What an experience. Cocktails are great. Service is great. Order many different tapas and share. Pricy but with it. Beautiful place - nice to sit upstairs tables.

I probably had a few too many "mother of dragons" but this place is a blast. They start you with a salsa sampler with not one, not two, not three, but seven different salsas. I'm a real sauce aficionado so this was exciting for me. Our group ordered family style so we got to try a bit of everything. Tacos were great (would say a bit Westernized, not in a negative way). Real star of the show was the rib-steak fajita. Our server, Mateo was wonderful as well!

Met a friend here for an early dinner. The outdoor bar was packed and the indoor bar was busy. The restaurant is modern looking and very echoic. We were seated upstairs and it was a lot quieter. The staff were very nice. Cocktails were very good. Extra credit for having an overproof gin. The food was simply fabulous. We shared the guacamole with 7 salsas- excellent! The chips were off the charts. I was blown away by their crab nachos. We also had excellent fish tempura tacos and astonishingly good pastrami tacos. The shishito peppers were really good too. It's easy to spend a lot of money here. There were a lot of specials, all expensive. I couldn't do $80 steak fajitas either. The $26 hot dog at Mischa now makes sense. We were too full to try the avocado ice cream. I came to this restaurant expecting to be disappointed or ripped off. We had a fabulous meal. I loved sharing a bunch of small plates.

The seating on the ground floor was unreasonably tight with my seat frequently getting kicked and me making physical contact with waitstaff. The crowd being largely corporate people who don't want to splurge on more expensive restaurants does detract from what I would otherwise brand a hip atmosphere. The menu is small but focused. Every dish was excellent. Two tacos at these prices ($20s and $30s) hurts but the pastrami tacos were great. Queso fundido was indeed a fun take, and the carnitas dish was deeply satisfying. Even the tortillas were notable. A great Mexican spot that somehow manages to fly a bit under the radar.

We ran through a Yelp list of the best Mexican restaurants in NYC recently, and Empellon didn't show up among the first 150. While we haven't tried many of those restaurants, we have been here and believe it should rank much higher. The cuisine is Mexican-inspired, as the hosts say, but it is imaginative and well done, and we thought the service was especially sharp. The highlight? Well, the margaritas were good-sized and delicious, and the specialty margaritas featuring some very high-end tequilas were really outstanding. And we loved the fresh guacamole and the "seven salsas,"a small dish a serving of these treats arranged from mild to spicy which made devouring them something of an adventure. Excellent. The steak fajitas were prepared to our liking -- a little less than medium -- and while we liked the lobster tacos (?), the lobster bits turned out a bit chewy. Far better was the tuna tartare, an item we hadn't expected at this restaurant. The restaurant has some tasty and fancy desserts, but we opted for -- wait for it -- the chocolate ice cream sandwich! Yep, ultra-simple and ultra-yummy, a perfect finish to the meal for us and highly recommended. A good restaurant, then, if a bit on the noisy side when crowded. We sat in the large upstairs section where noise levels were better than in the bar and the seating areas below. As noted, the service was excellent. The prices here are, let's be honest, on the high side. It's not a Taco Bell, rather a destination for an upscale Mexican night out.

Here, innovation is only surpassed by amazing flavor. After seeing what a viral sensation the avocado dessert had become, we made a beeline over there as soon as we could. The hosts were welcoming, even though we were within 45 minutes of close. This might sound like something you'd expect, but that's not always the case. Because we were a little bit more peckish than dessert can satisfy, we tried the mushroom tacos first. They are the best soft mushroom tacos I've ever had. Then, for the avocado dessert. Do yourself a favor, and Google this. There are food writers that will do much better job describing it than I will. I'll simply call it a flavor fiesta. Ok that sounds really dumb, but I'm going with it because I'm that kind of person. Additionally, this place does an amazing job of deadening, the sounds of a restaurant. We had no trouble having an easy-going conversation without competing against the din of clacking plates and ongoing discussion. Just a great environment to have a meal in.

Like many before me, I came to Empellon primarily for the dessert and didn't give too much advance thought to the rest of the menu, but I ended up liking everything I tried. The guacamole was pretty standard in terms of the actual guac, but the addition of the "seven salsas", which sounds vaguely mythic, turns the act of eating an appetizer into an event. Everyone tries all of them at least once and comments on their favorites, least favorites, etc. They range in order from least spicy to spiciest. I liked them all, but the most memorable to me was a creamy, smoky dip. I also ordered the maitake mushroom tacos, which were served on a soft tortilla and topped with quesillo and cilantro. The mushrooms were drenched in a delicious piquant sauce; I loved each savory bite. My favorite part of the taco might've actually been the soft, immensely chewy, slightly oily tortilla. Empellon is also known for its margaritas, and I couldn't resist trying the saffron-infused version, which came with a saffron salt rim. The saffron flavor wasn't too strong or subtle and the drink was obviously made with high-quality ingredients. For some reason, the drink didn't totally blow me away; I was more of a fan of the spicy cucumber margarita that my friend ordered. Obviously go for this if you're a big saffron fan. Last but certainty not least, we ordered the famed avocado dessert, which - as you've probably heard - looks exactly like an avocado but remarkably tastes like a silky key lime pie custard. The "salt" is super citrusy raspado (Mexican shaved ice). It's just a really impressive dessert. Tastes great, but surely what makes the dish unique its masterful, playful construction. Empellon is in the heart of midtown (53rd off of Madison), which can always feel like a questionable choice for a Saturday night meal, but honestly, the crowd was lively, and there's something to be said for the almost grandiose feel afforded to the restaurant by the spacious, bi-level, interior. I was happy to be there.