Taqueria Tepango: Wrapped Up Meat
I just realized how dirty the title of this post sounds. It's because I have a crude perverted sense of humor, deal with it. Today I'm reviewing a staple food of many Pratt students, Taqueria Tepango, more commonly known as Tepango's. The first time I heard about this place I was like, what? Did he just say he wanted to visit Cory's girlfriend? That's what she said.
Located right on Myrtle, two blocks from Pratt, this small restaurant makes culinary magic for a very reasonable price. Let me apologize now for the grainy pictures, I realized I forgot to set the white balance after the fact. (Though I'm not sure it would have made the pics any better considering it's a point and shoot)
The exterior is not much to look at, and because the large sign from the adjacent flower shop blends with their sign, it's easily overlooked.
There isn't much to say about the interior either. The tables are small, but they are pretty cool with you combining tables so everyone can sit together. Most of the time the place is deserted. If I wasn't with Miranda, Alessandra, and Sira, I probably would have ordered as take out. They don't sell any alcohol, but the deli across the street does, so you can bring some with you.
They supply you with chips and salsa while you wait for your food. The chips are not that great, but they are pretty fast in the kitchen so you won't be munching on these for very long. I ordered a side of guacamole with my meal, and they brought it with the chips. It's not the best guacamole I've had, but it's definitely tasty. Three bucks for a bowl is a steal, given the price of avocados in NY.
Sira ordered a spicy chicken hard shell taco. I didn't taste it, but he seemed to enjoy it a lot.
I'm fairly sure that everything on the menu is delicious, but most veterans will have an established go-to-dish. Sira's go-to-dish is the Beef Super Taco, which looked amazing. All of their dishes come with a scoop of guacamole, some fried tortilla chips, and some pico de gallo.
Miranda always orders the chicken fajita. It should be noted that she ordered it with no onions. This dish also comes with a small stack of soft corn tortillas. This pic gives you a good scale of what their portion sizes are like, if you compare it to the beer bottle on the top left. These plates are seriously the size of a baby...a large baby.
My go-to-dish is, the Al Pastor Burrito. There's just something about how this burrito is made that keeps me coming back. The combination of rice, beans, spicy pork, pineapple, and caramelized onions wrapped in a tortilla and smothered in cheese--there really isn't anything negative I could say about this dish. It costs 8 bucks, but considering how i never finish this, 8 bucks for two meals is well worth it. I also ordered horchata which was very good. Believe me, I've sampled my fair share of horchata and this is one of the better ones I've had. They also take credit card, which is almost unheard of in Brooklyn. For a broke college student that almost never carries cash, this little service is a blessing.
edit 10.30.12
Tepango's was open, and delivered to me during the middle of hurricane Sandy. Props.