Casa Pública

Located a block from McCarren Park, Casa Pública’s design is influenced by Mexico City’s rich history of Art Deco architecture. There are floor-to-ceiling windows, Saltillo clay tiles cover the floor, and the decorations include old Mexican newspapers. In the kitchen, the menu blends Mexican home cooking and market dishes. There’s a trompo used to make proper al pastor tacos, also offered with fillings like steak with melted cheese. Tostadas will be topped with crab, uni, and peanut salsa, while more substantial dishes will include chilaquiles with mole, and (when in season) crispy soft-shell crab with hominy polenta. The desserts will be simple sweets, including a flan made with goats’ milk caramel, strawberry sorbet, and an ice-cream version of tascalate, the toasted maize-and-chocolate drink from Chiapas. And there’s a substantial list of original cocktails to drink through. Consider the mezcalada: mezcal, coconut, lime, pineapple, and a floater of rum.