At Santo Taco, flat slices of New York strip and sirloin are so large that you can hardly see the corn tortilla underneath. When the chain opened its second New York City location on University Place last month, diners waited in a line that wrapped around the store.

The chain, created by Santiago Perez — who also co-founded fine dining Mexican restaurant Cosme in Flatiron — is only the latest taqueria to land in NYU student stomping grounds, following Tacos 1986, which opened in the West Village over the summer, and Cariñito Tacos, which began its pop-up residency earlier this year a couple doors down from Santo Taco. Its first location opened a block away from NYU’s Broome Street residence hall inMay. Since modernizing the space of decadelong NYU hotspot Tortaria, Santo Taco aims to find a new identity among the community. 

“We wanted to create something at the intersection of Mexico City and New York,” Perez told WSN. “Something that has references to both cities but doesn’t scream too loud either, because we wanted to create our own personality.” 

The menu features only seven varieties of tacos, from pork carnitas and carne asada to zucchini and mushrooms, each served on a house-made tortilla that is soft yet still holds its shape. The restaurant also offers a small side of chips and guacamole and an agua fresca — a refreshing combination of kiwi, cucumber and lime infused with palo santo wood. 

“We wanted to keep things very simple, to use only a limited number of high-quality ingredients,” Perez said. “When it’s such a simple menu there’s nowhere to hide, so the execution is very important.”

The chicken taco’s ($5.45) tender, rich pieces of chicken thighs are paired with pickled red onion and avocado salsa. Two of the more surprising items of the menu, the zucchini taco ($5.45) has five slices of soft, roasted zucchini paired with Oaxaca cheese, poblano peppers and spicy salsa macha — a Mexican dried chili oil — and the mushroom taco ($5.45) is served with sauteed shiitake and cremini mushrooms, topped with crispy shallots. While the taco’s umami flavor was strong, it could have benefitted from a kick of acidity to cut through the mushroom’s richness. 

Santo Taco’s most popular, and expensive, taco is the steak trompo ($6.95), which The Infatuation described asraising the bar for New York City’s taco scene. It has thin, melt-in-your-mouth slices of New York strip and sirloin topped with smooth avocado salsa, whose creaminess pairs well with the tender steak. 

Though the restaurant’s prices are on par with other local taco chains, like LOS TACOS No. 1 and Tacombi, it’s easy to rack up a high tab — three tacos, an agua fresca and a side of chips and guac costs about $32. Because the tacos themselves aren’t very large, Santo Taco works best for a quick snack rather than a filling meal. 

With a space filled with natural light from large windows, ample standing room and an awning that boasts “a higher standard,” Santo Taco hopes to connect with students and the greater Greenwich Village community. 

“We see ourselves as interacting a lot with the school,” Perez said. “We want to do more events and learn more from the students.”

ContactAyda McClellan at[email protected].