{"id":333372,"date":"2026-08-30T21:40:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T21:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/333372\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T21:40:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T21:40:27","slug":"the-worlds-only-michelin-starred-taco-stand-just-opened-a-location-in-nyc-and-customers-hate-it-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/333372\/","title":{"rendered":"The World’s Only Michelin-Starred Taco Stand Just Opened A Location In NYC \u2014 And Customers Hate It"},"content":{"rendered":"

El Califa de Le\u00f3n has officially arrived in New York City. The internationally recognized taqueria has been a gem in Mexico City’s culinary crown for almost 60 years, even becoming\u00a0the first-ever taco stand to earn a Michelin Star in 2024<\/a>. However, El Califa de Le\u00f3n’s debut in Manhattan has hit a few bumps in the road, as diners criticize the restaurant’s high prices and the tacos themselves.<\/p>\n

Known for its extremely stripped-down menu, El Califa de Le\u00f3n prides itself on offering simple tacos served on corn tortillas. The taqueria is famous for its gaonera tacos, made with thin slices of expertly grilled prime rib, as well as its costilla (beef ribs) and chuleta (pork) tacos. However, some reviewers say that the meat at the Flatiron location leaves something to be desired, with one Redditor stating<\/a>, “Both meats were quite dry and did not have a lot of flavor.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Google reviewers have also been brutally honest, with customers saying that the tacos are overpriced and not as good as the tacos at the Mexico City location.\u00a0One reviewer writes<\/a>, “I love their original location in CDMX but only a stooge would pay these inflated prices in NYC. For example the Costilla taco in CDMX is roughly $5 USD. Yet here they’re asking $19 for the same thing and for inferior quality and ingredients!”<\/p>\n

Read more: 31 Most Popular Snacks In America Ranked Worst To Best<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"When a taco is good enough to cost $19\"Variety<\/p>\n

Hector Vivas\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Although New York City is known as one of the most expensive cities in the world, the price of El Califa de Le\u00f3n’s tacos has stupefied some city dwellers. On Reddit, people are aghast at the idea of paying $19 for a 4-ounce taco.\u00a0One Redditor joked<\/a>,\u00a0“Might as well just buy a plane ticket to Mexico at that point.”<\/p>\n

However, some contended taco fans don’t take issue with the price, praising the handmade tortillas and salsas and saying that the no-frills approach gives an authentic taqueria experience. And given the cost of running a restaurant in New York City, it makes sense that the tacos are so expensive, especially as they\u00a0are made with high-quality\u00a0meat like prime rib. Our Tasting Table reviewer Brandon Rich tried the tacos at El Califa de Le\u00f3n in Mexico City<\/a> and agreed that the meat was the star of the show and that it was exquisitely tender and seasoned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although\u00a0El Califa de Le\u00f3n lost its Michelin Star in 2026, it\u00a0is still Michelin-recommended (which means it’s worth a visit<\/a>). And considering the New York City location has only been open since August 24, these early negative reviews could be due to growing pains and sticker shock due to the location’s high prices.\u00a0Our verdict? We would still give these tacos a try … as long as you’re buying!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Want more food knowledge? Sign up to our free newsletter<\/a> where we’re helping thousands of foodies, like you, become culinary masters, one email at a time. You can also add us as a preferred search source<\/a> or follow us<\/a> on Google.<\/p>\n

Read the original article on Tasting Table<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"El Califa de Le\u00f3n has officially arrived in New York City. The internationally recognized taqueria has been a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[12266,125364,117121,125361,4685,125362,125365,125363,25638,19854,9,24,56,63,65,64],"class_list":["post-333372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-12266","tag-califa-de-leon","tag-el-califa-de-leon","tag-el-califa-de-leons","tag-google","tag-hector-vivas","tag-hector-vivas-getty-images","tag-mexico-citys","tag-michelin","tag-michelin-star","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}