Latest news with #PleaseDon'tTell
Time Out
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
A famed L.A. taqueria will give the NYC taco scene a boost when it opens this week
If you think that you have to hop on a flight to Los Angeles to get some classic West Coast tacos in your belly, think again. A popular L.A.-based taqueria is opening in New York City this week: It's called Tacos 1986, and it's set to open on Thursday, July 24 in the West Village. Originally started as a taqueria stand in Hollywood in 2018, Tacos 1986 was named as one of Eater's best new restaurants in 2019. It continued to gain in popularity, and now there are eight locations in the Los Angeles area. The new taco restaurant will be one section of a three-part complex, which also features two bars (the agave bar Mixteca and the soon-to-open Kees) and is located at 1 Cornelia Street. Run by Please Don't Tell owner Jeff Bell and co-owned by Tijuana-born Victor Delgado and Jorge 'Joy' Alvarez-Tostado, the restaurant will feature tacos from that Baja city. The menu is built on the seemingly simple (but incredibly flavorful) combination of grilled meat layered in handmade corn and flour tortillas; guests can choose between carne asada (steak), adobada (thin-cut adobo-marinated pork), chicken or a meat-free mushroom option. Along with traditional tacos, there are also mulitas (a hybrid of the taco and quesadilla), vampiros (a mix between a tostada and a quesadilla), and classic quesadillas. The collaborations between Bell and Delgado and Alvarez-Tostado began when the trio worked together at Coachella in 2023. It was only a matter of time before they found a way to bring the flavors of the West Coast to New York City. Like one of New York's best taquerias, Los Tacos No. 1, Tacos 1986 will be a standing-room-only counter-service concept. When it opens, the new spot will only operate in the evening, but there are plans to add morning and afternoon hours. When the rest of the One Cornelia complex opens, guests will even be able to order Tacos 1986 while they drink cocktails at either of the two bars in the venue.
Eater
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
One of LA's Best Taquerias Makes Its New York Debut
is a born-and-raised New Yorker who is an editor for Eater's Northeast region and Eater New York, was the former Eater Austin editor for 10 years, and often writes about food and pop culture. It used to be said that tacos in New York weren't as good as in other regions of America, say, Texas or California. But NYC's taco scene has certainly improved in recent years. And now, a famed Los Angeles taqueria is making its East Coast debut in New York City this month. Tacos 1986 will open in the West Village at 1 Cornelia Street, at West Fourth Street, on Thursday, July 24. The taqueria's first location outside of the Los Angeles area is going to be part of a three-part complex — One Cornelia — run by the owner of East Village speakeasy Please Don't Tell, Jeff Bell. Tacos 1986's focus is Tijuana-style tacos, per co-owners Victor Delgado and Jorge 'Joy' Alvarez-Tostada, who grew up in the Mexican border city. The menu includes grilled meats layered onto house-made corn and flour tortillas. There's the popular carne asada (steak) and the adobada (adobo-marinated thin pork cut from a trompo), along with chicken and mushroom varieties. Then there are also taco iterations with varying degrees of grilled cheese, from the mulitas to the vampiros to the quesadillas, as well as the recommended perrones (flour tortillas with grilled cheese and layered with beans and meats). The team will also offer their breakfast tacos and burritos during the daytime, with scrambled eggs, meats, mushrooms, salsas, bacon, beans, and much more. Delgado and Alvarez-Tostada previously worked together with Bell, serving food at Coachella in 2023. And Bell was determined to work with the duo at some point, leading to One Cornelia. The rest of the building includes two cocktail bars. There's the agave bar Mixteca, led by longtime Please Don't Tell staffer Victor Lopez, which is set to open in August. In addition, luxe basement bar Kees will open in the fall. Bell talks about how the significance of the address — the three-part complex sits at the confluence of West Fourth Street, Sixth Avenue, and Cornelia Street — along with the addition of Tacos 1986, makes the project that much more special. He recounts how passersby will point to the restaurant signage, exclaiming, ''Oh my god, I went to UCLA and I had this every day.'' The video interview kept getting interrupted by people recognizing and talking to Delgado and Alvarez-Tostada. And then, a certain pop star used to be a nearby resident. Taylor Swift had lived on the West Village block and has a popular song named after the street. Bell notes, 'If you stand out for an hour, you're probably going to get a dozen Swifties taking photos with the Cornelia Street sign.' The adobada perron from Tafcos 1986. The New York Tacos 1986 will be a slim, standing-room counter-service space at 250 square feet. When the rest of One Cornelia opens, customers at the cocktail bars will be able to order the food. The restaurant will serve its own aguas frescas, too. Initially, Tacos 1986 will operate with evening hours, but it'll expand to include morning and afternoon hours later on. That's when breakfast will be served. 'It was a mission, a vision,' Alvarez-Tostada says about expanding into Manhattan. Delgago positions it as: 'How do you say no to New York City?' The two are focusing on this restaurant for now, but they're not totally ruling out a future expansion in the region. Ultimately, Tacos 1986 NYC is about showcasing the team's West Coast taco sensibilities to the East Coast. 'That's really the goal in this small corner of New York: to represent Tijuana and Los Angeles,' says Alvarez-Tostada. 'I would love to create a nostalgic vibe for people who know it and have been to Tijuana.' Eater NY All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Eater
14-07-2025
- Business
- Eater
The Waldorf Astoria Is Finally Reopening Alongside Its Three New Restaurants
One of the biggest openings of the year, the trio of restaurants in the iconic Waldorf Astoria New York, is happening any day now — a project years in the making. The landmark hotel, circa 1931, has been closed for renovations since 2017, following the purchase of the building by the Chinese Anbang Insurance Group in 2014 for $1.95 billion (now the state-owned Dajia Insurance Group). The reopening, under the Hilton umbrella since 1949, is a historic event as far as real estate is concerned, as it's one of the most recognized hotels in the world. The renovation is described as 'a total transformation of the building' by Frank Mahan of the architectural firm behind the overhaul, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The hospitality spots will open by mid-July; reservations for the redone hotel rooms, which debut September 1, opened earlier this year. Frequented by political figures from Queen Elizabeth to the Dalai Lama, just about every U.S. president, and tons of celebrities over the decades (it has even inspired the name for a Muppet), the hotel is poised to showcase its history, remade for 2025. The marquee restaurant called Lex Yard features chef Michael Anthony leading the kitchen; it is the first new project that the Gramercy Tavern chef has embraced in the 20 years since he's led the kitchen at the Danny Meyer restaurant, where he will remain executive chef. (The restaurant is not under Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group umbrella.) Japanese spot Yoshoku will also debut in the space with chef Ry Nitzkowski. The lobby is home to Peacock Alley, the original name for the lobby bar, with Jeff Bell of Please Don't Tell behind the cocktail menu. At 47 stories, the Gilded Age hotel at 301 Park Avenue, between 49th and 50th streets, was once the tallest in the world. During this recent near-decade-long renovation, it went from 1600 rooms total to 375 rooms, on the lower 18 stories, with another 372 residences on the upper floors. The three new restaurants replace La Chine (formerly Oscar's Brasserie), Bull and Bear Steakhouse, and the bar version of Peacock Alley, which closed for reservations in 2017. In the lobby, the clock that was a gift of Queen Victoria in 1893 has been restored for the space. Here's what we know so far about the restaurants: A big new project for one of the city's best-known chefs Named for the Lexington Avenue Track 61 that once connected the property to Grand Central, the 220-seat brasserie, Lex Yard, is a lavish, two-story restaurant designed by AvroKO, offering elevated classics as well as seasonal dishes. (The underground train depot is no longer accessible to visitors.) The restaurant offers an a la carte menu as well as a seasonal prix-fixe menu, the latter of which is available on the second floor. The more casual first level has a menu with raw bar offerings, platters, seasonal grilled vegetables, a fully-loaded lobster roll, leek ravioli, burgers, and beef-fat fries. Prices for first courses and vegetables range from $18 to $40, while mains run $34 and up. The restaurant displays one of two variations on the Waldorf salad in the building — with this one, a salad 'good enough to make people who try it want to eat it again,' Anthony tells Grub Street. Desserts come from Jennie Chiu, formerly head of pastry at Rosewood Miramar Beach hotels in California. Here, her spin on red velvet dessert made famous at the Waldorf includes a red velvet souffle tart with cream cheese, raspberry swirl ice cream. A storied space goes all-in on a burgeoning trend Kaiseki is seeing momentum around New York in places like Chinatown's Yamada and Union Square's Kappo Sono. Yoshoku in the lobby adds a boost. The minimalist wabi-sabi space with views of Park Avenue centers around the building's 1939 'Wheel of Life' mosaic. Expect items like toro tartare, grilled lobster, and king crab. Drinks range from sake to champagne, Japanese spirits, and cocktails like the Tokyo Sidecar, with Kikori rice whisky, yuzu, and sakura. A hotel bar icon expands to a full-service restaurant Peacock Alley is the only of the trio of openings that was formerly at the hotel — an import from the 1890s. Originally a cocktail bar, it has been upgraded to become a full-service restaurant. Jeff Bell, known for PDT and the forthcoming West Village project, the Los Angeles import Tacos 1986, opening in Greenwich Village, is overseeing it. Cocktails like the absinthe-laced Waldorf Cocktail ($38) and the 50th Street Martini ($40) made with Tanqueray, Vetiver, and dry vermouth are on the menu, while a raw bar offers lavish seafood towers stocked with oysters, a lobster roll, caviar, and truffles. Other items remain doggedly classic, like pigs in a blanket and a Waldorf salad. For this renovation, the designers went back to the earliest plans for the lobby — maple burl veneer, black marble columns, black lacquer and marble bar, ornate French-leaning Art Deco flourishes. The Cole Porter Steinway will still anchor the room. A pianist will, once again, play nightly, a spokesperson confirms. The ground floor of Lex Yard is open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Its second-floor dining room is open Tuesday through Saturday for dinner. Yohoku is also open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday. Peacock Alley is open daily with a breakfast and an all-day menu. Visit Resy or the hotel website for reservations.
