Bushwick’s Nenes Taqueria opens slick new outpost In Park Slope 

By Scott Lynch

Scott Lynch

Nenes Taqueria, which first opened in the back of a Bushwick bodega in the fall of 2020, and then opened its own place on Starr Street, was born not so much as a “pandemic project” as an act of desperation by chef and co-founder Andrés Tonatiuh Galindo Maria.

Here’s the origin story: in February of 2020, Galindo Maria, who grew up in Bushwick and spent most of his professional career cooking at high-end places like Ai Fiore and Jean-Georges, went to visit his family on their farm in Puebla, Mexico for what he thought was just a quick break from the city.

Covid had other plans, of course, and when Galindo Maria was finally able to return to Brooklyn, the restaurant industry had totally changed. The jobs that were available were all pretty miserable. So when a buddy offered him space for a tiny kitchen in his Irving Avenue bodega, Galindo Maria said why not, and jumped into the taco business with Nenes.

It has worked out well. And now Nenes has expanded into Park Slope where it has opened its lates outpost on Fourth Avenue.

There are many very good things to eat at Nenes — the enormous carne asada burritos should not be overlooked — but the core of the menu is the birria, the saucy stew that is having a serious moment these days. Galindo Maria makes his version from beef shank, which he slow-cooks using a secret family recipe.

So secret, he tells Brooklyn Magazine, that only two people alive know all of the ingredients. So secret, he says, that when he filmed a segment on his birria for Vice Munchies recently, and they needed the recipe in order to prepare the food before filming, he gave them the wrong thing. “It was fine,” he said. “But it was not it, man.”

At the new Nenes Taqueria in Park Slope you can get your birria in taco format, the stew spooned inside sauce-stained, cheese-encrusted, twice-grilled house tortillas. These are fantastic, among the best in the city, especially when plunged into Galindo Maria’s luxurious, surprisingly spicy consomé, which you should also drink down between bites for maximum pleasure.

A birria taco combo platter comes with three tacos and a cup of consomé; $12.50 (Scott Lynch)

Birria can also be stuffed into quesadillas here, or mulitas (which deploy two tortillas each), or plopped atop a cheesy pizza, or, maybe my sleeper favorite in the whole place, and what will make for a superb, soul-warming meal for Park Slopers this coming winter, Nene’s birria ramen. With its instant-style chewy noodles, mess of meat, mounds of onions, cilantro, and radishes for brightness, bite, and crunch, and so much thick, greasy broth, it eats like the world’s greatest stoner food.

Birria ramen; $12 (Scott Lynch)

The Park Slope spot also gives Galindo Maria a much larger kitchen than he’s had in Bushwick, so there’s room for what he calls a “vertical spin” for his adobada, or pork al pastor, tacos, and an expansive grill for making carne and pollo asada, as well as some killer champiñones.The tacos come with a big blob of guacamole and a pile of beans, and there are three zippy salsas available to dump all over everything.

Asada, adobada, and champinoñes tacos; $3.75 each (Scott Lynch)

Beverages include homemade horchata and tamarindo, and there’s a solid selection of Jarritos available as well. For dessert, choose from among the two dozen flavors of Maya’s paletas in the freezer case by the register, or get Nene’s flan, a big slab of creamy, caramel-soaked goodness.

Nenes flan; $4.99 (Scott Lynch)

Takeout and delivery will likely be a big part of Galindo Maria’s business here on Fourth Avenue, but Nenes Park Slope has a few stools set before a wide, gleaming counter for those of us dining in. The bright red color scheme and a soundtrack of Mexican bangers bring a festive feel to what is otherwise, for the most part, a pretty dreary block.

Nenes Taqueria Park Slope is located at 660 Degraw Street, at the corner of Fourth Avenue, and is currently open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.