Carta Azul Taqueria & Ceviche Bar

I have been to this place several times over the past year, & I can only clearly remember being disappointed once — and that only lasted about 10 minutes.
The negative experience I’m speaking of: my friend & I once came in during happy hour & there were 2 sizes of sangrias to choose from. We asked our server, «If we order the large, is that included in the happy hour special?» She said, «Yes, yes it is.» The check came… it was not. So FYI to all of you who are faced with the «small or large» question: it’s the small. But, after speaking to management about the mix-​up, we were offered the price we were promised without hassle. So, all is well.
Hm. Why do I love this place? Let me reminisce…
–I’m afraid to let this secret slip: this is one of the best brunch options I’ve encountered in the city. Less than $ 20 for an entrée & unlimited mimosas, and they’re the type of people to refill your mimosa before it’s half-​empty. And I sure do like those types of people.
–I came in here for my birthday celebration (brunch) which is really only supposed to be 2 hours. It was the dead of winter, though… so they let us stay for 4.
–The tacos.
–The huevos rancheros.
–The sangria.
–The yuca fries.
Every time I ask about this place, I always say, «Carta has my heart-​a.»

Margaritas at the bar are delicious and bartender is super friendly. Atmosphere is chill, loving happy hour drinks. Very cute spot, down fall they close early on Sunday’s. I’m in the area for a show and was going to come back after for dinner (9pm) however they won’t be open. Bummer. But will be back another day! Spanish rock playing in the background, loving that too. Very happy I stopped in here.

this place is awesome for Happy hour! Happy hour is from 3pm-​7pm.
Sangrias are 5 dollars and magaritas are 6 dollars. my friend and I got the sangria (you have an option of white or red). The white sangria was delicious — very fruity and strong.
we started off the guac and chips– the guac was very good and spicy (they put jalapenos in it)
I ordered the tamale (which is freshly made everyday) and the «corn off the cob» which is basically the regular mexican corn with spices but without the mess.
check in on Unilocal (not during happy hour) for 5 dollar magaritas!

Carta Azul stepped its game! No more oblivious waitresses. Jessica was friendly and on point. Service by her was great. The fish and shrimp tacos were delicious and they food came out pretty fast — so surprised!!! Guess I’ll be coming back in the future…

I am so freaking bummed!!! I came in today eat and have a margarita… I haven’t been in for a few weeks because I travel a lot #ysbh I walk into an empty place with a dreadful B rating on the front door… OMG!!!i am sooooooooo sad. :(
On the good side… my margarita is slamming. They were doing it by the pitcher and just pouring them out for awhile but I guess there was enough feedback so now they are back to making them fresh per order. I’ll come back in a few months to see if they can get that A back on the door. I love this place. Damn.

Solid Mexican in union square. The happy hour specials were great for some quick nibbles and cheap.
My only complaint was lack of free chips when you’re starving.

DONT COME FOR DINNER. we came on a weeknight after work to wind down and the live music was so loud we had to SHOUT to each other and still couldn’t hear
—baja pinchos: the waitress said the small version came with 2 skewers but it was actually the larger one that came w/​2 so she charged me the more expensive pricing RUDE… the shrimp was WAY oversalted & the pork was nothing special
—taquitos: nothing special
—yucca fries: also bleh. i’ve had better elsewhere
the SAVING GRACE of this restaurant is their to-​go LUNCH MENU. so much cheaper & worth your buck than dinner. the menu reminds me of any other casual burrito/​taco shop
—al pastor quesadilla: pretty tasty! you can choose your meat filling to customize

I came here for happy hour and it was very nice. Very laid back and chill. While it is a Mexican restaurant they were playing a lot of Bachata which was funny and lead to a fun conversation with the bartender. I ordered the white Sangria which was AMAZING I feel like sangria can be hit or miss, but this Sangria was strong yet very sweet and left a great taste in my mouth.
When I checked into this location I also got a $ 5 margarita but I wasn’t able to use it because apparently you can’t use it during happy hour (Though it doesn’t say it on the offer)
Overall It was a pleasant experience and I would definitely go back

This was my third visit to Carta Azul. I really wanted to like this place. However it went from great on visit #1, to awful by visit #3. While a bit on the pricier side for a taco joint, the margaritas and other drinks, as well as the food are good, and come out of the kitchen fast every time.
The overall décor is nice with a large bar and one communal table near the front window.
SO…this third time I visited, it was a complete disaster. I checked in on Unilocal and held up my phone for the solitary waitress (for 20 or so tables) so she could see the check in coupon, and ordered the $ 5 classic margarita as indicated. Once she took our drink order, we were serviced sporadically by other people for the rest of the meal. We were left waiting for 10 – 15 min at a time without seeing a single wait staff in the dining area. The busboy was excellent as well as attentive, I must say. Then the man who took our order literally put his hand in my fiancé’s face to get him to stop talking while he moved on to another person’s order. We were speechless. You do NOT do that to a customer who isn’t finished with his order.
The food was good, drinks were good, then the guy shows up with the bill, which has my $ 5 margarita charged out at $ 11. I flag him down when he reappears in the dining room, and he acts like he doesn’t understand after I clearly explain that I checked in on Unilocal and should have received the discount drink. I really don’t care about $ 6, but after a night of terrible service, aw hell naw. He brings over the waitress, who has suddenly reappeared 2 hours later and she argues with me, saying I didn’t tell her I had checked in. I told her that yes, I had indeed picked up my phone and shown her directly the voucher. She kept denying and denying it. Finally she said she would adjust it. I am thinking to myself, «you are arguing with a customer who is obviously Unilocal savvy and who will probably leave a review, and you blow it over one margarita?»
She comes back with the adjusted bill and a dirty look, so we leave a minimal tip for a night of god-​awful service and leave. We will NOT be back.

Lunched here with a friend. She ordered the Taco Tuesday special, 3 soft shell tacos for the price of 2. I got 2 hard shell tacos. I made a mess of myself eating my food but who cares when it’s so good. We split an ear of corn on the cob. I wanted to have one all for myself but I did need to show some self-​control. The restaurant is only a block from my gym so I am always nearby, but at least I can work off all the calories after this delicious and filling lunch.
ETA: i have been here twice and the service was slow both times. My 4-​star review is because the food is so good. If you are in a rush, this place is not for you.

Giving them a 3.5!
There was a group of 6 of us. Once we got there, there was a delay in terms of seating. Once we were shown to a table, it wasn’t bad. We were right in the middle of everything! Overall, the restaurant is small but not cramped. There’s enough space for a bar and tables throughout.
Our server was friendly enough but then literally went on lunch break during our time there and wasn’t shy about it as she was in view of us. Lunch breaks are necessary but it would have been nice if she had a replacement.
Other than that, the food was good. It was just that; it wasn’t great and it wasn’t horrible but good. I ordered the chicken tamale. Tasty but the chicken was a bit bland and the tamale could have been a bit more moist. I tried some of the veggie quesadilla and that was more enjoyable.
We were there during happy hour (5pm-​7pm on a Thursday, I believe) in which case drinks were around $ 5-​$ 6 if I remember correctly. The plus of this place is its location (right next to the 14 street trains) but again, the food and service are just okay.

Came for cinco de mayo at lunch time, was expecting something special… Like special drinks, happy hour, special meals but they had nothing!
Ordered the chips with guacamole & it was perfect!
We ordered the taco specials (buy 2 get 1 free) that’s every Tuesday’s by the way… I tasted everyone’s (chicken, steak, fish & shrimps) I didn’t love the flavor of the steak but the others were good.
We also tried the yuca fries, I didn’t love them but everyone did… eh
Oh & I used the Unilocal special $ 5 margarita if you check in, the drink is usually $ 13 so it was a great save
Thanks Unilocal

We just ordered drinks.
Us: We actually have a $ 5 coupon towards the margaritas.
Waitress: That’s for the next check in. I cannot put it towards your bill because then I would have to adjust it. But if you want, I could discount the drinks if you’re not going to get another round.
Why. Say. Anything.
One star for the decent food. Don’t make your burrito wet. They’ll just add spaghetti sauce. Another star for the atmosphere. I had a terrible day and all I wanted was a good meal with zero problems.
The waitress ended up discounting us. She found time to adjust the bill! Only cause she caught us Unilocaling. Five stars for Unilocal

Came here on Wednesday afterwork. The co workers and I were headed to the painting lounge which is up the block from here. When I usually go to places I like to look them up and see the menu before but since this was right in front of the train and so convenient for our time we chose to give it a try. We started off with the $ 5 sangria (happy hour 4 – 7) which was tasty not so much liquor — I’ve had better. Since we were under a time constraint we told the waitress if we ordered then if we can have our food within a half hour span — she was very nice and responded that she will get us out in time. We all ordered apps —
Mango guacamole — I was expecting something different — it’s just regular guacamole with slices of mango on top
Quesadilla — the best part about this was the sour cream — very delicious and the plate was a pretty good size
My friends ordered mexican fries (they were a bit spicy) the taquitos (looked yummy) and the sope sliders (beware of the pricing when choosing the toppings)
I will give it a goo it’s a great convenient place for drinks and apps — for a date or if you just want to hang out after shopping.

This was a great little find for Mexican food or cocktails out around midtown/​Chelsea. Offering a menu filled with Mexican classics, a Unilocal check-​in offer on margaritas, and refuge from the cold, this was a sure fire win.
As many good Friday night dinners do, this one started with cocktails. A margarita for my mom (on the rocks is the only option — I suppose to do away with blender background noise) and a michelada for me. For those that don’t know, a michelada is a hybrid of beer and Bloody Mary. Light beer mixed with lime juice (in Costa Rica that’s the whole of it), sometimes also tomato juice, and pepper. This one was good though a bit heavy handed on the tomato juice for my liking. Still very respectable and I was impressed to see it on the menu. Good reviews on the margarita.
We decided to share dishes for dinner to taste as many things as possible. The guacamole trio sampler and the two item combo — taco and enchilada. Guacamole was fabulous in taste, presentation, and portion. Regular, mango/​sweet, and spicy (though not very) served in separate mini bowls and about a full cup of each. A full bowl of tortilla chips was ample to take care of that treat. We elected to do a chicken enchilada and pork taco with soft shell, and were very happy with both. Have you ever noticed that the slow cooked meats in Mexican and Latin restaurants is always somehow just better? Well this continued the trend. Topped with a bit of melted cheese and a side of rice and beans, the food was aces.
Décor and ambiance were both fun and casual. Punched tin lanterns, somewhat dimmer lighting though not to the point of lounge-​y. I had an old lady moment and decided the music was a bit loud for my liking (I don’t like shouting to the person across from me) but in their defense we were sitting jut in front of a speaker.
We had a small glitch with our check, but the server ultimately removed the item in question. High five for a good business practice.
Friendly service, fun vibe and great food. I know they do have happy hour specials, but missed them so can’t attest. I’d come back here again for drinks, aps, or dinner to start off a big night out.

Service: seemed like there was one waitress for the whole restaurant. Definitely mediocre. When we first ordered guac, they served it to the wrong table and we finally got it after we got out entrees. They didn’t do much to console us.
Spicy shrimp guac: the guac was spicy but the guac base was brown colored so I’m not sure how fresh the batch was that we got. There were maybe three pieces of shrimp in the dish. Not really worth it.
Margarita Classic: didn’t taste so strong that it kicked me in the face but was pretty tasty and I felt something after one drink. For five bucks, not bad at all.
Ceviche sampler: not really that great. Didn’t taste that fresh and I wasn’t a fan of the octopus. The shrimp had some cocktail type sauce on it that was different. As a whole though it wasn’t as chilled as I’d like it.
Tacos: next time I come ill probably otp only for these for food. We were here on taco Tuesday so my boyfriend are two and I ate his extra steak taco for free. Came with the right amount of guac on top and the spritz of lime made it perfection.
Ambience: cute place for a casual date night. Even some tv on in the background. There’s booth/​regular table seating as well as high top tables.
³⁄₅ stars cause the service was mediocre and the food wasn’t too amazing. Otherwise pretty standard restaurant.

Casual, solid Mexican place. I had a good feeling once I walked in and they were playing «Micaela» which is my parents favorite song!
We got the guac trio, yum! The mango was my fave. RE tacos, I found that carne asada was better than al pastor. Which is a shame. Because I love al pastor.
My friend got the ceviche, good stuff.
Also, awesome staff who really really tried to accommodate me when I wanted to watch a specific college basketball game.
Will be back!

A friend I was visiting lives nearby and he doesn’t have a tv and I needed to watch the World Cup. Carta Azul to the rescue!
I found a key spot at the bar in front of their big screen and was promptly greeted and brought my cocktail of choice, a mojito while watching England throw away my hopes and dreams of having them advance out of their group. (I don’t know why I even get my hopes up with them… sigh.)
I didn’t order any food as we had a dinner reservation later that evening and we had spent literally ALL day eating in Flushing and I appreciated that no one scoffed at me for only having mojitos.
The staff were fun, friendly and attentive. I’d come here again for drinks!

I work in the area and come here quite a bit when I’m craving some Mexican for lunch. (Sometimes, you just want more than Chipotle!)
The lunch deals are pretty good, actually prices overall aren’t too high. On Tuesday’s they have a «Taco Tuesday» deal, buy 2 get 1 free. You can pick and choose and get all different types of meats which is awesome. They all come with guacamole which is a big plus!
Personally, I love the burrito. It’s massive and always leaves me very full. The burrito comes with chips which are nice and crispy. The salsas are great too and they have a mild and spicy.
The drinks are good, but not as good of a deal as the food. The happy hour margaritas are still $ 6 (regularly $ 9). The service is quick, the staff is always friendly. Overall good lunch spot for the area!

I can’t tell of Carta Azul is just Pinche Taqueria with a new name or not (it says both business names on the front window), but none of that matters because they have the best damn chilequiles I’ve had outside of Southern California.
En route to a meeting that I was running early for, I decided to pop in and grab some lunch. I was craving a burrito or taco, but when I learned they do breakfast all day long, I couldn’t resist my all time favorite comfort food item. You’d think it’d be easy to throw some fried tortilla, beans, meat, red sauce, and eggs in a pan and be able to come up with something delicious. But sadly it takes a lot of skill… and these cats are most certainly skilled. The chilequiles come in a deceptively large bowl with all of the above ingredients plus sliced avocado and sour cream. Drenched in red sauce that’ll make you sweat… it’s outstanding and you must try it ASAP.
They have a full bar, so this is going to have to be a weekend brunch destination sooner than later. No clue if they do the Sunday Funday style drink action, but it doesn’t matter — those chilequiles are what I’m rolling in for.

Came here for lunch and got the Carnitas burrito with a soda.
Upon taking my first bite, I found a long piece of hair in the burrito! This is just unacceptable and just outright disgusting. Took a picture of it as well. I opened up the burrito to see if there was anything else in there out of the ordinary, but since it is a burrito, it is hard to see since everything is mushed in together. What I did notice is the lack of Pork in the burrito. Lots of beans and rice but not much else. Some Guacamole but not that much.
Definitely won’t be coming back to this place!
I would have taken it back but I had ordered for take out.