Would you pay $8.50 for this taco?

Tacombi's ribeye taco is climbing my NYC Taco Power Rankings

Tacombi, the Danny Meyer-backed taco chain, is making one of the best tacos in New York City right now. Listen, I’m surprised, too.

The ribeye taco is in collaboration with Taquería La Once Mil out of CDMX, and owner Cesar de la Parra was in the building celebrating its introduction to the Tacombi menu. I asked him how it felt to have opened his own taqueria in Mexico City, after growing up there. “67th,” he told me. “Taqueria la Once Mil is my 67th restaurant.” Well, damn.

It turns out Cesar is the Executive Chef of Grupo Carolo, whose most well-known restaurant in CDMX is Blanco Colima. “50% of people would put Blanco Colima in their top 10 restaurants in CDMX,” he said. “For the other 50%, it would be top 20.”

The taco itself is thin-sliced ribeye on top of Tacombi’s corn tortillas, which are nixtamalized and pressed in-house. It comes topped with 2 salsas: The first is a salsa verde mixed with avocado, and the second is what makes the taco special. It’s called salsa toreada.

“Everybody knows me because of that salsa,” Cesar said. “I made it for the first time 10 years ago, and it bangs.”

On my first taste, I thought the ribeye must have been marinated. But the salsa toreada delivers a ton of marinated flavor. It’s a play on the Mexican dish known as Chiles Toreados, which are blistered peppers with limes. But here the chiles are blackened, along with tortillas, and blended with a bit of jugo maggi (AKA Knorr Maggi sauce).

I am the last person who would write about a chain restaurant collaborating with a chef who owns over 50 restaurants. But this taco is so damn good, and completely unique (as far as I know) in New York City. I am currently placing it in the top 5 of my NYC Taco Power Rankings, which looks something like this:

1. Trompo taco at Taqueria el Chato

2. Any taco at Border Town

3. Surtida taco at Carnitas Ramirez

4. Ribeye taco at Tacombi

5. Carnitas Taco at Tortas Neza (currently closed)

A couple of caveats:

• I did not pay for these tacos. I was invited by a tequila brand who fed me as much as I wanted. Still, I wouldn’t write about it unless it was seriously good (especially since it’s from a chain). It’s $17 for 2, and the CEO of Tacombi told me they’re doing everything they can to get the price lower.

• The salsa that Cesar prepared was slightly different than the one that Tacombi had prepared. Apparently they’re still dialing it in (“They’re not burning it enough,” he told me). The flavor of Cesar’s was richer, but the real issue was quantity—Cesar was very generous with the salsa toreada. That stuff is bonkers, and you need a good squeeze.

Would you pay $17 for 2 tacos? Let me know in the comments below.