El Luchador

It’s official, I believe the best taco joints are the smaller, less obvious places. I spotted this place with sweet bright light strands over a camper from a mile away on the corner of South while on an evening stroll by the seaport. It immediately reminded me that feeling you get on a laid back summer night, on a lounge chair, chilling with a cold beer in your hand. Love that vibe. Could hang here for awhile.
This place was exactly what we were looking for… fast, inexpensive, tasty, out of the norm and place to warm up on a chilly winter night. Done and done. And done right.
The place itself has a cool story. The actual building where everything is cooked is a converted old horse stable. An official NYC landmark. The theme is tacos vs burritos and goes with the name which is the name for Mexican wrestlers. You can see their masked faces on the gates out front.
There are a few seats at the window bar inside. Bistro tables and chairs outside for a nice night and a heated, vintage airstream painted a soothing turquoise inside with white 70’s chic booth seating, worn, chipped painted wood tables and colorful Christmas light strands. This was my favorite part by far. So adorable and cozy! Fab idea!
The food was all reasonably priced. I was torn between the veg burrito or the taco. And there goes the theme again! I went with the veggie taco (portobello, guac, pico, lettuce, cilantro) for $ 3.75. It’s already vegan which I love as it doesn’t come with cheese or sour cream and it was not missed at all. Some veg tacos are dry and need something, a sauce. These do not! Generous amounts of guac. Extra corn tortillas are free, just ask! I split the over flowing taco for my little one and myself to share with the extra tortilla I asked for. We loved them so much we went back for another even though it was really plenty of food. My daughter ordered the rice and beans side which had a nice hint of fresh squeezed lime. Yum! The table ordered the veggie nachos with queso, black beans, lettuce, pico and drizzled with sour cream. They were a very decent sized portion. Leftovers in fact. The shredded meat tacos are said to be out of this world but I personally couldn’t tell you. I do know people rave about them. We got two Jarritos to split, mandarin and pineapple. They had all of the classic flavors and also sell a craft bottled beer! Oh, I almost forgot my hubby got the rice pudding with apricots and a hint of cinnamon. It was very cold and he loved it!
Service was fairly quick and they were all definitely super sweet. We warmed up in the corner of the airstream and waited for them to call us when our food was ready. Cheery Mexican music played in the camper. We had a lot of fun dancing and enjoying the kitschiness.
We would definitely eat here again while in the neighborhood. As we started to leave, the place filled up quickly and as I have read that’s the norm so get there before «normal» lunch or dinner time. We ate dinner around 5:25pm on a Tuesday. Duh, Taco Tuesday!
My only gripe was the no restroom thing. Definitely an inconvenience with little ones in tow. I just don’t get serving food, even drinks, especially beer and not having one. Hmm. They directed us across the way. I believe there are normally public restrooms under the bridge. Perhaps they were closed because of the blizzard. The restaurant across the street let us use theirs, thankfully.

Fantastic food all around. I’ve been here many of times and my only complaint is that it can take a bit to get anything during lunch time on a work day.
The burritos are my go to — particularly the short rib. The corn is also a fantastic side if you’re looking for something extra.
They advertise that they will double tortilla your tacos and you absolutely need to, so make sure you ask them to do so!

I recently went back here with a friend to nab my favorite hot chocolate. We drove across town but lo and behold when we arrived we were told they no longer sell it. I then ordered the horchata off their menu and to make matters worse, they didn’t have that either.
They didn’t have any other customers but the tables were sticky and dirty and there was a workman blatantly doing construction work in the small dining area… very off putting. We did not end up getting food here because we lost our appetite. Since I can’t judge the taste I can’t give them only one star.

Great spot for a delicious Mexican lunch! Albeit CROWDED, but service is quite quick (in comparison to how long the line is) and attentive. Everyone in the office loves this spot!

After a long Walk at the coldest day in New York I found this small but cozy place and with delicious burrito, quesadillas and tacos which are very tasty

I’ve had a lot of tacos from all over the place, and this is by fe the best tacos I’ve ever had. Tried the cod, pork, and short rib tacos, and liked all of them.

Had two chicken tacos and two steak tacos they were so good, small but they’re so delicious. The place also has a heated trailer to sit inside and eat in, it’s soooooo cute I loved it. I will deffinetly be back soon. I’m drooling already just thinking about it

El Luchador
NY Manhattan Seaport
3pm Monday 28^th December 2015
Four Stars
I stopped by on this chilly Monday afternoon for a bite. I had the Guajillo Braised short rib taco $ 4 with pickled red Onions in a corn tortilla. The meat was tender and well-​seasoned. The corn tortilla was standard grocery store issue. The onions had a nice textural crunch. I liked the orange over the green sauce.
Warning: these tacos are bite sized.

I’m from Texas. I know good Mexican food. Throughout the long road trip to the North, I tried Mexican restaurants in a few different states. It seems the further north you go, the worse it gets. However, El Luchador was amazing! I ordered three different varieties of tacos. Each one was excellent. I was so happy to find great Tacos.
I removed a star for the salsa. This seems to be the area where northern Mexican restaurants are lacking. It was like a watered down version of what I am used to.

Great tacos with a homemade taste. Gets Crowder at lunch but that’s a sign of how good everything is. Come here.

Excellent and very flavorful tacos that you can’t go wrong with — plus eating in the air streamer is an added bonus!

Veggies beware– on the veg taco They put two pieces of cold mushrooms under a bed of cold lettuce, no beans, and pico. Guacamole is at least homemade and very tasty.
Fish taco good but They provide one tortilla so your entire taco falls apart. You have to ask for 2 tortillas which is lame-​everyone privides two tortillas.
Nice ambience but very disappointed in food.

If you come here any time besides lunch time, there’s no wait. I got two tacos (beer battered cod and short ribs). The beer battered cod is really good — you can smell the beer and the cod is juicy — and the sauce on the taco goes well with it. The short ribs is alright — the meat itself is good, but the taco is pretty plain.
Also got the Mexican corn and the corn itself is sweet. BUT THEY DONT GIVE YOU ANY SKEWERS FOR IT. Did you WANT me to manhandle the corn in public? Also, I wish it were grilled a bit more, there was barely any of the smoky flavor. The cotja cheese and mayo are standard, but I still like Café Habana’s better.
You can sit in the trailer, but there’s nothing special once inside. The music is actually obnoxiously loud, so I’d actually advise to sit away.
Come here for a quick bite if you’re in the neighborhood, but not worth a trek.

Man I love a good gimmick. And when booked correctly it can really cause a big pop. However, when you rely too heavily on said gimmick and experience unwanted heat from the fans, it’s easy to just get buried by the front office. But, if you can call your spots effectively, you’ll strike the right balance, and truly get over.
Sorry. Let’s shoot.
I have very little experience with dining in New York, specifically in the city’s Mexican restaurants or taquerias. Be that as it may, I was really impressed by El Luchador. This is a fairly simple operation, serving burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and a few sides. I ordered the tacos, two short ribs and a carne asada. While both were very good, the short rib was the clear winner. The meat was surprisingly tender and topped with pickled onions and cilantro. There was a nice rich sauce that coated the short rib and offered an additional depth of flavor. I regret not trying any of the sides, because the grilled Mexican corn sounded really awesome. I washed everything down with a pineapple soda and everything was good in the world. Seating is limited and will become increasingly so as the weather turns cold. The staff was very friendly and moved efficiently. Overall, I was quite happy with my experience.

Pros
Great and probably the best ambience in New York for a Mexican restaurant
Superb burritos
Cons
No beer
Use of a lot of crema (cream)
Overall a great place to kickback and sit in the trailer for a bite of south of the border

So recently El Luchador has been running a lunch promo that you get a soda + burrito + bag of chips for 10.95. Add guac and it becomes a 13 dollar meal. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it, maybe on the pricer side though? Unfortunately, the burritos have taken a size decrease and are around 5″ long. The chips are OK, but I felt like I was more full on chips than the burrito post meal, and I even ended up tossing around half the chips.
The staff is still nice, the line/​wait situation has gotten better, but the value proposition just isn’t worth it for a half star better than Chipotle.

Tried the short rib quesdilla with portobello mushroom and Monterey jack cheese. Awesome! Just delicious! The meat was flavorful.

NYC has a poor offering of Mexican food. It honestly stumps me why that is or why we now have so many Tex-​Mex restaurants. El Luchador is a big step in the right direction, and I would love it more if it was somewhere more central. It’s right by the Brooklyn Bridge, so if you ever walk across the bridge, definitely stop by here!
We ordered the carnitas tacos and chicken quesadilla — loved both! — along with guac & chips. My friend said the salsa was very good, but they happened to run out by the time we got there late Saturday afternoon. The quesadilla was my favorite because of the delicious cheese (nothing like the yellow stuff served in Tex Mex); it was more mild and didn’t overpower the dish. We then took our food and ate it in the little truck outside.
I’m definitely coming back here!

Counter service and then you sit outside or in a small converted trailer.
The homemade dip for the chips was pretty good and comes in a take away container so you can take the rest home.
Good is overall pretty good.

I would give this place 3.5 stars. 4 seems a little inflated but 3 looks a little low.
We went to El Luchador on a Wednesday night evening. Although the place was busy and seating was scarce, the food came out quickly after we ordered (much to my surprise after reading many of the reviews on here). They were also able to alter our order as I don’t eat onions.
We ended up with three tacos — short rib, carnitas, and vegetable; guacamole; and a chicken burrito.
I was pleasantly surprised by the guac. Although it came in a small plastic container, it seemed very fresh.
The short rib taco was my favorite. The meat was tender and flavorful. The carnitas taco was also good, and had an interesting salsa on it. I didn’t love the veggie taco, which was 95% guac and lettuce with a few strips of portobello mushroom at the bottom.
The burrito was great. Whatever cheese they put in there was absolutely perfect.
The dipping sauces were also good and were of various spice levels.
I didn’t love the seating area. We tried to first sit in the little RV vehicle but it was insanely hot in there and very loud. Then we ended up outside, next to the garbage cans. Honestly, it didn’t bother us, but I can see why this place might not be perfect for your next date night.
Another plus for me is this place’s proximity to bars and ice cream. You can make «a night» out of going.
Pricing was alright — the total bill came to around $ 25 for 2 people.
All in all, a good experience. We will probably be back to try some of the other things on the menu. If you don’t expect gourmet dining and white tablecloths, you won’t be disappointed.