Skip to main content

Meet La Barbona, NYC’s Newest Speakeasy

New York isn’t known for its Mexican food (although, we are getting better). Just ask any transplant who’s a native of California or Texas, and they’ll basically tell you how disappointed they are in the authenticity of a cuisine they’ve been enjoying their whole lives. On a recent trip to Mexico, a group of NYC restauranteurs realized they wanted to fill this gap in the city’s dining scene, and the idea for La Barbona was born.

La Barbona
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Hidden beneath its sister restaurant, the beloved De Santos in Greenwich Village, stepping into La Barbona is like being transported to Mexico for the night. Interior designer Kenyan Paris Lewis put a playful twist on the traditional Mexican cantina for the space with dark wood, lots of candlelight and the charming kind of knick knacks you would find at a roadside mom and pop restaurant. The combination of a discreet location and limited seating gives an air of exclusivity without the pretension, perfect for impressing a date or the family when they’re in town.

Recommended Videos

But La Barbona isn’t just a pretty face. The kitchen is helmed by Chef Michael Hamilton who earned his chops working for some of the best restaurants in both New York and the UK. Not only did he spend time in the kitchen with Daniel Boulud at Daniel and Mads Refslund at Acme, he worked at both the Surf Lodge in Montauk and for Rick Stein, the number one rated seafood chef in the UK. For the menu at La Barbona, he adopts traditional recipes passed down from generations and combines them with the highest quality, locally-sourced ingredients he can find for truly standout tacos and ceviches. The Vieiras – scallops marinated in citrus, Coca-Cola, avocado and orange juice – is made with some of the freshest seafood we’ve ever tasted, perfectly highlighted by the mildly sweet and bright accompanying ingredients. All of the tacos are delicious, from the slow roasted pork to a shoulder steak with charred onions, folded into fresh, hand-pressed tortillas. La Barbona’s signature mezcal cocktails (and shots of the spirit too) are the best way to wash down your meal.

Whether you’re going for the food, drinks or just the atmosphere, La Barbona is a welcome addition to New York’s downtown dining scene. Check them out at 139 West 10th Street.

Amanda Gabriele
Amanda Gabriele is a food and travel writer at The Manual and the former senior editor at Supercall. She can’t live without…
Labor Day Weekend calls for a Pineapple Smash
A tropical cocktail with bourbon shining front and center
Basil Hayden Pineapple Smash.

Labor Day Weekend is coming right up, the last gasp of summer for a lot of folks. It's a great weekend for camping, relaxing, or having a refreshing summer cocktail. Fortunately, we just got a recipe in our inbox that caught our attention.

Now is prime cocktail time. As we speak, fans are sipping on Honey Deuce drinks at the U.S. Open and making Aviation Gin cocktails to celebrate Wrexham's new season in the Championship. Some of us are just looking for the ultimate cool-off in backyards, decks, and hammocks across the land.

Read more
2 must-try bourbon cocktails for Bourbon Heritage Month in September
Drinks that spotlight bourbon and the brand's Tennessee roots
Cortado cocktail.

There's a lot of talk of autumn these days. Really, we're still living in the moment, embracing summer beer releases and eagerly awaiting fresh hop season. But alas, fall is in fact on its way.

It's bittersweet, but the new seasons brings with it some pleasant transitions. One is the pivot towards more substantial food, whether that's a pot roast in the kitchen or a rye whiskey cocktail at the bar. So, when Bib & Tucker dropped a new bourbon infused with coffee, we couldn't help but excited about some of those transitional beverages that move seamlessly from one season to the next.

Read more
The unwritten cappuccino rule in Italy every tourist should know
Why Italians consider the cappuccino a morning-only drink
cappuccino

The unspoken rules of coffee in Italy are hard to navigate as a tourist -- and I learned that the hard way. During a recent trip to Italy, I discovered that Italian coffee culture is quite different than coffee culture in the U.S. In the U.S., no one questions you if you order a cappuccino at Starbucks at 5 p.m., because anything goes. Yet, in Italy, I got some interesting stares when trying to order a late-afternoon cappuccino.

After I was asked, "Are you sure?" by a woman behind the café counter in Rome, I soon learned of the unstated "cappuccino curfew" in Italy. Here's what to know about this cappuccino "rule" and why you won't catch many Italians drinking a cappuccino after 11 A.M.

Read more