Hecho En Dumbo

354 Bowery, NoHo, NY

2.8

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Neighborhood
NoHo

Cuisine
Mexican

Nearby
Bowery Ballroom
Webster Hall

212-937-4245

Official Website

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By Andrew Steinthal
April 14, 2010

As I usually do before going to a new restaurant, I hit Yelp before this meal to see what the people had to say about Hecho En Dumbo. A frisky female wrote a hilarious post about how Hecho’s old location in DUMBO was a hot singles hang and she thanked the sangria for getting her laid. Sure enough, Hecho’s new outpost on Bowery provides more of the same. It took only ten minutes before a tipsy female with a lisp and a lazy eye was hovering over our table, wondering if we were interested in a little post-meal rendezvous. We passed, but were happy that someone was paying attention to us. More on that in a minute.

In retrospect, I wish we would have made our way to Dumbo and google-mapped our way to some tacos at the original Hecho En Dumbo. Unfortunately that restaurant is now closed, but we probably would have avoided the hour wait and ass-tastic food. Everyone we know raved about that place. This new location is an unbelievable let down. The reclaimed wood decor is ripped right out of the Momofuku Noodle/Mercadito Cantina/Los Feliz handbook…played out and unoriginal. As for the clientele – it’s a mess. The place is populated with a mix of dudes that look like Ryan Seacrest in a fedora, and packs of interchangeable Murray Hill girls. Service is a disaster. Even after waiting for an hour for our table, we had to flag someone down to place a drink order. Our waitress came to our table a total of two times over the course of our meal, and she had zero knowledge of the menu. Even the margaritas were suspect. No fresh lime juice? What’s up with that? And the food…jesus. Not a single thing we ate was good, and the presentation was terrible. Aside from their sweet eagle logo, the only thing we like about Hecho En Dumbo are all the drunken internet ladies in the house.

Photo Credit: Daniel Krieger

Food Rundown:

Chips & Guacamole
They claim these chips are house made, and by that they mean house made at Sam’s Club.

Tostadas De Ceviche
This was essentially a halibut taco, and a bad one at that. The only thing that had any flavor was the tortilla and it tasted like paper.

Tacos De Cochinita Pibil
Presentation sure isn’t something they focus on at Hecho. While these little pork tacos were fine, there was absolutely nothing to them. Pork packed into a soft tortilla with a couple of pickled red onions on top, served sloppily on a white plate. Snooze city.

Burritos De Res
What was billed as mini burritos with wine braised steak tasted like mini burritos tossed in a spicy asbestos. I spit this out in my napkin.

Sopes De Chorizo
Actually one of the better dishes we ate all night, but that’s not saying much. It’s tough to mess up something with chorizo in it. On the other hand, you would think the same about the steak mini burritos.

Barbacoa Lamb Shank Confit
This dish was extremely curious. Lamb shank in a consomme with chickpeas, onions, carrots and tomatillo. This was served in a nice big bowl….with three forks. What are we supposed to do with this? Sit on the floor, pass the bowl around and drink from it? I want to go home.