside location in Flatiron this spring. I can’t wait.
That said, we already have a lot of steak tacos to eat. So let’s get to it.
Steak Tacos, Your Definitive Guide
Alright, what kind of steak do ya want?
We got steak tacos sliced from the trompo. Steak tacos seared over coals and grilled over mesquite. Steak tacos griddled with cheese, cut with marrow, and paired with fries.
Shall I go on?
We got steak tacos with raw beef and steak tacos as sizzling fajitas. Steak tacos served with fancy wagyu. Steak tacos made with cecina. Tiny steak tacos meant to be scarfed down in 30 seconds and giant steak taco platters meant to shared. In fact, as I’m writing these words I’m literally eating a steak costra taco at a new seafood spot, of all places, because at this point you’re either on this beefy taco train or you’re not.
The steak taco is the defining New York taco of our modern era. Let it be known. I’ll share more thoughts about why this is the case in a short essay down below, but let’s get to the fun stuff first.
New York’s 17 Best Steak Tacos
This list is in no particular order! Scroll to the very bottom for a fun little video of Empellón’s steak tartare tacos