La Taqueria opens in Hicksville

After coming to the United States in 2013 and getting a start at his uncle’s Hempstead restaurant, El Nopal, Luis Molina has opened his own last month, a brightly painted taqueria featuring a handful of tables and a menu based around al pastor (pork), carne asado (grilled steak), pollo asado (grilled chicken) and camaron (shrimp).

The main event here comes in those four varieties and are served on soft corn or flour tortillas and topped with white onions, cilantro and guacamole. Prices range from $2.95 to $3.79 per taco.

Customers can also get anything from tortas (traditional Mexican sandwich) and tostadas to burritos, bowls and enchiladas. 

Molina, who is from Oaxaca, a city in south Mexico, said he uses his grandmother’s and mother’s homemade recipes at his restaurant, and that includes the recipe for his al pastor, which he marinates with “a lot of peppers... a mix of different chiles, like chile ancho, chile guajillo, chile de árbol, [plus] vinegar, garlic and paprika."

Yet, the outcome is “not spicy at all,” he said. It takes about three hours just to make the sauce, with which he uses to marinate the meat. It's then left in the fridge overnight before it gets put on the "trompo," a vertical rotisserie spit, for cooking and that takes another three hours before it's ready to be served.

La Taqueria is open daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. It’s at 145 Levittown Pkwy. in Hicksville.516-595-7678. lataqueriany.com