Gonzalez y Gonzalez

When landlord disputes threatened to close down the fiesta, longtime bartenders Joey Dee Cirillo and Evan Cohen stepped in to save Gonzalez y Gonzalez, a colorful Mexican fixture in Greenwich Village since 1989. Half of the 6,000-square-foot space gave way to a Chipotle, so the pair moved the entrance and brought the iconic oversize sombrero that once hung above Broadway indoors. They also updated the menu, recruiting local food-truck maven and Zacatecas native Andre Morelo to dish out street-food snacks, including tlacoyos (baked rounds of masa filled with refried beans and cheese), huaraches (fried and stuffed oblong discs of masa) and chilangos (corn tortillas crowned with toppings like chorizo, salted beef or goat). But Cirillo and Cohen didn't mess too much with the original's formula: The live salsa bands, cold bottles of Corona and classic margaritas live on.