Toloache

A very solid Mexican restaurant. Ordered enchiladas borachas, margarita and beer. $ 50. Kind of a unique take on Mexican food, reaching toward a finer dining Mexican food experience, but totally low key and accessible. Dress totally causal here. Plenty of bar seating, and little tables.

This year, I decided to do New Year’s Eve dinner at Toloache, mainly for these reasons:
1) Reservations were easily available even day of through OpenTable at prime times.
2) They were offering their regular a la carte menu in addition to the usual Gatsbyesque prix fixe.
Everything from the beautiful servers to the casual yet chic dining areas agreed with us, including the reasonable noise level (fun but not too crazy). The table was available almost immediately and our server was a really cool dude from Mexico (wish I could remember his name to call him out) who explained the various menus and made confident recommendations (always great).
The food itself was excellent, 4.5÷5 stars, or whatever. You’ll probably [want to] get the Trio de Guacamoles, which is a nice sampler of mild, medium, and spicy (though very tolerable even for non-​spice eaters) guac.
–Mild: Avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, serrano.
–Medium: Avocado, pomegranate (!), Vidalia onion, mango, apple, habanero, Thai basil.
–Spicy: Avocado, tomato, red onion, chipotle, queso fresco.
All three were fantastic.
There were a number of inventive entrees courtesy of Chef Julian Medina, but since I intent revisit Toloache sometime, I kept it simple with an order of tacos:
–Costilla & Tuetano (Beef short ribs, bone marrow, Thai basil, roasted red onion-​jalapeño
chiles toreados)
–JM Pescado (Baja-​style fluke, spicy jicama slaw, guacamole)
Both outstanding. They have other tantalizing choices, with ingredients like grasshoppers, lechon, and cactus. Hard to choose just two.
We kept the booze flowing with Mexican red wine, which was actually quite nice. There are also a bunch of expertly made cocktails. Really, one of the better ambitious Mexican kitchens in the city, if you’re willing to shell out a bit of dough. Good place to take a date, too.
PS: I strongly disagree with the 2-​dollar sign price index tag. It is very easily a $$$ place, especially for a Mexican restaurant (even if it’s upmarket Mexican).

this is my favorite spot to go to in nyc now … delicious delicious mexican food, loved everything!

Hilarious. Jose made brunch ridiculously fun and was a great server. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ recommend playing drinking games during brunch. Won’t regret.

This place has to be one of the best Latin American restaurants in the city. Top notch!
We came here for Restaurant Week. I wanted to come a couple of times for RW in the past but I just couldn’t so it was on my bucket list. The chef Julian Medina has some great dishes that I couldn’t resist.
The food is amazing, especially the entraña which I have to say coming from Argentina, it was one of the best I ever tasted. So tender with an awesome grill flavor. It goes head to head with the entraña at Tabaré which is one of my favorite Argentinian/​Uruguayan restaurants out there. The key is their sauce! superb! the portion is big, and I say it’s big because it’s big for New York, it’s super big for a RW menu and it’s big enough for a starving person. Add an appetizer and a killer flan and you’ll be heading home in an ambulance LOL.
All the dishes are generous in size and there are no bad choices. We order the lamb tacos and the quesadilla with burrata for the appetizer round. The tacos had a lot of flavor: the lamb was greatly marinated and it came with nopales which add a nice touch to it, also, they came in corn tortillas that beat the hell out of the flour tortillas… Mexico style! The quesadilla (more like a open-​faced quesadilla, kind of a pizza shape) had an incredible pesto that made the difference and the tortilla was crispy and tender. It remind me of a Malawach (a Yemenite dish).
The entrees were incredible. I put too much of an excitement to the review but the experience was like that indeed. The entraña again… mmmmm… is just music to my ears. I forgot to mention that it came with a bed of brussel sprouts on top with cheese and this amazing chipotle/​mole/​chimichurri-​like sauce that put the dish in another level.
Then the salmon! don’t forget about the salmon. Excellent! order everything medium rare. That way you’ll have super fresh food in its perfect point. The tortilla underneath with black beans adds a lot of flavor to the salmon that again came with a really nice sauce.
Dessert? who said dessert? yes! my girlfriend came just for this. That’s how I convinced here to come. Flan de Dulce de Leche and Tres Leches. What else can you ask for?
The flan competes with the dulce de leche flan at Tabaré. It’s soooooo yummy that is mouth watering everything I think about it. The Tres Leches is also great: it comes with a ice cream that is nothing out of this world and soaked in a nice milk based cream. I would definitely go with the flan every time. Even two flans! for RW… the tres leches is ok but it didn’t surprise me.
It was a lot of great food for a great price! go for RW if you can since I find it quite expensive for a regular dinner. I’ll definitely try it for brunch. The prices are more accessible and the dishes look good.
Toloache: my new place to go.

This place seems to be bumping as it gets crowded in the evenings. We sat at the bar and found the bartenders to be very friendly, even despite them been slammed with orders. We sampled different tacos and had a corn on the cob a la mexican style. Corn was pretty good and the tacos were good too. The only gripe is that you get 2 small tacos for $ 13. Cocktails were yummy as a margarita was had and a michelada. Yum. Place has two floors and booking a table will probably be a good idea if you are more than 4. Get the Corn!

The portions were small and not very filling. The sangria and mimosas were very good though. I ended still pretty hungry at the end. It also would’ve been nice to have complimentary chips and salsa to start with. Service was pretty good. Food was tasty overall.

Delicious!
Toloache was so surprisingly good. We came in unplanned on a Saturday night, and had to wait ~15 minutes for a table which was just fine (other than there not being anywhere particularly good to stand).
The chips and salsa they brought were great, and we decided to try the avocado fries which turned out to be so much better than I expected! Weirdly delicious. I had the short rib quesadilla for my main and it was also sooo good. The staff were great and the atmosphere is really nice a cosy, very New Yorky.

Second time around reconfirms my first time here. Entirely overpriced and underwhelming. There are ample alternatives to this place, I would hit up Taqueria in the E. Village (Formerly LES) 100% of the time over this place from here on out.
I would hit up there and Mayahuel as great alternatives to this sub-​par pricey joint. And I say this begrudingly as I’m normally a douchey upturned nosey snob about things. In this case the price point similar to how crappy Nello is doesn’t justify the quality or flavor of food, it just screams that we are a two story establishment and need to hike up prices in light of how high our rent is.

Toloache was a wonderful brunch experience. We had excellent service and delicious food. I had the huevos rancheros and they were the best I have ever had. The service was priceless. I would recommend to anyone looking for a Mexican bottomless brunch. Enjoy!

I recently was here with a group of friends and we had a great time.
First we started with the guacamole trio which consisted of two mildly spicy guacamoles and one spicy. One of the mild ones had pomegranate seeds in it, I never tried that before and was happy to taste that it was delicious. It added a sweetness to a dish that usually is only savory and salty.
We ordered a bunch of dishes to share. I like how they did not bring out all the dishes at once. They served more than half of them first, then gave us fresh dishes and then served the remaining dishes.
The vegetarian enchiladas were too spicy for me. I cannot tolerate a ton of spice but at most Mexican places the enchiladas are not too spicy for me. The huitlacoche quesadilla with truffle oil was delicious and the mushroom tacos are probably my favorite.
Something to keep in mind when ordering is that the dishes are not authentic to Mexican cuisine which can be a disappointment when certain dishes are ordered and you receive something very different than expected. For example, the vegetarian paella de quinoa. When I ordered it the waiter warned me that he didn’t like the dish. I always appreciate an honest server. He asked if I liked quinoa, which I do, so I ordered it. After having the dish I really think they should just rename the dish. It was tasty but did not taste anything like paella. I have had vegetarian paella at other restaurants which is prepared and tastes very close to traditional paella with the saffron rice which I think is key to calling a dish paella.
I like how that have a lot of vegetarian options but you have to ask for the vegetarian menu. I’m not sure why they do not just make the vegetarian options as part of their regular menu. When they give you the regular menu almost every item had meat or fish. So if a customer is vegetarian and does not already know to ask for a vegetarian menu that customer could be quite disappointed.
This place is good for anywhere between a party of 2 – 8. To make a table of 8 they placed a large table top over four smaller tables which is nicer than having four separate tables pushed together. I always appreciate attention to these fine details.

Oh you like Mexican food, huh? YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW MEXICAN FOOD! Not until you dine at Toloache Thompson, that is!
This place is the real deal. I went there last weekend with my girlfriend and some friends for her birthday. Our waiter was super accommodating, gracious, and had a great sense of humor. He even indulged mi español gringo.
The drinks here — ¡Dios Mio! I ordered the pineapple mezcal cocktail. Several of them. They are spicy and sweet and packed with liquor. The margaritas are really good, too.
We all shared the guacamole, some queso fundido, and salsa. I ordered the short rib and bone marrow tacos for my main. Others ordered other tacos. Hot damn they were good. The meat was super tender and melted in your mouth with every bite.
We also ordered the grasshopper tacos on a mutual dare. While I didn’t mind their tangy taste and crunchy mouthfeel, the other diners in our group made faces upon trying them. ¡Que dramaticos!
This place rules.

I would have gone with a 4 star review had the hostess not ruined a surprise birthday dinner for a friend. I specifically explained how we had planned that the birthday boy would arrive with his girlfriend thinking they would be having birthday dinner just the two of them, and to please not mention that the rest of us were seated upstairs waiting to surprise him. When my friend arrived at the table he was not surprised at all because the hostess had mentioned the rest of the party was upstairs when he arrived. Are you kidding?
I’m a huge fan of Julian Medina and think Yerba Buena is one of the best Latin restaurants in the city. The food, drinks, and vibes at Toloache were also very good, and we had a wonderful time. The trio of guacamole was tasty, the margaritas were interesting and potent, and the tacos were flavorful. We even gave the grasshopper tacos a try (photo below) which were actually pretty good. I probably wouldn’t order them again, but they are certainly worth trying if you are an adventurous eater. Overall, it’s a solid spot to get a nice meal and drinks before going out for the night and without completely breaking the bank.
Additionally, our waitress was kind enough to bring a complimentary birthday dessert with a candle (and have a few members of the staff sing happy birthday), however, given how hard we had worked over the previous few days to preserve the surprise only to have it spoiled by an employee’s careless mistake was extraordinarily disappointing, and the reason for the 3-​star review.

Redeemed Sharebite Credit ($ 20.00) at lunch from their odd menu:
Dinner Chapulines Taco $ 15.00+tax — quite good
Flan $ 6.00+tax — eh
Annoying takeout experience with inappropriate plasticware after the food was ready at the very end of the 35-​minute takeout window despite being empty.
FYI

Had a wonderful experience here last Saturday. I was with a group of 12 people should reservations at another restaurant that I guess lost our reservation. We were very lucky to reach out to Toloache who went above and beyond to accommodate us at such short notice.
The guacamole was awesome — very fresh and flavorful so definitely a good way to start off the meal. I got the beef short rib quesadilla. It was super tasty and filling enough for me, but I’d imagine most people would want more than that… I just prefer to eat light when I’m drinking.
We asked for some spicy cucumber margs… they’re not on the menu, but were fabulous!
Special thank you to our waiter Jay who was super helpful.
Definitely want to check this place out for the bottomless brunch!

Amazing Mexican food! Definitely will come back. Each dish we tried had awesome flavors so fresh.
Miso cod, tacos, toro ceviche! Service was fantastic. Our waitress Julietta was fabulous!

I’ve been to this Toloache location a few times and it never disappoints. Atmosphere is pretty chic and trendy, though the upstairs can get loud and rowdy with lots of large parties! Location is right in the heart of the Village with nearby bars a plenty.
Tacos and enchiladas have always been delicious and filling, and margaritas definitely pack a punch! There’s plenty of varieties to choose from too.
Pay attention to the specials and try them for a nice change of pace. Grilled halibut was amazing, glad I chose it over the pretty standard salmon.

Toloache has been on my Unilocal bookmarks list for a while now. They have multiple locations, but I happened to see a Travelzoo deal for brunch + unlimited cocktails for the Thompson Street location. So a friend and I decided to try it out. It wasn’t too packed at noon on a Sunday but when we were leaving (at around 1:30, aka prime NYC brunch time), it was getting filled up.
For the deal, you get pick anything on the menu for your entrée. It’s not limited to the brunch section. However, for drinks, you can only choose from red/​white sangria, bloody marys, or mimosas. I tried the bloody mary first, which I did not like. Something just tasted off about it. After that, I stuck to mango mimosas (I believe they also have regular, and hibiscus). I tried my friend’s white sangria and it tasted like straight up juice. But enough about the alcohol.
I’ve been hearing that their grasshopper tacos are pretty interesting. Normally, I’m the type of person who will try anything once. But bugs/​insects is where I draw the line. So I went with the lobster tacos. Technically, they’re like bugs since they’re considered cockroaches of the sea, so that’s gotta count for something, right? No? Okay, fine. Anyway, this comes with two tacos, and a side of rice and beans. I’m pretty sure the lobster isn’t fresh but it tasted pretty good too me. Plus they didn’t overcook/​reheat it so the meat wasn’t chewy at all.
I probably won’t be back for unlimited drinks brunch since the drinks weren’t too great. But I wouldn’t mind coming back to try some of their ceviches.

This is the second Toloache location I’ve been to, and I thought it was just as good as the location in the 80s. I had the pina mezcalita, which I loved, but I am partial to mezcal. I was nervous that it would be too sweet, but it was great.
My sister and I shared different kinds of tacos:
— Suadero: far and away the best
— Pescado: these were fine, but not amazing
— Lechon: also good, but not as good as the suadero
We finished with the churros, which were good, but not amazing.
The service was great, and I would definitely come back.

Visiting from Quebec, we had a super diner exprerience at Toloache. Service was top and quality of food #1! Drinks are to die for. If you feel like mexican, Toloache in Greenich is the place to go! We’ll be back for sure on our next trip!

Review biased towards the amazing $ 3 specials on their 1 year anniversary 12.17.14
Great mariachi band as well :)
–Will update review after brunch! Bottomless is +$ 19 per person.
My friend AV is a loyal customer since it opened and everyone knows her so we got a table ~7pm despite it being massively full.
DRINKS
As shown in photos, most margaritas and beers were $ 3 and my personal favorite was definitely the De La Calle (with cucumber juice and jalapeño)
They are not bulk made and individually crafted. Service was slower than usual given the volume but waitstaff was very attentive in keeping you updated.
TACOS
Original price is ~$ 6 each which is definitely pricier than I would pay but these were not your typical street truck tacos. You will need at least 3 – 4 for a full meal.
I tried the chicken, carnitas, fish (can request grilled vs fried) and brisket.
The brisket was the standout for me but all delicious.
*We also shared the duck enchilada special ($ 14) which was sooooo good.