While Felipe Mendez’s other Williamsburg Mexican restaurant, La Superior, is designed to be a funky, down-home taqueria, his new Cantina Royal is “somewhere between street food and high-end,” he tells Grub Street. “Cantinas in Mexico are more like a place to sit with friends and hang out and drink and get tapas-style food.” Signature bites include clarinetes, a clarinet-shaped snack that’s “kind of like a flauta” with duck filling, or cappuccino potato soup, made with cinnamon, potatoes, and mushrooms.
Even if you’re just dropping by for a cocktail, like one of Mendez’s signature margaritas, or maybe a “tequila martini,” there are complimentary housemade salsas ranging from mild to spicy to smoky (see these in our slideshow) for anyone who nabs one of the 42 seats. To position the venue as “a place to have fun,” Mendez created a combination gallery-performance-lounge space in back, where he hopes to screen films and hold dance parties. The menu will change seasonally, but check out the current offerings below.
Cantina Royal Menu [PDF]
Cantina Royal, 58 N. 3rd St., nr. Berry St.; 347-763-2938
See more openings: The Grub Street Openings Map
