NYCReview
photo credit: Kate Previte
El Kallejon
Included In
Every inch of El Kallejon is covered in Huichol cats, rainbow piñatas, and grinning sugar skulls. This East Harlem restaurant looks—to the cynical, phone-weary eye—like a TikTok trap, and the owner, chef Nester Leon, has some hoarder tendencies. But after a meal here, it’ll become obvious that he opened this place in 2012 not as a viral backdrop, but as a shrine to his beloved Mexico City.
Though El Kallejon looks like the Mexican mercado of your dreams, the food is more of an ode to Mexican cuisine, not a classic rendition. You won’t find anything resembling it in Spanish Harlem, maybe not even in CDMX. Japanese, French, and other international influences fly freely in signature dishes like escargots with a silky pasilla sauce, crispy beef brain flautas sprinkled with tobiko, and grilled shark tostadas with kalbi sauce.
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
These tapas-style plates, elaborately staged with toasted corn husks and hibiscus flowers, appear sometimes on Instagram, where El Kallejon is actually quite active nowadays. But most people discover this place the old-fashioned way, by stumbling upon its colorful signs on East 117th, and it stays pretty low-key. You can usually find Nestor hosting just one or two other tables, looking through his collection of artisanal mezcals and tequilas for something his guests haven’t tried yet.
But El Kallejon is always ready for a party if you bring one. Every cocktail comes dressed in fruits and flowers, ready for a fiesta, and there’s a nice back patio for warmer nights. Order at least two tapas per person, and always ask about the specials. If pork shoulder is involved, get it. Share a flatbread topped with huitlacoche and shiitake mushrooms, and pair its pungent flavors with one of the sweeter Latin American wines.
photo credit: Kate Previte
The last time we were there, the chef was behind the bar in a lucha libre mask, doing something with rose-infused tequila and a blowtorch. We watched the mask get caught for a second, on a winged donkey toy hanging above his head. There was no social media strategy involved in the making of that moment. This place is 100% Nestor, and Mexican food exactly as he imagines it.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Kate Previte
Guacamole al Kallejon
photo credit: Kate Previte
Caracoles al Mezcal y Pasilla
Crispy Flautas de Pensamientos
photo credit: Kate Previte
Fish Tacos
photo credit: Kate Previte
Vuelve a la Vida Ceviche
photo credit: Kate Previte
Maria Sabina Coca Del Kallejon
photo credit: Kate Previte