Empellón Taqueria (Waterline Square & West Village) Fried Green Tomato and Pimento Cheese

Available 05/23- 05/29

Enjoy at our Waterline Square and West Village locations.

Just about anything battered, fried to a crisp, and nestled inside a soft warm tortilla is a good thing.

At the moment, tomatoes are growing but not fully ripe quite yet. Yet while fried green tomatoes are marketed as the star of this taco, we secretly made this one as a vehicle for our riff on pimento cheese. The Southern American delicacy is typically made with processed cheese, cream cheese, mayonnaise, and bell pepper relish. We substitute pickled ají dulce chiles in place of the bell pepper component. These chiles generally become available in summer, and we preemptively buy bushels of them and pickled them for use all year round, which is how they end up here. Ají dulces are profound, offering hauntingly alluring habanero flavors with practically none of the heat, meaning we can employ them with a heavier hand. The taco is finished with a raw pico de gallo.