Incredible Mexican tacos can be found in unexpected places. Driving along Fifth Avenue in Bay Shore, a roadside banner reads "Para que ir a Queens?" ("Why go to Queens?"). There, in front of a storage facility, a Los Angeles transplant is cooking some killer Tijuana-style tacos at his colorful truck, Taquero Mucho.
Meanwhile, who would think that the Hamptons would boast not one, but two incredible Mexican restaurants? One of New York's most innovative Mexican chefs, Julian Medina, plays with Japanese flavors at his new Southampton spot, El Verano. You've got to try the lobster tacos topped with dollops of spicy togarashi mayo. And Mala Madre, a strip mall taco joint in Westbury, totally wows with its Yucatan-style cochinita pibil.
The slow-braised pork is brimming with achiote spice and little crispy bits that make you want to eat more. And speaking of Westbury, the NYC-based chain Tacombi expanded to Long Island with an open-air space that transports you out of the Walmart parking lot and into a picturesque taco stand on a Mexican country highway. And since Long Island is a melting pot of Latin American flavors, Guatemalan tacos are included here as well as a great place to get Honduran tacos (catrachos) which are fried much like Mexican flautas.
Long Island is still building up its regional Mexican cred, but this selection of 15 taco spots is more innovative and more delicious than ever. As they say in Spanish, "¡Que rico!". 1610 Old Country Rd.
, Westbury The essential gu.
