Ponche Taqueria & Cantina

Finally a good Mexican restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen. Delivery can be hit or miss. All their pork dishes are amazing. Favorite tacos are shrimp, carne Asada, and the pork with pineapple. The tortas are great too but sometimes the bread can be soggy, anyone who eats tortas knows the crunchy bread is what makes it so yummy. Also if you go there it’s BYOB and cash only. They do accept cards for delivery.

4.5 stars! The definition of hole-​in-​the-​wall with delicious authentic Mexican food (you know what I mean– tacos with real meat and not just filler lettuce falling all over the place)! The place is small, and easy to miss, but once you get a table, it’s worth it. There are only a few tables, and most of them fit two people, so definitely don’t come with a large party. I got a burrito featuring deliciously seasoned pork and pineapple, which ended up being so big that I could only finish half of it. My friends got quesadillas and the three taco special, and both thought everything was wonderfully scrumptious!
All this, AND BYOB? Incredible.
Half a star was deducted for the constantly flickering light overhead, the 40 minute wait, and the seemingly dripping air conditioner unit right about the entrance!

This place is small, only about 8 tables but we were lucky to get the last table.
Ordered the guacamole and chips. Very fresh and homemade. Could have used a little more lime and salt but it was good.
I ordered the taco plate with 1 pastor, very good flavor, 1 chicken, spices on point and juicy, 1 mahi mahi, great flavor and texture. Pastor and fish were my favorite. Side of beans and rice. Good but nothing spectacular.
All in all, tacos were really good and prices were reasonable. 14.95 for the 3 taco combo.
Recommend

Great Authentic Food for a great Value! It was very small so you may end up waiting a bit depending on how bussy it is. (BYOB Though) I did not like the chicken tacvos as much as the steak tacos. Everything was reasonably priced and fresh, Service was great and Fast.

When you are spoiled with great Mexican food in California, you crave it after a week! We came here and was hoping for great Mexican food and it delivered! Love how you BYOB and all the food was great! Definitely a 5-​star restaurant worth going to if you are in New York!

We were looking for something different on the Friday night of Memorial weekend. We were in Midtown West Kama so I went on Unilocal and found this place. The reviews convinced us to give it a try. We were seated at 8 p.m. and one of the last tables available. They were very crowded, and it was a little bit noisy. There are not many tables in the restaurant to begin with, but when we were seated we were greeted by a very friendly wait staff. We got a starter of guacamole, which came with very fresh nice and salty chips they were a perfect complement for the guac period two of us shows the type of combination. There are about a dozen different tacos to choose from and we chose pork, shrimp, and steak. They were extremely flavorful, and come with rice and beans. Another Diner got a vegetarian burrito, thought it was amazing. The fourth in our party got a quesadilla and enjoy that as well. Not that this is a cash-​only place and is also BYOB.

If you’re looking for a nice BYOB place to eat at a decent place I definitely recommend!
The service was great.
Not recommended for a big group, it’s a tight place. Party of 6 or less would be just fine.

I wish there was an even stronger word for love bc that is how I feel about this little hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant. I almost feel like I shouldn’t write this review, just to keep the place to myself. Yes, that’s how good this place is!
I’ve been to this place at least 4 times now because it’s so close to where I work and I’ve never been disappointed by the food here.
I 200% recommend the chips and salsa here! First, the chips are the crispiest –they also season them with some sort of spice that adds a wicked kick to it (real specific, I know). Secondly, The salsa is magical!!! I can’t figure out what makes it so deliciously addicting but once I start on one chip, I can’t stop!
Even though it’s sloppy, I love the tortas (sandwiches) here. I’ve tried the pulled pork and pulled chicken sandwiches. The sandwiches have beans, guacamole, salsa and mayo and come with a side of chips.
The enchiladas and burritos seem equally good here. I can’t say from personal experience bc I’ve never ordered them but my coworkers love them.
The taco combo (~$ 15) lets you choose 3 tacos from their eclectic list and the tacos are alwayssss loadeddd and covered in fresh guac.
Short summary is you can’t go wrong with coming here! Do yourself a favor and add this as a favorite to your list of restaurants!

Delicious, fresh, fast. Not some plate of unrecognizable cheesy thing. Really good flavors and even the rice and beans were amazing. A hidden gem.

I had ordered take-​out from here at my friend’s apartment in Hell’s Kitchen about two weeks ago. Had noticed this was a fairly inexpensive spot in the area with tasty sounding mexican food and the restaurant in itself is a byob (but with a $ 3 or $ 4 corking fee). Still all not bad sounding for the area.
Not entirely sure if I just ordered the absolute worst thing on the menu. But when you order something with shrimp, I at least expect to see some resemblance of shrimp. I stared longingly at my friend’s Chicken quesadilla that had cheese smothered all in its soft taco shells. I stared longingly at my other friend’s chicken and cheese nachos that comes with beans and copious amounts of sour cream (guacamole if you want as well but she hates the green stuff). My sad camarones quesadilla was mostly just a vegan black bean, tomato, cilantro with a smear of guac tortilla concoction. I actually felt healthy eating it but I didn’t pay $ 8 – 10 for a healthy meal that I could make at home for cheaper. There were about 2 – 3 pieces of shrimp.
We ordered an additional side of chips (which were a heaping plentiful amount) with guac (which was a very tiny cup sized amount) and it was slightly watered down. I regret not going the burrito route. I have some mild amounts of faith that their burritos and enchiladas could be better. I just would avoid getting something with shrimp again as they are stingy as hell.

Frankly, if you are looking for a Mexican food, never miss Ponche. The tacos here are heaven, and the burritos even heavenly.
A must try Carnitas Borrachas, a Roasted pork with black pepper, soy sauce, and tecate beer and also Guacamole with Chips comes with Avocado, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and chili serrano. Greasy, seasoned, yummy goodness, that’s what Ponche offered.
Service is fast unless it’s peak hours, so better be early.
Highly recommend this place!

A friend of mine brought up this place to me enthusiastically today to tell me that they’re inexpensive and also BYOB. This restaurant is close by our mutual friend so it was pretty interesting that we had never popped in here. Upon looking it up myself I realized that I too had already bookmarked it a long time ago. Lol.
While over at said mutual friend’s apartment we got hungry while playing Monopoly (I know, I know — we sound exciting AF) and decided that cheap Mexican food was the way to go (Trump also coincidentally won Indiana today and Ted Cruz dropped out of the race so let’s eat as much Mexican food as we can before Trump throws us Latinos all out and you’re all stuck with bland, inauthentic tacos!).
One friend ordered a shrimp quesadilla — it might as well have been a vegetarian quesadilla because if it had 3 shrimp in the whole quesadilla it was a miracle — they were also tiny… like the size of a nickel — I kid you not. My other friend ordered a chicken quesadilla — this one looked superior to the shrimp one. It was stuffed with gooey cheese and saucy shredded chicken.
I ordered their Nachos con Pollo sans salsa or guac because that’s how I roll. My nachos came loaded with saucy shredded chicken (I usually prefer chopped up grilled chicken breast like my neighborhood Mexican spot), cheese, crema/​sour cream and black beans on a bed of sorta warm tortilla chips. It was okay. I gobbled it all up because homegirl was hungry, but I’ve definitely had better and for *cheaper*, but yeahhh — for $ 7 that’s good for Hell’s Kitchen.
I’d come back here again and avoid getting a quesadilla… and to be honest, I probably wouldn’t get a burrito if the quesadillas were any indication as to filling prowess. Stick with the nachos or maybe tacos and you’ll be A-Ok…but easily will have had better… unless you live under a rock ;-).

Really yummy food — was able to split the Quesadilla and chips i ordered over 2 meals. Knocked off one star because they didn’t include guac with the quesadilla as advertised :(

great BYOB mexican spot slightly off the beaten path in hell’s kitchen. the place is small inside with seating for about 20 people, it’s nicely decorated and clean. it was a bit warm inside, and i noticed two really large fans sitting on the beverage coolers, so guessing there’s no AC and could get pretty hot in the summertime.
food here is very tasty, some of the better mexican i’ve has in the city. guac was fresh and zesty, and here’s a big win… UNDER $ 10! for entrees we had steak fajitas and chicken enchiladas with green sauce. both were also served with a side of rice and beans. the server also brought us their homemade hot and mild sauces, these were awesome. i wanted to take them home with me in my doggy bag.
definitely plan on coming back here. food was not only fresh and flavorful, but also affordable. service was attentive and who doesn’t love a BYOB? these are hard to come by in NYC.

We were hungry and wanted Mexican food. Que: Seamless and Unilocal.There was real excitement when we stumbled upon this spot. My friend and I ordered delivery one night… and not only was the service rough but also the food was delivered two hours later and was not good.
So here’s the saga of trying to get a burrito and three tacos delivered to the Columbus Circle area:
8:00 — order delivery
9:15 — call because we were confused and hangry
fifteen minutes of being placed on hold
9:30 — «oh… we forgot to print your order and send it to the kitchen.»
10:30 — finally get the food
10:31 — realized that we were eating a very expensive, slightly healthier version of Taco Bell.
As you can tell from the timeline, it was an experience. Over two hours of waiting for something far below what it should be. I had a very similar burrito when I was at TB in high school… The only difference was the presence of black beans. My friend said the tacos were a little better but were delivered cold.
Suffice to say, take your Seamless orders and hungry selves somewhere else.

Ponche Taqueria was hands down our favorite delivery spot when living in the Columbus Circle area. We loved it so much that we found ourselves eating Mexican food more than ever! Everything we’ve ordered has been fantastic — even the zesty chips & guac are mother-​watering delicious! If you’re a seafood lover, do not miss out on the Pescado Tacos & Burrito Mar y Tierra.
Ever since we’ve moved, we haven’t been able to find a Mexican restaurant comparable to you. Missing you too much, Ponche Taqueria… :-(

Early lunch special of tres tacos. Liked it quite a lot. It’s nice to have a quick sit-​down Mex in the sector. Good simple décor.
It will need to contend with Otto’s newly arrived just around the corner…

This place looks a little rough from the outside, but like the other reviewers have said, don’t be put off. This is a solid choice for hearty Mexican food with great service.
My friend and I ordered the house guac and guac con carne, both of which were delicious. My main was the chicken enchiladas — authentic Mexican but could have had a little more flavour.
Great service and really made you feel welcome.

This place is so good that I must write the review while I am still on my way home. The ambiance is very cozy and relaxing, the service is really friendly. I like they let you choose any of 3 Tacos from the menu for $ 14.95. (We actually overlooked this while I ordered but our waiter was very nice to remind us !) I like to try different things so this is def a big plus to me. The tacos are really delicious and I especially like grilled steak and fried mahi mahi tacos! BYOB so don’t forget to bring wine or beers over !

Ponche
NY Manhattan Hells Kitchen
7:49 Sunday 5^th July 2015
Four Stars
During halftime of Women’s World Cup Match between USA and Japan, we stopped by Ponche’s to grab a bite to go. I had three tacos plus rice and beans $ 13. They came in larger than usual corn tortillas. They were not the prettiest tacos but they tasted great. In order of Preference: Al Pastor, Carnitas Borrachas, and Carne Asada. The salty Pork and sweet Pineapple were a nice pair. The shredded pork and avocado were delicious. The Steak was good. The food came out really quickly which was much appreciated.
Some of the best Mexican that I have had in the City.

Endroit très sympathique, délicieux repas accueil chaleureux, attention il vendent pas alcool mais autorisé de rapporter bière acheté a la supérette super et merci