I recently led members of the Young Foodies Meetup group on a taco crawl to some of Bushwick’s best taquerias. Young Foodies is a great group of people in their 20s and 30s who dine out at some of New York’s best restaurants each week. Check them out because let’s be honest, you could use more good food and friends.
The crawl centered around Wyckoff Avenue, home to one of New York’s largest Hispanic communities. The area around the intersection of Myrtle Avenue is basically El Dorado for taco lovers (so everyone) – basically every 3rd storefront is a Mexican restaurant. Every one of them seems to have better tacos than you’ll find at 95% of Manhattan taquerias. We somehow managed to limit ourselves to four. Here they are:
Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos, 271 Starr Street
You would think being a tortilla factory less attention may be given to the fillings. But you would be wrong. The chorizo taco here is my favorite in NYC. And the tortillas are everything you could hope for: fresh, chewy and a little bit crispy 
Click for my full review.
Cholula Deli, 222 Wyckoff Avenue
Cholula is a deli with a counter that serves up some excellent tacos. It’s also a great place to load up on Mexican ingredients like cotija cheese, epazote or chorizo. There are a handful of tables in the back to sit at while you eat. They will serve you some chips and salsa, although I recommend skipping their watery dip which oddly tastes of ketchup. Stick to the tacos: the al pastor was a good blend of sweet and spicy 
Taqueria Izucar, 1503 Myrtle Avenue
This might be the smallest taqueria in New York. The triangular dining box room can fit about ten people standing. There is only a tiny amount of counter space to scarf down your taco so don’t book too much time at this one on your crawl. But don’t miss it either. The Suadero included some succulent hunks of veal and rivaled the chorizo at Los Hermanos for my favorite of the day The Barbacoa was a little dry and gamey. Skip it unless you really feel the need for some goat 
Taqueria Cocoyoc, 211 Wyckoff Avenue
This was the only waiter service restaurant on our crawl so we decided to finish up here. The back dining area features some unusual decor such as ceramic magic mushrooms and a Virgin Mary surrounded by Christmas lights. There’s also a backyard we could have dined if it were actually Spring.
There’s a full Mexican menu that makes this a suitable destination for a meal on its own. But of course we only stuck to tacos. You have two options for your taco – Mexican Style or Con Todo (with everything). Mexican includes onions, cilantro. Everything adds lettuce, tomato and crema. I took the al pastor Mexican style which was perfect to enjoy the spices and hint of sweetness from the pineapple 
The Barbacoa Enchilada (spicy goat) con todo had a great flavor but also weighed about 4 pounds
Note: You may be tempted by the $16 bottle of sangria. Don’t be. It tastes like fruit punch that’s gone bad. Stick to the beers to wash down your tacos and you’ll be happy.
Here’s a map of of the crawl from my free iOS app, DishEnvy. Download it to find great dishes and plan a crawl of your own.
