Cascabel Taqueria

1538 2nd Ave., Upper East Side, NY

5.7

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Neighborhood
Upper East Side

Cuisine
Mexican

212-717-8226

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By Chris Stang
September 12, 2011

Not all that long ago, we were showering Cascabel Taqueria with love like we wanted to make it our girlfriend. We were, at one point, completely obsessed with this quirky little taco shop. But what was once an oasis of awesome on the Upper East Side has now officially become just another place on Second Avenue that we are going to pass by on our way to Luke’s Lobster.

It seems that two things happened to Cascabel, and they very well might have happened simultaneously. Chef Todd Mitgang left the restaurant, and they expanded into a new, much larger space a few doors down from the original. Cascabel was riding some success, and decided to go big. But regardless of timeline, bigger at Cascabel is most certainly not better.

The new restaurant has a wrap around patio, a huge bar, and (as required by building code in this area) a few flat screen TV’s. It has the look and feel of every other Upper East Side bar that you have ever been to, except the walls are green. We’ve been in a few times over the last several months, and each visit has been progressively worse. They seem to have staffed the place with bartenders and servers from the Culinary Academy of Hey Bro, and though the menu is mostly the same, the food has fallen off. Most everything now tastes over-salted, and the new menu items are confusing and not good. The restaurant is over-crowded and uncomfortable, and is officially now a place that we’ve had to downgrade severely. I suppose some love just isn’t meant to last forever. I’m going to go listen to some Sarah McLachlan now.

Food Rundown:

Guacamole Tradicional Con Tostada
On our last few visits, we’ve found the guacamole to be bland and a little loose. We’ve also decided that medium is the new mild. The big tostada is also now way too salty.

Tortilla Soup
We’ve always loved the tortilla soup here, and it’s one of the few things that’s retained its awesomeness. If you’re here, this is what you should order.

Carnitas Tacos
These pork butt tacos are another victim of the salt monster these days. It’s a shame too, because I used to take these down two by two like I was building a taco ark in my stomach.

Carne Asada Tacos
These guys are still decent, but they’re also not as good as they once were. Every now and again, we’ll get an order with tough steak.

Gorditas Con Puerco
I don’t know what this thing is or what I am supposed to do with it. How am I supposed to eat that? It’s basically a two inch cube of pork sitting on top of a cucumber and some vanilla wafers. I didn’t even know where to start, so I didn’t.

Elota Asado
This is probably the one can’t miss item these days at Cascabel, but it’s also pretty hard to mess this up, and you can find it at about thirty other places in town.