Zocalo

Does everyone know that our favourite frozen margarita bar has closed without warning? Where have they gone? And replaced by Shake Shak!!!
We are looking for a new venue, does anyone have any suggestions?

This is what mexican food should be. Simple. And the fact that you get to sit there and people watch in Grand Central Station is a bonus.

Despite all the cons (Overpriced, drinks are most times weak, food doesn’t seem like it’s freshly prepared & is probably just reheated b/​c they bring it out super fast, environment can be noisy & hard to have conversations, table space is bit cramped, guacamole is not freshly made at your table), I find myself here every so often anyway.
The food is pretty tasty, though. And portions are big, I’m usually comfortably full when I finish eating here. I do like the unique-​ness of the fact that it’s in Grand Central, which is a beautifully restored transport hub with a lot of history. And it’s by the «Whispering Gallery». Plus the staff has been nice each time I’ve been here.
NOTE:
— If going w/​a large party, I recommend making reservations. It seems like a good place to just walk-​in with a group of 5+, but when I went around the holidays, they were actually pretty crowded & required reservations for parties of my size + over.
— Location is in the basement of Grand Central Station. To get there: From the clock booth (in the middle of the main floor), take the DOWNstairs staircase that’s under the Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse entrance to the food court in the basement. Zocalo is located not far from there, to the left of Junior’s.

A nice little bar tucked away behind their dining area in the lower level food court in Grand central station. Great Margarita happy hour. The Margarita’s are good and strong. If you are in a hurry and don’t have time to stop by, get a margarita to-​go.
The food is good, everything is fresh and delish!
The staff is also very attentive.

This place is a rip off. We ordered food to go because we were desperate for a late night dinner, and other places were closing. A small quesadilla and taco platter, plus 2 bottles of water was $ 33.00.
The food was average — nothing special. Would have been much better at Qdoba or Chipotle.

Pretty decent mexican spot conveniently located in the Grand Central dungeon. Work in Metlife building so only reason I’m visiting this place no offense. Chicken burritto best thing on menu, guac also good.

I wanted to get dinner with a friend as he passed through Grand Central, and this was perfect. We had very fast, nice service and the chicken quesadilla I had was very good! My complains are that, as a location, it’s not very good looking and is quite noisy. And the portions were small for the price.
Recommended if you have to do exactly what I did – a quick dinner in Grand Central.

Needed a spot to have a meal between a train ride and an appt in NYC. Had a very good experience here.
This certainly wasn’t a quiet spot on a Thursday at 5:30pm (rush hour), it was packed. But the food was tasty, fresh and portions were very large. I had chicken enchiladas, rice and beans and fried plantains. Their chips and margaritas were also very good.
I had no issues at all with the service.

As far as Zocalo «the restaurant», there are much better options when it comes to Mexi food in this area. The service is pretty good (can be slow during lunchtime) and the chips and salsa are yummy, but the chicken tacos were just okay. Also, if I’m going to dine-​in (versus grab-​and-​go), I prefer a location other than in the windowless underground space that is the GCT Dining Concourse, which is overflowing with people at all times of the day.
However, Zocalo «to go» is a better option. Their creative spin on doughnut flavors (salted chocolate caramel) is noteworthy.

Great spot to sit, relax, people watch and have a good meal.
Margaritas are a little on the sweet side but chips and salsa are very good.
For entrees skip fish tacos and go with the enchiladas de pollo. Excellent! Soup de pollo is also hearty meal with big chunks of chicken.

Ahem*
Maple-​glazed bacon doughnuts, by Flex’s pastry chef extraordinaire Zac Young, (MARRY ME) are sold here.
Eat it and weep.

Ok normally I avoid typical touristy areas like Grand Central Station but one of the stops for Santa Con was the station so we decided to eat here afterwards.
The cons:
–Worst service ever. We literally had to walk over and ask for menus, ask for drinks, ask to order. To be honest, I don’t know if we had a waiter or waitress because we never saw them. If you’re in a hurry, skip it because you will probably miss your train.
–My «baja style» fish tacos were deep fried, beer battered. They looked like fried, burnt egg rolls. I had to take off most of the fried coating to be able to eat them.
But for the pro side, the margaritas were good and the guacamole was very good. Both salvaged the visit.

Yum! OK, OK, it’s a little overpriced since it’s Grand Central, but my dining partner and I were greeted by a friendly guy seating us, even during a 1pm-​hour lunch rush, and got seated in the nice little back room within 10 minutes. Then, the seater brought us 2 complimentary tequila shots! OK, so I’m drinking this afternoon…
We ate guacamole, the basic salad, and a bowl of chili, and it was way more than enough food for 2 people. Major points to Zocalo for serving real corn tortillas with the guac and chili, not just chips!
We agreed that the food was great (if a bit too salty), the atmosphere was surprisingly comfortable despite being in Grand Central (loud), and our service was attentive and generous. Would definitely come back!

This is a great go-​to spot for after work happy hour/​margaritas! Yum, delicioso!!!
The food is pretty good too but it’s the atmosphere here that is fantastic. You get the tourists doing the «Grand Central Acoustic Sound Check» and the many flavors of the world food booths. Enjoy your dinner/​lunch at Zocalo’s then head to the famous Magnolia Bakery for one of the signature cupcakes or banana puddings and you are in heaven for the rest of the day!
My fave dish are the fish tacos, chicken quesadilla, and the beef chimichanga. say that 10 times!!! But the best is their guacamole!!!
Salud!!!

Midtown East jobbers are victims of proximity. Tourists are victims to their naïveté. Located in the Grand Central lower level dining concourse, Zocalo lures local foot traffic for lunch. Californian natives will scoff at the idea of Mexican anywhere else and I will agree, I’m not in love with Zocalo’s offerings.
HOWEVER…
The Sabana steak sandwich is delicious.
The Sabana steak sandwich is delicious.
The Sabana steak sandwich is delicious.
The end.
So delicious, I’m eating my third one in consecutive days. I originally scoffed at the idea but when I bit into the sandwich I kicked myself for my ignorance.
The sandwich consists of steak, onions, and chimichurri sauce on buttery ciabatta bread. It’s a little greasy but coupled with some fries it’s my new guilty pleasure.
For a meat lover, this sandwich is worth trying. It will put a smile on your face, unless you’re a vegetarian or training for race.
One sandwich does not make the restaurant, hence the average review. Steak sandwich to go, please!
IFHTP 3+

Two words: FOOD COMA!
I went here today for Cinco de Mayo with coworkers during lunch. I had the Chicken Quesadilla but also enjoyed the guacamole and and chips. The food was fresh, the service was fast and the meal was tasty.
I have passed by this place so many times and never stopped by to eat. But you know what they say, «nothing happens before the time». Today was a perfect day to go and the meal was definitely worth the walk to and back.
Yum yum Zocalo!

I grabbed a bite here after a cold day slogging through the slush and reading at the library. Mexican food in NYC is always being knocked, so I was impressed that my quickie to go quesadilla was DELICIOUS. Fresh, not too oily, and generous sour cream and salsa sides.
Don’t go out of your way, but this is a great choice inside GCT. If you’re taking visitors on a tour of free sites like the library and Grand Central, this is a great lunch to follow it with. YUM!

After being a regular customer here forever, I got a steak sandwich to go and it had a piece of, charred, greasy dish cloth in the middle of it!!! not just in the tray, which would be gross enough, but on the freakin sandwich!
I dont know what went wrong here, but I dont expect to be back

Been to Zocalo many Times and this is my last.
Here is the review.
Price: around 20 a head for tacos and a coke.
Location: the only thing going for them. Grand Central Station, you get distracted by the amount of people that walk by the place, and the honeys, uff so many
Drinks: Only during their happy hours — really good Patron margaritas.
Food: blahh, Also had the fish tacos like many here. Its fish sticks on a microwave, with a small ass tortilla and lots of old cabbage with some mayo sauce on top. The rice is Mexican alright and the beans, straight out of a can. My friend had the ahi Tuna Sandwich, it was just tuna out of a can with something on it. Not very nice for the price of Mexican food.
PS: i will tell you the small little bar inside is nice, just to have margaritas, that’s it.

I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of three-​star reviews lately. And it’s not because I’m non-​committal about them, just that places are too flawed to rate highly, but not to the point where I think they’re just crap. Enter Zocalo.
My lunch was fish tacos. That’s fine, I love fish tacos. But what I got weren’t fish tacos. They were these *huge* lightly fried pieces of fish on a plate, served with little tortillas. And they cost twelve or thirteen bucks. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s not a taco.
Luckily for them, they had other things that made up for it. The guacamole was fresh and pretty decent, and I forgot the name, but they served beer in a glass with spicy around the edge that was pretty tasty as well. My dining companion got the quesadilla, which seemed very well made too.
But unless someone really wants to take me out for lunch, I don’t see much of a need to go back.