Taqueria El Gallo Azteca

You could spend hours at this taco spot on Staten Island, just watching the industrial-grade pot of pig parts bubbling away into pork heaven just behind the cashier. It’s mesmerizing, like a snow globe, or a soft serve cone melting on a very hot day. All the tacos are good, but if it wasn’t clear, your focus should be pork—order the carnitas and pastor, and they’ll fish hunks of meat from the vat and toss them on the grill. Grab a table, because each $4.13 taco here is about the size of three tacos, and thus not safe for standing consumption. There are cartoon avocados on the walls, which you can admire as you inhale your supersized spread, and there’s also a torta Cubana that has five different types of meat layered on it, if that’s more your speed.

photo credit: Willa Moore

photo credit: Willa Moore

photo credit: Willa Moore