la physicale #2 - dos toros taqueria.

for almost eight months now, i've worked in the city just north of union square. when it comes to a quick & proper taco lunch, i've mostly subsisted on a diet of dorado tacos (more to come on them fo sho) & varied taco trucks. then, one day i was walking up 4th ave just south of the park with my bag of dorado & looked up to notice there was a dos toros taqueria staring me in the face. i'd never noticed it before because, let's be honest...who the fuck walks on 4th ave?

in the past, when in need of sustenance to counteract the night's consumed liquid, i've stopped into the greenwich village dos toros & ate tacos whilst standing up at the condiment counter. it's kinda mayhem. they also have an UES locale, but when i'm dogsitting up there, i've focused on other places. at lunchtime the 4th ave locale's not too bad, clocking in at under ten minutes to get your food & if you're like me, retreat to your office.

dos toros' deal is that it was formed by two brothers from san fran who moved out east & found themselves longing for the taquerias of cali. their food uses ingredients that are all fresh & high-quality & sustainable & made right in front of yo face. the menu's simple, with four types of burritos, tacos, quesadillas & platos/salads. it's a little pricey per taco ($3.80 avg + $.46 for guac) but you definitely get a quality taco.

carnitas ($3.90) - their pork taco features pulled pork & a simple tomato, onion & cilantro salsa. other than that, i skip the guac but add in some salsa verde. there's also a slice of cheese melted onto the bottom of each taco, a placement that helps hold their one-tortilla setup together.  that's it. as such, the meats in their tacos take center stage & need to be juicy & flavorful. their pork's definitely both.

pollo asado ($3.90) - for the most part, i'm not really a fan of chicken tacos. maybe it was the fact that, in my more naive years, i always got taco bell's chicken soft tacos. i just find that a lot of people do them wrong, which is sad because a monkey can cook a chicken breast. dos toros' is one of the better ones i've had in the city, as it's fresh & slightly spiced.

carne asada ($4.13) - steak tacos are often shit. i've had many a taco filled with dry, flavorless meat. in the case of dos toros, their steak is juicy & usually features a little pink on the inside. i haven't tried the rice & beans one, but i'm going to assume that the steak one's the most filling of their four tacos. if you eat beef & only try one of their tacos, this is the way to go.

overall, dos toros does a solid job of pumping out tasty, high-quality tacos in a relatively fast manner. based on my experiences though, i couldn't imagine sitting down there at a normal mealtime hour & enjoying my tacos. i guess the same thing's true of taco trucks though...good tacos either way.

taco meter (out of five possible tacos):

   

dos toros, 137 4th ave / 1111 lexington ave / 11 carmine st, manhattan