Snack Dragon Taco Shack

11/6/2013

• 1 check-in

What an awesome name... Snack Dragon Taco Shack?!  The name just sounds so cool!!! How do you come up with not just one... but two of these places!? I'm a Jersey girl from the shore and everything so we're obsessed with Surf Taco and Taco Bell. It's nice to have a homey place like this in NYC with funky colored walls and seats to kick back and get some tacos without having to head back to Jersey!

This is definitely a hole in the wall place in LES. It's chill, laid back, and definitely has character. Came here after having a few drinks with some friends... I ordered some tacos and chowed down. I think for the price, it isn't bad. It's fun as an after drinks sort of place. I admire that our waiter was also our chef and cashier. Kudos to you man! Although my meal was delicious, I prob won't venture to LES specifically for this... but if I'm hungry, drunk and in the area, I'll wander over. Really good drunk food place after a night out in LES!

8/3/2013

• 1 check-in

2am. Very hungry. Not quite sober. I see a place with the words "snack" and "dragon" in its name. I think: "YES."  

It is a hole in the wall, but almost literally--it has maybe 4 seats, and a take-away counter.

They serve tacos. The tortillas are blue. The fillings are tasty.

I had the pollo and the quinoa pilaf tacos, and to my shock and delight, the quinoa rocked and was delish.  I'll be the first to admit: I was totally primed to enjoy anything I ate, at this time. But even setting that aside, I think this quinoa was great.

$4-5 per taco.

3/9/2013

• 1 check-in

I love this joint. I love the authentic and mildly grungy feel of the spot. I recommend the dragon and chorizo tacos. The pollo verde was good but did not stand out as much.

Very minimal seating, but that adds to the charm, I suppose.

You'll see a lot of familiar faces. People keep coming back for more!

10/22/2012

what a tasty between drinks break!
Everything on the menu is good, and the prices are nice so you can mix & match.
My friends and I managed to sit in the back since everyone else just did take out.
Friendly staff/chef.

11/9/2011

My friends and I stopped by Snack Dragon last week after having drinks at Elsa down the street. When I think back on these tacos, I remember them tasting pretty good. I tried the Slayed Dragon (pork), Pollo Verde, and Grilled Sole tacos. All three delivered in flavor and freshness, and the blue corn tortillas was a nice touch. But then I remember that the tortilla fell apart after the first bite. Why? And that each taco was $4-5. What?

I would have given Snack Dragon 4 stars if it wasn't for the price. $4-5 is really too much for a single taco. Plus, I can get amazing tacos in Astoria for half the price. But if you live or play in Alphabet City, Snack Dragon is a dependable option for a late night snack.

*If you have a penchant for spicy foods or pain, don't forget to add habanero sauce to your taco(s). It's awesome and really kicks it up a notch!

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  menu

  menu
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  grilled sole

  grilled sole
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  dragon

  dragon
• See all photos from Amy S. for Snack Dragon Taco Shack

7/14/2012

• 1 check-in

My first time at Snack Dragon, I thought it was delicious. The tacos are bit small, so it isn't as cheap as it seems, but the tacos were top notch.
My second time, the girl there (And I mean girl. She was blasting teen pop and looked 16.) didn't pay as much attention to detail. The tacos were cold and gritty. I believe she didn't rinse the cilantro. That's the only explanation I came up with.
Bottom line, I want to like Snack Dragon and wish them well. But I only go there when I'm in a rush.

6/19/2014

• 1 check-in

I think we're the only people who've ever come here not totally drunk, if you read the reviews already written :-)  But we did come late...11:15p...and were appreciative of being able to get a quick bite to go. Three of us tried the pollo verde, carne asada, chorizo, fish, and quinoa flavors. Everyone enjoyed theirs just fine....not gonna say they were the best we've ever had....but I do think for me (fish and quinoa), I'm giving the flavor prize to the quinoa. It was awesome. Very friendly, very cool little space if you do want to hang out.

3/18/2011

In terms of flavor, this place was DANGEROUSLY close to getting 5 stars. These tacos are the closest thing to "Southern California Taco Truck style tacos" that I've tried in New York thus far.

I had the Pollo Verde, Grilled Sole, Chorizo, and "Freshly Slayed Dragon" tacos -- it sounds like a lot, but these tacos are like 3 bite ordeals**. But they were ALL fantastic. I freakin love corn tortillas and the blue corn tortillas they use here are awesome. Use the green hot sauce! I'm immune to spicy, and I was actually able to feel a tingle!

And then... I realized how expensive the tacos were-- enough to warrant a 2 star drop. Each taco at this New York food stand will run you $4-$5?! Similar tacos found in California food trucks are $1. :(

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**Also, I was drunk.

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  Pollo Verde Taco

  Pollo Verde Taco
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  Grilled Sole Taco

  Grilled Sole Taco
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  Shack Window

  Shack Window
• See all photos from Nicole C. for Snack Dragon Taco Shack

5/24/2011

After coming here, I realized that Taco Bell is actually crap.
Great place to come if you are drunk and looking for some delicious, recovery food. You can stumble here, skip here, gallop here... whatever. Just get here.
The menu is scrolled on a chalkboard. I ordered one of the tacos, unfortunately I don't remember which one I ordered but it was delicious. This is the place where you can have dragon slayed tacos, if they added tiger blood, that would be perfect! Each taco is about $4-$5.
Minus one star because the cashier gave me less change than she was supposed to... I can still to perfect math even when I'm not sober.

1/15/2014

• 1 check-in

Fresh ingredients, friendly service, open late! What more could you ask for?!!

12/15/2012

I have no idea what the big deal about the Snack Dragon Taco Shack is, or maybe I just am not understanding or seeing it. I came here one really late night after some drinking and was dying for any decent food in sight. I saw a little line forming in front of this tiny place called the Snack Dragon, and I thought I'd give it a shot. If so many people are dining at this place, it must be good, right? Well, for one, the place is cute but small in terms of being a sit-down restaurant. It was packed inside, so I made my order from the sidewalk window so that I can grab and go. The menu wasn't huge, mainly just 5-6 taco varieties that all cost about $4-7. They all sounded more or less appetizing, so I ordered one taco, namely the Grilled Sole, thinking that would be enough. I figured maybe the markup was because the tacos were awesome and unique to any other taco, but I was totally wrong about that. For one, the price of a taco is a wee bit overpriced, and it is certainly tiny. The taco shell is literally half the size of a standard sized shell. They do offer a free shell if you want, but that's just adding more bread and no filler.  If I were a big guy, I think I could literally swallow one of their tacos in one shot; not worth it. The taco itself wasn't bad in terms of the taste, and the presentation was good, but it was far from extraordinary. I tasted more lettuce on this taco than I did meat, and for that, it was just not worthy of the price. I saw maybe 4 pieces of meat in my taco buried beneath layers of green and some sauce.

Great location for a restaurant as it's in the LES, but I really don't see the value in coming here again. Honestly, if you're starving, you will have to look elsewhere.

10/6/2010

• 20 check-ins

The Snack Dragon is pretty expensive for what it is---  five dollars for a taco with meats, a packaged cheese, and beans?

Snack Dragon doesn't really serve Mexican food, everything is tex-mexy.

But they do have every mexitastique condiment you've ever dreamed of.

-BUT BEST OF ALL-

YOU CAN RIDE THE DRAGON INTO DAWN. It appears to be never closed when you're drunk. You can take your tacos real-quick outside or go inside and sit down. When I've taken my friends here they've described the decor as "burning man."

I enjoy their light up disco ball and flashing signs that are constantly set to original manufacturer's default, i.e., SET DATE/TIME/ETC.

The employees must be pretty happy because Snack Dragon worker turnaround is slow. Adam, the white dude with a shaved head, is the best at grilling steak for the Carne Asada taco and he's been there since I've known the dragon (2 years).

My favorite taco has to be the Carne Asada, the steak is grilled right there--- you can smell the beef fat sizzling from down the street.

I've met countless neighbors here that I'll keep in touch with, or nod fondly towards on the street--- nobody cries at the Snack Dragon. I will patron this magic place until forever.

5/7/2013

• 1 check-in

G. Damn. This guy was a genius to open up spot with all the HH bars around ! This tops any halal food any day! What I recommend... practically EVERYTHING! There wasn't one taco that disappointed & it def. fills you up. I recommend anyone who has been drinking and just wanted the munchies afterwards...this would be the spot!

11/29/2009

• 5 check-ins

I've developed this nasty habit of creating any excuse I can come up with to go out to eat at a place that has caught my eye on Yelp. My latest guilty pleasure? Snack Dragon Tacos of course. This was my go to place earlier this week. Unfortunately the crave came before it opened at 4pm so I was instead forced to go to Cinderella Falafel. But since I was driving the girlfriend home tonight, which meant I was in the area, nothing was going to stop me from getting my tacos. Nothing!!!

When we went in the place was packed. And by packed I mean there were about 6 people inside. This place is a hole in the wall, quite literally. We ordered and shared a Carne Asada Taco and a Freshly-Slayed Dragon Taco. Both were absolutely delicious. The carne asada was tender and juicy while the pork in the slayed dragon was so tasty. I usually don't like parsley but throw in all together on a blue corn tortilla at the Snack Dragon and squirt on some lime and I'll shovel it down before you can blink.

The atmosphere of the place was quite unique. It felt as though there were just a bunch of us hanging out in a tiny room even though everyone was strangers, at least to me they were anyway. There was a very sweet young lady working behind the counter making each taco fresh to order. She was chatting up a group before we had arrived and the girlfriend and I were feeling a bit antisocial (we get that way when there's food in front of us, too busy stuffing out faces to talk) so we just took our tacos to the semi-outdoor barstools and pigged out. By semi-outdoor I mean the small enclosed extension onto the the sidewalk away from the actually hole in the wall. It was warm out there and less cramped than it was inside.

At $4-5 a taco its definitely more expensive than your local Taco Bell. But the freshness of the ingredients and the knock-your-socks-off taste is just unbeatable. Anyone that tells me they prefer Taco Bell over these tacos is out of their mind. It's just that good. In fact even as I'm writing this review I'm already planning my next visit.

Next time I really want to try the Grilled Sole and the Johnny Boy. They sounded delicious but I had to pick one over the other. On second thought, that was a pretty small menu. Maybe next time I'll just order one of everything! Yelp Taco party anyone?

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  Carne Asada to go

  Carne Asada to go
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  Pollo Verde to go

  Pollo Verde to go

3/3/2012

We were drunk, we were hungry this place looked like a good idea. We ate our food without forks like cavemen while stumbling to the train station and laughed about considering turning around and going back for seconds and how crazy we both looked eating. This was in September. Since then for the life of us my friend and I could NOT remember the name of this place until we stumbled upon it again tonight. This time we were sober, it wasn't what we remembered but still pretty good.

Everything tastes better when you're drunk. (;

5/7/2012

• 1 check-in

It may not be the best taco you've ever had, and the nacho dish thing they serve is a bit of a tease since it comes in a four bite layout but that nacho thing is good and those tacos are available late night.

When you're drunk or just looking to score some fresh tacos in the East Village head here, the atmosphere and vibe is worth it alone. The "keep me off the pole" tip jar is classic and there's lots of pretty colors and things to look at- I imagine it's more fun to look at when you're drunk but hell aren't we all drunk when we're in the East Village?!

The lady who served us our grub was cool and knew the local bartenders in the area enough to give us some insight on where to take our drunken selves to next.

10/10/2014

• 1 check-in

The employee manning the east village stand attacked me and my friend when he failed to pick up and charge my friend's card. A long string of profanities ensued, as well as physical violence. Pray you don't get this chef as his pollo verde tacos left us still hungry for more and left us each $12 short. (He charged us 35$ for 2 $4 tacos.)

5/21/2013

The tacos were delicious!  Great variety and creativity.

But the sangria was ferocious.  Sorry guys.

2/13/2013

First, the bad: douchey drunk crowd can sometimes ruin the experience. Tacos could be $1 less. That's about it.

Other than that, the atmosphere is just right, the employees are almost always personable and appreciate people who aren't ass holes. Ford, who no longer works there, became a good friend of mine just from stopping by every few nights on my way home from work. All of the meats are homemade. I wouldn't recommend the sole, but all of the other meats are phenomenal, just ask what's the best or freshest at that point in the night. Salsa has cumin and coriander and is great.

ABC location doesn't have booze but I encourage you to paper bag from the bodega across the street. I'm sure if you bring the worker a tall boy you'll get a taco or two.

6/19/2011

• 1 check-in

In Alphabet City/the East Village, a land full of delicious late night food, Snack Dragon Taco Shack still manages to stand out.  

When my friends and I are out in the area, there is a very strong positive correlation between our distance to Snack Dragon and the percentage of our conversation that becomes, "HOLY SHIT WE CAN HAZ TACOZ TONITE???"  I've been here maybe 5 or so times now, and every time I stop by, I feel the same way - these are tacos that lie somewhere on the border between great and outstanding, but that are $2 too expensive.  When I'm here at 3 AM, I don't want to have to pay $8 for two tacos.  But I do anyway, because it's still worth it.

I can vouch for the chorizo, pollo verde, and the dragon - the chorizo stands out as being particularly delicious, but they're all fantastic.  I remember really liking the carne asada as well, but I haven't had it for a while so I'll make no promises.  Everything here is extraordinarily fresh, the blue corn tortillas are awesome, and you will leave a happy camper.  Amen.