For the most part, Sunset Park has resisted the birria trend. Among the numerous places in the neighborhood offering tacos, only a handful of restaurants--I know of two--added birria to their menus. I've tried one, and it left me disappointed and yearning for trendsetter Birria Landia.
Enter Los Toritos, a food truck that appeared in mid-2021 painted a punchy red and white that comes to play after much of the car/bus/truck traffic has died down. Maybe it was the freezing rain, maybe it was too early in the evening, or maybe Sunset Park, resistant to change (and following trends) just prefers to stick to its tried and trues--but Los Toritos looked awfully lonely on a Friday night. I arrived at the truck at 6pm to no line and grabbed a menu. For a food truck with large white letters emblazoned across its sides screaming birria, Los Torito offers a broader range of options, including the usual meats and vehicles for them, including burritos, nachos, quesadillas, huaraches, and tortas.
The food was ready after a few minutes and we hurried home as the smells wafting from bags fueled our legs to move faster. The anticipation and trepidation of trying new food reached its apex as we took the first bites of our tacos--and how relieved and excited we were, eyes bright and smizing, to find that, wow, these tacos really stand out among the crowded field of Sunset Park tacos. And we're not even talking about birria!
The carnitas and al pastor are exemplary: crispy in the right places, flavorful, and cradled by fragrant and perky tortillas that don't fall apart when you handle them. The accompanying sauces are equally refreshing, spicy with a vinegary punch, serving as a complement rather than a necessity to flavor bland meats. The birria tacos offer an exploration of textural depth and flavor in juicy shredded beef, a crunchy outer tortilla and crisp raw onions finished off with a dunking in even beefier consome (don't forget to get the consome). Admittedly, I missed Birria Landia's pickled onions, which help cut the richness, and their consome. Los Toritos' consome is slightly thinner, but nonetheless leaves the telltale greasy coating on your plastic spoon after it's sat for a few minutes.
The nachos are generously portioned, and served with crisp chorizo (the meat we chose), fresh sliced avocado, black beans, melted cheese, tomatoes and onions; but because the container was so packed, the toppings mainly stuck to the chips on top, leaving the ones underneath naked. Unfortunately we overlooked the mulitas--our favorite item at Birria Landia--and consequently ordered the quesabirria instead. It's cheesy, beefy, and heavy with a thicker outer shell but personally, too heavy for me.
Los Toritos is a sleeper hit. It may not compel much attention in a city where competition looks like Taqueria Ramirez, Los Tacos No. 1, or the aforementioned Birria Landia, but I'm happy to help sustain Los Toritos on an unassuming trend-resisting block in Sunset Park. Also, I need to come back for their horchata con fresa. read more