It was a beautiful day yesterday, and we had a few things to do on Columbus Day, but we still needed a place to eat lunch. Madison Square Eats was nearby, and we hadn’t been over to the latest incarnation yet.
One of the new stands at Madison Square Eats this time is Delaney Barbecue: Tacotown. Delaney Barbecue exploded on the NYC dining scene last year, with a critically-acclaimed restaurant in Williamsburg, and later a stand on the High Line.
We know Daniel Delaney from his pre-restaurant days, when he ran the website VendrTV. Daniel produced videos about some of the best street vendors in NYC, then took trips around the country to visit other great street vendors across the USA.
At the VendrTV 1st Anniversary Party, Daniel told us his dream was to open a barbecue restaurant, and that he was going down to Austin to check some things out. He came back from Austin with an old-fashioned smoker, and started putting Delaney Barbecue together.
We haven’t been to Delaney Barbecue yet, but we did get to Daniel’s latest endeavor, Tacotown, at Madison Square Eats.
Due to it’s popularity, everything at Madison Square Eats seems to have gone up in price. Even though this is the first appearance of Tacotown, tacos are $5 each or 2 for $9, one of the higher prices around for tacos.
There were 4 taco choices at Tacotown: chopped brisket, pulled pork, fried chicken and brussels sprouts (which were sold out). We ordered a brisket taco and a fried chicken taco.
The brisket was cooked in a chili sauce, and was as tender as could be. The sauce was a little smoky and a little sweet.
The brisket taco was topped with shredded cheese, pickled onions, and fresh cilantro, of which the pickled onions stood out the most. The vinegariness of the pickled onions provided a nice contrast to the brisket and chili sauce.
While we’ve had smoky brisket tacos before, the fried chicken taco was different from anything we’ve previously eaten. This was mainly due to the crispiness of the chicken.
It was unusual biting into a taco and getting a hard, crunchy piece of chicken in the process. The chicken was a little peppery and had a nice flavor, which was enhanced by a few slices of jalapeño and a creamy white sauce. We’re not sure if the chicken was supposed to be quite this hard and crunchy, but it was good once our expectations adjusted accordingly.
We really enjoyed eating these tacos, but as we said, they were on the pricey side. At $4.50 per taco, the brisket taco should have been packed with more meat, although there was plenty of fried chicken.
For making meat at home, you’ll need good equipment, so you can check this review for more info.
You can follow Delaney Barbecue on twitter here, and their website is here. One of these days, we have to get out to Brooklyn to check out the restaurant. In the very near future, they will be instituting table service at Delaney Barbecue, which should be an improvement from waiting on line for service, then finding a table.
