c/o Empellón
Celebrated chef Alex Stupak has brought his famous Mexican cuisine to the Upper West Side. The opening of Empellón Taqueria at 645 West 59th Street (at Freedom Place South within the Waterline Square complex) marks the fourth restaurant under the Empellón brand. Friday, December 3 is the official opening day – though it was originally expected to open during the fall of 2019.
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Stupak is the recipient of multiple James Beard nominations and a “scholar of the avant-garde and molecular gastronomy movements.”
c/o Empellón
Deeply involved in the opening of the latest Empellón, he is excited to bring his culinary prowess to the Waterline Square neighborhood. “I really love the residential quality of it,” Stupak told us in an interview. “It’s quite different then our midtown location in that way. Having a taqueria facing a public park felt charming to me.”
Empellón’s newest spot promises to be accessible to all. “It’s great for a special dinner but it’s also great for a quick couple of tacos and a margarita,” he told us. “I really love restaurants that are useful to New Yorkers. Easy to wield so to speak.”
c/o Empellón
The Waterline Square menu will be the same as it is in the West Village, as that location is also an Empellón Taqueria. “The Empellón Taqueria menu is different from the Empellón and Empellón Al Pastor menus,” Stupak explains. Empellón is located at 510 Madison Avenue at 53rd Street, and Empellón Al Pastor is at 132 St. Marks Place in the East Village.
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Which menu item would Chef Stupak insist on if he had to choose only one? “If I could only eat one thing forever it would be our Fish Tempura Tacos … but don’t sleep on our ever-changing Taco Tuesday specials either!”
c/o Empellón
The UWS restaurant seats 60 inside and is currently taking reservations for dinner service starting at 5pm. When the weather warms up, outdoor seating will also be available. “There will be another 70 seats outside when the weather warms up again. For now, we want to focus on what happens within the four walls but by March we will have a gorgeous outdoor seating situation.” Learn more at empellon.com/restaurants/taqueria.
