Taco Chulo

We found ourselves deep in the trenches of Long Island Expressway traffic last night- a situation, which ultimately lead us to get off the highway, and snaking through Queens. As it wasn't feasible for us to get to East Setauket in time to sample our wedding menu, we drove: until we realized we were in Williamsburg.

I'm not sure what it is about traffic, but it gave me a hankering for margaritas and tacos. We parked, investigated the meter and threw a few quarters in. Around the corner, on Grand Street, I noticed Taco Chulo.

The dimly lit interior hosts a roomy seating area with blond wood, turquoise walls and red highlights. We took a few seats at the bar, noticing that the venue was nearly empty, aside from a mother/toddler combo and three servers wearing tee shirts with tacos stuffed with the Virgin Mary, noshing on burritos at the other end of the bar.

We decided to sip a few of house recipe margaritas: grapefruit/mint (think love child between mojito and margarita), rose and eventually lime. Although the taco menu is extensive and tempting, we opted for the queso fondito with smoked bacon and onion. The bar keep warned that it would take twenty minutes. We didn't mind. A little tequila-infused decompression was needed after our traffic debacle.

The queso came in a moderately obscene portion of gooey melted cheese. I doused my plate with the three house-made hot sauces (which are delicious and spicy enough to burn your skin). We scooped up the melted cheese with warm white corn tortillas and house made chips.

I'd love to explore Taco Chulo again. According to Free Williamsburg, the owners are a team from Texas and California, which comes as no surprise, this is real-deal Southwestern fare.


...
Image: CitySearch