Calexico (CLOSED)

Jesse, Brian and David Vendley—the brothers behind the Vendy Award–winning Cal-Mex cart—expand with their first Manhattan storefront. Following their two Brooklyn spots—as well as carts in Soho and Flatiron—the trio comes to the LES, beckoning neighborhood nightcrawlers with cart favorites (tacos, quesadillas, tortas). This downtown spot also offers a few new items: Doubled soft corn tacos get filled with pollo toucinho (chicken and bacon) in verde sauce, while fried green tomatillos substitute for a hamburger bun in the Sloppy José. The margarita program has also been souped up—the brothers enlisted Apothéke alum Nick O'Connor to mix guava, blood-orange and jalapeño-mint variations at the 12-seat tiled bar.