New York City, Taco Town

Santo Taco, one of the newest of the newcomers, opened this spring, in a sliver-slim SoHo space that previously housed La Esquina’s taqueria, whose primary function was as a street-facing decoy for the glamorous restaurant hidden downstairs. La Esquina abajo remains open, but Santo Taco, unlike its predecessor, is very much its own raison d’être. A renovation has sleeked up the interior, but it’s primarily an outdoor restaurant. Ordering happens at a walk-up window, and the best place to sit is at the sidewalk tables, perhaps while sipping goldfinch-yellow agua fresca, a not-too-sweet blend of pineapple and cucumber. Even the line feels engaging—the queue moves quickly, allowing you to watch taco construction in action through the windows. The star of the kitchen is the steak trompo, a huge beehive of strip and sirloin steaks skewered on a vertical spit, glossy with fat. When a trompo taco is ordered, a cook brandishes a knife of ferocious sharpness, shaving a thin, broad piece large enough to overhang the corn tortilla it’s laid upon.