Border Town is located at 189 Nassau Avenue, at the corner of Humboldt Street, and is currently open on Wednesday through Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and on Sunday from 5:00 to 9:00. Note that the bar opens at 3:00 on weekends, if you want to drink for a couple of hours before the tacos hit the table.
Those early-pandemic food pop-ups and Instagram businesses were fun and exciting and, frankly, kind of vital for our collective sanity at the time. But it’s pretty amazing to see how many of those often ragtag endeavors have evolved into thriving, integral parts of the Brooklyn restaurant landscape today. Think: Edith’s Sandwich Counter in Williamsburg, L’Appartement 4F in Brooklyn Heights, and the mighty Ramirez in Greenpoint, to name just a few.
And now we get maybe the most fun and exciting one of them all, Jorge Aguilar and Amanda Rosa’s banging new Border Town, a kind of flour tortilla paradise the couple started back in 2020 by selling tacos in a Home Depot parking lot, has transformed into a spiffy new corner restaurant on Nassau Avenue.
(Photo by Scott Lynch)
“When the pandemic hit, we were just at home,” Aguilar told Brooklyn Magazine. “We live in Greenpoint, but I grew up in Mexicali, in Baja, eating flour tortillas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and we couldn’t find any good ones here. So I was like, alright, I’m bored at home, I might as well learn how to make them for us.”
And, holy shit, did he ever figure it out. Aguilar’s tortillas are the cornerstone of just about every dish at the new place, and they are perfect every time: soft, fluffy, lardy, lovely. “Jorge’s stepfather’s family is from Sonora,” Rosa said. “And we are bringing all of our flour directly from there. We got four tons delivered on opening night! It’s our secret ingredient. It’s the softest, most supple flour. It tastes exactly like home.”
Frijoles y queso taco, $5 each, and carne con chile tacos, $7 each (Photo by Scott Lynch)
Border Town’s tacos are the most obvious and excellent place to start. Every night there’s a carne con chile one (meaty, funky), a frijoles y queso one (gloppy, sublime), and a taco of the day, which on opening night was a pork chicharron and pickled onion masterpiece, as rich and fatty, crisp and biting, as one would dare to dream a taco could be.
Pork chicharrón, $12, as add-on to guacamole, $17 (Photo by Scott Lynch)
Guacamole with Oaxacan tlayuda, $17 (Photo by Scott Lynch)
That chicharron is also available as a luxe add-on to the herby guacamole, and while the upgrade is not strictly required for you to enjoy Border Town’s version of the cliché crowd pleaser—the crackling, pizza-sized Oaxacan tlayuda it comes with makes for a fun alternative to the usual chips—it does bring some extra oomph to the party.
Mushroom al pastor gringa, $22 (Photo by Scott Lynch)
Tacos de nada, $18 (Photo by Scott Lynch)
The gringa is also spectacular, a chewy, cheesy folded-over delight harboring an abundance of mushroom al pastor and a peppy pina-habanero salsa inside. Another vegetarian option here is Aguilar’s “tacos de nada,” a plate of potato-stuffed corn tortillas bathing in a bright tomato-based broth and blanketed in salty queso fresco.
Frijoles con veneno with tortillas, $22 (Photo by Scott Lynch)
If you and your dining companion aren’t at the “sharing bites of a taco” stage of your relationship, order the bowl of beefy frijoles con veneno, which arrives with a stack of flour tortillas on the side, and roll your own at the table. Or get Border Town’s porky showstopper, costillas en salsa verde, which includes chunks of pig rib poured over with a zesty sauce, a bowl of beans, a bowl of rice, and, of course, a bunch of tortillas.
(Photo by Scott Lynch)
There’s no dessert on the menu yet, but Rosa promised there will be pastries galore in the morning once the gas gets turned on (fingers crossed, about six weeks from now?) and Border Town can launch their breakfast program. Alcohol, however, is available right out the gates, with $15 tequila cocktails leading the way (my buddy Grazybae gleefully sucked down several “Cadillac” margaritas), as well as a few beers and wines by the glass or bottle.
(Photo by Scott Lynch)
No surprise, the place was packed on opening night, and for now it’s no-reservations, walk-in only, to make it as easy as possible for the couple’s Greenpoint neighbors to stop by and hang out. Ben Turley, formerly of the Meat Hook and Cozy Royale, is another partner here, and another Greenpoint local, so the vibe is all very friends-and-family.
“Border Town serves homemade food,” said Rosa. “Nothing crazy. Just good food, good drink, warm hospitality. We want to be the neighborhood spot. We want people to come in and feel welcome, like it’s our home. So please enjoy it! We’ll be here for at least ten more years!”
The post Border Town, and Their Phenomenal Flour Tortillas, Find a Permanent Home in Greenpoint appeared first on BKMAG.
