Need an excuse to go out for Mexican food?
New York Authentic Mexican Restaurant Week is now taking place until Monday the 15th, as part of the 5th annual Celebrate Mexico Now!, a festival commemorating Mexican art and culture in the city.
The same rules apply as with the traditional, bi-annual NYC Restaurant Week: select restaurants offer three-course, prix-fixe menus ($25 lunch/$35 dinner), meaning those on a budget can get the most for their money.
While the city’s regular restaurant week is an all out pachanga with heavy advertising and a dining list too long to chose from, Mexican Restaurant Week is still only in its second year, giving diners time to research each eatery before going, and a unique opportunity to not only try Mexican food, but try different kinds of Mexican food. It’s not all tacos and mole, people.
The participating restaurants, selected by the Mexico Tourism Board, Authentic Flavors of Mexico Foundation and the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture incorporate pre-Hispanic ingredients and methods of cooking, Spanish influenced practices, or new, modern takes on old ways.
Early Mexican cooking included exotic choices like worms and ant eggs, and the use of underground stone ovens for pork dishes like barbacoa. The dishes we now think of as traditional (available at La Palapa), like tamales, pozole and particular chiles, came about after the Spanish culture fused with the old. Today, experimental dishes are meshed with different influences, like bringing out the Caribbean and Mayan flavor in Yucatan plates (try them at Papatzul), or mixing Baja California with the Mediterranean.
Below is a list of participating restaurants. Find more information in our event listings and at the Celebrate Mexico Now events page:
Café el Portal
Café Frida
Centrico
Crema
Hecho en Dumbo
El Paso Taqueria
La Palapa Cocina Mexicana
Los Dados
Maya Restaurant
Mi Cocina Restaurant
Pampano Restaurant
Papatzul
Rocking Horse Café
Suenos
Toloache
Zarela