Good eats at the El Rey Del Taco Truck in Astoria

Image source: Flickr Creative Commons – user Pabo76

Since its appearance on the Astoria food truck scene in 2006, the El Rey Del Taco truck has steadily gained fans and received raves from locals and visitors alike, including ex-pat Californians (a notoriously difficult group to please when it comes to Mexican food in NYC). El Rey has not let up on the high quality of their Mexican street grub, and it’s an Astoria favorite (and people get nervous when the truck mysteriously goes missing). Let’s hope they’re allowed to continue, as new proposed rules are looming over NYC’s food truck scene. We know Astorians and Mexican food lovers alike would be devastated if anything were to limit El Rey’s presence in the community.

The original truck is still parked on 30^th Ave (GMAP) and its progeny, El Rey Del Taco II, parks on Ditmars Blvd (GMAP). The $2 tacos – some of the cheapest eats in Astoria – are filled with things like pollo (chicken) or tinga (spicy chicken – this option is easier to find these days at Queens taco trucks/carts), enchilada (spicy pork), and lengua (tender tongue). Try the avocado sauce for sure, and the green or red sauce (or both) to spice it up.

Tortas are another favorite, filled with meat of your choice. Then there’s the huarache, a fried, fresh masa base piled high with refried beans, meat, vegetables, cheese and sauces, like a Mexican open faced sandwich. Other favorites include burritos, quesadillas, sincronizadas, plus gyros (this is Astoria, after all) and Philly cheesesteaks (the odd dish out, but still tasty).

Meg Cotner is a food writer in Astoria, Queens. She is an expert on the borough’s best bites, and the author of the upcoming book Food Lovers’ Guide to Queens. Meg also writes for the neighborhood blog We Heart Astoria and her own food blog, Harmonious Belly.