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All Reader Reviews of...
La Esquina Taqueria and Cafe
114 Kenmare St., New York, NY, 10012
at Lafayette St.
646-613-7100
| 5.1 | "Mixed Reviews" Average Reader Rating on a Scale of 10 |  |
great horchata
cygnerose from 10032 | Posted on 6/11/09
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the ambiance is quite different. The waitress was very helpful. food is quite good. The tacos are tasty.
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Cafe Horchata
geiko_dom from 10011 | Posted on 4/1/09
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Despite the shortcomings of this sceney/poseur taqueria, the location and stellar tortilla soup usually make up for it, until last week. I witnessed a mid-shift restocking - behold - their horchata isn't homemade. It's from cartons of rice dream. Very disappointing. When I expressed my shock to the staff - their response was very salty indeed, but that's expected.
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Great Place!!!!!!!!!!!
amyb from 10075 | Posted on 2/6/09
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La Esquina has to be my favorite place to dine in NYC! It's always a good crowd, the food and service never fails to amaze me. Some of the simplest dishes are the best , like the De La Casa Salad and the sides of Grilled green beans and that yummy corn! The food is also very light, not your usual heavy Mexican cuisine. I'm a Head Concierge at one of the top hotels in the city, so we go out alot, and hardly ever repeat a restaurant, but La Esquina is one that myself and my team go to on a regular basis. It's also a great place to take "out of towners" !!
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an amazing birthday
kellysuez from 10010 | Posted on 8/12/08
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i met the girl who ran the private room when i was in for dinner one night and asked about having my birthday there. from meeting her, having a very simple email transaction to arrange the night, to the waitress and the hosts, even the amazing music and food - everything about the night was perfect and special. it seemed that everyone really went out of their way to make me and my 25 guests very happy. we had a delicious meal and managed to be out of there just in time for the 3 hour window to close (and the next private party to come in) - allwithout feeling rushed at all.
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Great Food! Needs Better Service
IHerrey from 07302 | Posted on 7/30/08
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We visited for the 1st time on 7/26.We were shocked to find what was below.Great decor! Our table wasn't stable & our waitress was rude.The chkn tostadas are a must have.The waitress did not show us the dessert menu & tried rushing us away.So we moved to the couches for more personal time.Another waiter a gentleman was much more pleaseant.I would go again but request another waitress, food is delicious! I ordered shrimp he ordered the angus steak (gratin potaoes were fantastic!)
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post below CONTINUED
lwainer from 11375 | Posted on 7/24/08
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Who gets to sit there? How could there BE no waiting system?" He answers "there just isn't, we cannot give you a table." I understand he must have been a pathetic inexperienced struggling artist that is probably relishing his little power trip working as the lame host at La Esquina, but even the host at Applebee's would know better restaurant etiquette than that. While I should have spoken to his superior immediately, I decided it was not worth my effort - I simply smiled and said thank you have a good night, walked out, and was seated immediately at the taqueria (also part of La Esquina) next door, which may I point out had several empty tables. Guess La Esquina was just THAT busy (let me also point out that it took an hour for our tacos to come out because the waiter forgot to put in our order)....It is a pity that a loser host who performs his job sitting down while he talks to customers, has to pretend a place like La Esquina is like the door policy at Marquee. Marquee can get away with that maybe but La Esquina can't.
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The rudest and most pathetic restaurant host ever
lwainer from 11375 | Posted on 7/24/08
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I HIGHLY regret my decision to go here. I have been to many restaurants around the city and never have I witnessed such poor service and attitude. Upon entering the restaurant with a friend, on a Wednesday night, when there was hardly any sort of busy scene, I was surprised to realize i had walked by the lame host that could not even afford to stand up on his feet to greet customers. Instead he was busy reading his book and playing with his iphone, SITTING DOWN as he looked rudely at customers walking in, with an expression on his face implying "And what the hell do you want?" Despite the fact that the restaurant was not even busy and no one was waiting for a table, he barked at us claiming "I don't care if you are Princess Diana...even if you DID have a reservation for 8:30 we give up our spots in fifteen minutes so there is no way you would be given a table now." He goes on to shout that there "IS no waiting system here" and when I respond, "So what happens when this party eating right here is finished?
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La Esquina and My Boyfriend's b'day Suprise
Evangeline from 11420 | Posted on 6/6/08
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I recently had a suprise birthday party for my boyfriend and supposedly 25 of his best friends. HE was suprised, wehn he got there just as everyone when I sent them the link to what the place looked like on the outside. I wanted them to be suprised as well. Our waiteress Michelle, was simply a delight, she worked our party and our bar bill very well...but with food that great the service and the decor we could've cared less. Everyone vowed they'd definitely be back. The only disapointing thing was the fact that I had 19 people confirmed out of 25 and 14 showed up.
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While it's too cool for school...
speakthetruth from 10003 | Posted on 2/13/08
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It's a scene and I pretty much poo poo any place that judges its patron on their image. However, the food is pretty darn good. If you want to eat casually, avoid the hyped speakeasy-ish downstairs and eat upstairs. The pollo rostizado torta, is perhaps one of the better sandwiches in the city. And don't forget the green beans. Just because they may judge you, it doesn't mean you should judge their food.
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Over Rated
LMSanchez from 11106 | Posted on 8/7/07
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I used to live in Little Italy and walked past this place many times. The few times I ate there were just "okay" with the service slow and, most of time, non-responsive. I never had any desire to even peek downstairs because I had always heard that the bouncer and staff thought they were "all that." Skip it and instead, head up to Public or the other cute, funky places on Elizabeth and Mott (between Broome and Houston). Much better atmosphere, food -- and worth the hype.
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