Tacos Al Suadero

This is my first time coming here and my review is short because I only ordered one item but it's officially my new favorite spot for a queso cemita in the area. Gooey and saucy with just a hint of smokiness from the chipotle, with generous portions of the beans, avocado and tomato. Definitely two servings for someone with a smaller appetite! Service was fast and friendly and they even gave us a free soda!

I had the opportunity to eat in and the service was great. The food was also good. I had the Al pastor tacos and were very delicious. I have also had tacos AL pastor to go.They wrapped it up nicely which made it stay warm after my 10 min walk home.

Wow... My family stopped in here for tacos, but I decided to go a little healthier and have fish (albeit fried fish!). We sat out in the freezer box on the street to try and avoid COVID. They only seemed to have one server working, a very sweet and patient gal... but of course that means you have to be patient as well. I don't advise you go here if you're in a rush. The server was masked and we felt comfortable in the outdoor meat locker (we were the meat) until we just got too damned cold, so we took everything to go (the food too a pretty long time to prepare... maybe due to my fish). The fish I ordered was fried Mojarra with garlic. OMG... if you don't like fish because it tastes "fishy," THIS is the fish for you! The flavor of the garlic with the fish and whatever else they put in there just had me sucking remnants of it off of my fingers. It was one of the best fish I've ever had. I also had a taco de oreja... delicious! Completely authentic (as you would expect from any place on Roosevelt Ave). The food is not cheap... even a "small" soup is $9 or $10, but these guys are worth it if you can do it. The only downside for me was how spicy the enchiladas were, as well as the consome de chivo... Great, great flavor, but hot damn that was spicy! To their credit though, they included plenty of salsa in our take-out bag, and even included a half lime with a bunch of chopped-up onion and cilantro to throw into the soup. I would absolutely go back (when the weather is better).

I come here for the horchata. I'm not talking about the whispers that you hear when you're in a brothel. I'm talking about the most famous Mexican drink. Other than Corona, I suppose. And speaking of houses of ill repute, Sting once left a note in one, for his favourite "lady of the night", or perhaps gentleman of the night (I have no idea, ask Stewart Copeland he might know). Later he wrote a song about leaving the note and how he felt afterwards. It was called "Message In A Brothel." Probably the only Police that were ever really popular in New York City. What to get: Horchata. What else: Tacos. Anything else: King Kong is dangerous to planes. So is Godzilla. They both like to "Swat-Aero Planes." So pilots be warned. I didn't love the Horchata this time as much as I did last time and every other time I came here so maybe I no longer have a taste for it or maybe it isn't quite as good as it used to be. Maybe they changed the powder or something - it's hard to know, but I still liked it. However for $3 for a small I wanted it to be a little better than it was. Really really friendly service though and I appreciate that. If that hot Colombian singer that is married to Pique ever has a sex change and becomes a man, she can open a joint named "Tacos Al Shakiro." There are three reasons why Tacos Al Suadero is one of my favourite places in all of NYC, and why I come here on basically every trip to the region, even if it's out of my way. (1) They have delicious tacos. Not the best in the world, but definitely some of the best in NYC. (2) They are open 24 hours a day. Can you believe that? In this day and age? A little Mexican place in Queens? I know, right. Super awesome and a huge plus. But best of all: (3) They have, quite literally, some of the best Horchata I have ever tasted. I'd put it as my all-time number one, in fact. Just ahead of Taco Nazo in Columbus and Valle Of Mexico in Buffalo. Granted, I'm still trying Horchatas to add to this list of faves, but I've had a lot of bad ones, and a lot of mediocre ones, and only a few truly excellent ones, and this Horchata is right at the top of the tree. It has just the perfect blend of cinnamon, water, milk, and rice. I get a large (which is expensive... the small is only 2 or 3), and it seems like a half gallon. It lasts for ages and is so cool and refreshing and light and delicious. And when it's done, I invariably wish I had another one. So these days, I often buy two large. The funny thing is, these large are given in plastic to go containers instead of cups. Tupperware-style. So they're incredibly hard to drink or store in a car without spillage. But whatever. They're just so damn good. If Enrique Iglesias opened this place, he'd whisper the name to you in the middle of the night, like this: "Tacos Al Te Quiero. Mi amo." But then he's a bit of a man-wh*** is he not? Which is fine with me. In fact it's wonderful with me. (Tosses hair). Speaking of late night horchata. You should have seen me running around Queens at 2am with one of these things trying to catch the last subway train back to my Econo Lodge Motel last summer the night before I flew to Brazil. I did not do too well with it. Lots of spillage. White stuff dripping down my pants and the like. I wonder what people thought. Actually I know exactly what people thought and I'm okay with that. And by the way, I missed the last train and ended up waiting an hour for a bus that never came (with a bunch of other disgruntled late night folks) and then taking a taxi instead. And if this were in the Middle East, it'd be "Tacos Al Jazeera." Which is great if you Dubai. I generally don't. I do hetero. I do homo. I don't tend to Dubai. Sorry if that is a disappointment to some. And back to those tacos, they're exactly what you would expect from tacos. Excellent pastor, good asada, nice chorizo. Greasy, filling, cheap. Much like the tacos at the trucks in the area. They remind me a little of Coatzingo just a little way down Roosevelt. Real Mexican tacos made by real Mexicans. The service is pretty good. The 24 hour thing is why I come here so often. But the Horchata is the shining star of the show. And if this were a cheap shampoo and conditioner shop, it'd be "Tacos Al Suave." It'd be owned by Rico Suave. Which would be ironic, because you'd probably only shop there if you were not Rico at all. I would know. I can barely afford the rice paper this horchata review is printed on. Anyway I make homemade Horchata. I can whip some up right now for you if you like. Close your eyes. I don't want to reveal my secret method for making it. :)

I truly enjoy this place. And I don't just really say that about every place that sells tacos. The service is top notch. They speak English, but definitely more Spanish which is great because then I can practice. I love that you can get a caldo, a burrito, or rice and beans. I'm not only saying this because the family next to me journeyed all the way from Jamaica for this authentic food. It's the fact that the tacos are are packed full of delicious ingredients. There's crisp cilantro, freshly minced onions, diced tomatoes, and lemon wedges galore. It's so good that I'm eating the leftovers right now. Yum! I'm definitely returning.