First, newly minted James Beard Awards finalist chef Giovanni Cervantes and Tania Apolinar built their names on tacos with their first restaurant, Taqueria Ramirez. Then came Carnitas Ramirez, their slow-cooked pork follow-up. Now the couple is pivoting to seafood with their newest project. El Camaron Peludo, opening in the West Village at 20 Cornelia Street, between Bleecker Street and Sixth Avenue, this summer.
It’s only a stretch away from the NYC expansion of LA taqueria Tacos 1986 and its two adjacent cocktail bars, Mixteca and Kees.
El Camaron Peludo’s name translates to “the hairy shrimp” in Spanish, a nod to the playfulness the couple hopes to convey through the casual seafood wine bar.
The menu is rooted in Mexican seafood, but Cervantes wants to catch a wider net. He says they’re going to source food from Spain, Japan, Mexico, and the U.S. He wants the menu “to be very accessible and straightforward.”
They’re collaborating with chef Carlos Barrera, a Brooklyn chef who grew up in Mexico City. The chefs cooked together during a pop-up collaboration last summer.
El Camaron Peludo is a wine bar first, and that matters to Cervantes and Apolinar. He describes the wine list as interesting, playful, and sophisticated, plus “a really cool Champagne program.” Taqueria Ramirez staffer Carlos Cohetero, whom Cervantes credits with making the couple fall in love with wine, will be developing the wine list.
The beer list is slim, with only one European and one Mexican option. Cervantes says they’ll “definitely bring the best michelada in town.”
The Cornelia Street space has dictated what the project would be. “The first idea was to have a seafood restaurant, but it ended up being more of a seafood bar,” Cervantes says.
Apolinar describes it as “a long, very narrow space,” with the bar running the full length of the interior and seating on a first-come, first-served basis. Outside, there will be a backyard with tables, potentially with reservations available.
Cervantes and Apolinar opened Taqueria Ramirez in Greenpoint in 2021, after which the restaurant quickly became known for serving some of the city’s best tacos. They followed with Carnitas Ramirez in the East Village in 2024. It won Eater NY’s Best Counter-Service award that same year.
At the same time as El Camaron Peludo, Cervantes and Apolinar are also opening a second location of Taqueira Ramirez with charcoal grills in Carroll Gardens, 267 Smith Street at Degraw Street, set to debut in late summer. “There’s definitely some particular style of taquerias in Mexico where everything gets cooked on charcoal,” Cervantes says, “and we really wanted to bring that to life here.” It’s been a harder lift because of the regulations and expenses, but construction is starting this week.
Also, earlier this spring, Cervantes nabbed his first finalist nomination in the James Beard Awards this year. He was a semifinalist in 2023 and 2025. “It’s really cool that, from the chefs that were selected in New York, there are two people from Mexico,” referring to himself and Corima chef Fidel Caballero. “It shows a lot of how Mexican food is growing and changing in the city.”
And, if that wasn’t enough, Taqueria Ramirez has also landed at Citi Field, as part of the Taste of Queens Coca-Cola food truck. The pop-up runs through Sunday, July 12, offering tacos with nopales and suadero.
“I was surprised how many people around me were really hardcore Mets fans,” Cevantes says of cooking at Citi Field. “That made me realize how important it is. I don’t really follow [baseball], but I’m getting converted.”
Still, despite having two upcoming restaurants and a new baseball stadium outpost, Cervantes teases some future projects to Eater: “We already have some sort of larger program with the taquerias that we want to open,” but that’s a ways away.