Eating Everything on the Menu at NYC’s Hottest Tex-Mex Restaurant

We're in the East Village

at the Tex-Mex restaurant Yellow Rose

and we're gonna order one of every item on the menu.

Welcome!

Thank you!

It was really such a Tex-Mex desert

prior to this place opening up,

and it really is like one of the only Tex-Mex restaurants

in New York City.

Where are you thinking we should start?

Chronological order makes sense, right?

Yeah, I think so.

But curve ball.

I think I kinda want the dessert to come

before the specials.

[Jackie] Okay!

[Eric] So have the specials

and the mains at the very last.

[Jackie] Yeah!

[Eric] So we go out with a bang.

That sounds good.

[upbeat music]

We have our chip and dips,

but at the end of this meal we're gonna have to rank it.

The Star, if you're only coming to Yellow Rose

once in your life, what should you get?

Next one is The Repeat.

If you live in the area, live in New York,

Yellow Rose is your go-to,

what are you getting every single time?

And then The Regular.

It's that hidden dark horse buried inside deep in the menu

that people should know about.

We can only take one bite of each food.

[Jackie] That's torture!

It is torture now, but I think towards the end

it's kind of like a good safety net.

[Jackie] I think we should start with the Salsa Roja.

That's great. The acidity is great.

It's the perfect appetizer.

You have crisp, you have acid, you have salinity.

You can really taste the lime.

I'm really interested in this Vegan Queso.

The base of it is cashews

and I know they use guajillos in it

for a little bit of color.

Guajillos are a really mild dried chili

that impart a lot of color.

It is not traditional,

but it is very accommodating to the New York palate.

I think, you know, maybe if you hadn't ever had it before,

you could maybe fool somebody into thinking it was cheese.

Wish I could eat another bite.

We're off to a strong start.

This is the Shiner Bock Queso.

So Shiner Bock is a beer from Texas.

[Jackie] Correct!

I've never had it. How does it taste like?

Delicious. It tastes like home.

They use sodium citrate as a cheese emulsifier.

What it does is it kind of neutralizes the calcium

and allows the casein protein

to kind of just do its own thing

and emulsify everything together.

They're not diluting it with a lot of milk

or water or something like that.

So it's like a bolder, cheesy flavor.

I think this one's really delicious on the queso scale.

I'm actually blown away right now.

And next up we have the Smoked Avocado Dip.

Half of the avocados are pureed

and the other half are cut up into pieces,

mixed together with some Chipotles,

which are just smoked dried jalapenos.

Almost like a chili crisp.

[Eric] Yeah!

That was outstanding.

Normally when it comes to like

a guacamole avocado dip type thing,

I'm more into a super acidic

and this is like the acid is a little more subtle,

but it's still so balanced.

I'm still chewing on pecans and sesame seeds

two minutes after my bite,

and the fragrance of the sesame seeds

paired with avocados.

It's just a melody. That's so in sync.

Star candidate right now for me at least.

Strong contender.

[upbeat music]

We have the sides. I have here the Left-Handed Kisses.

More than one kiss, plural. Kisses.

What do you have?

This is the Mezcal Margarita.

How do you feel after the first round?

Hungrier. I'm ready. I'm ready to go.

[Eric] We should obviously start with the Queso Fundido.

You are going to unwrap your tortillas

and build essentially a taco of this melted cheese.

Vegan house-made tortillas.

Flour tortillas are something that are extremely near

and dear to my heart.

They are directly tied to every memory of my childhood.

The flour tortillas they use in Tex-Mex

are frequently a little bit thicker,

a little bit more doughy.

Something about having an entire mouth full of cheese

coat your palate. [Jackie laughs]

That's just so satisfying.

Nothing like a cheesy snack.

Let's try the Arancini.

I love this because I feel like

it is a representation of myself on a plate

as a Sicilian from South Texas.

I think this is a really fun play on Tex-Mex food.

Totally non-traditional,

obviously like a hybrid between Italian and Tex-Mex.

The fusion of the fusions.

And I love the playfulness of it.

It's really delicious.

What should we do next?

The Little Gem Salad with the cashew ranch.

It is vegan.

They do this cool thing where they toast

and dehydrate hominy and then turn that into a powder

and throw that over the top of the salad.

I'm just gonna go in with fingers.

I feel like Little Gem is the perfect lettuce for this.

It's not too aggressive.

It has just enough texture to stand against the sauce.

Now I'm really curious to see Romaine salad with tomatillos.

Mm!

[Jackie] Mm! Oh, yeah!

They smoke the tomatillos.

That combined with the anchovy

really gives it so much flavor.

Dave, one of the owners, has said that that flavor aspect

reminds him of Bonito and I couldn't agree more.

Yeah!

It's super umami, smoky, a little bit fishy,

really complex flavor for a salad.

This might be one of the best Caesar salads I've ever had.

I'm gonna agree with that.

It's really complex and really unique.

Rice. Let's do it.

I'm not used to naked rice being so seasoned.

That's fantastic.

I'm curious to see how these beans taste

knowing that they don't use lard.

You cook them and then you mash them up

and then you re-fry them.

The oregano is really prevalent.

[Eric] Yeah. Yeah.

Very herby. Herbaceous.

[Jackie] Yeah!

This round, who would you pick as a winner?

[Jackie] I do really love a salad.

I think this is a winner for me.

All right. Next round is combo plates.

[upbeat music]

We've got our combo plates in front of us.

How are you feeling?

I feel okay.

I feel like you're doing much better than I am.

I'm still so hungry. [laughs]

I feel like I have home court advantage, oddly enough.

I'm fueled almost exclusively by nostalgia right now.

I have the Pink Lava Land.

Yours is like a 50-50 Tequila Mezcal drink,

which sounds amazing.

This drink is the Heard This One Before.

It's a rum-based drink with a Darjeeling tea.

[Eric] Let's do the quesadilla.

This is skirt steak and peppers.

This is the application in what you would use

a flour tortilla versus a corn tortilla.

Because corn doesn't have gluten, right?

[Jackie] Corn has no gluten. Yeah.

So then it doesn't have this elastic texture

that a flour tortilla gives you.

Which makes sense in the quesadilla.

Super tender. Flavorful.

Yeah! Delicious.

We've got our Chicken Chalupa here.

I think they use like a salsa verde in here,

so it should have some nice acidity to it.

Dark meat? Yeah.

You can use either dark or white meat for braised chicken.

Normally, I must say I'm not a big fan of braised chicken.

I just feel like chicken,

even dark meat with the extra fat content,

is not as fatty to hold up to a long braise.

But that is something else.

Let's dig into this mole.

All right.

That's fantastic.

Made me do the little side to side.

Mole is definitely really regional.

There's always a starch involved,

but a South Texas style mole usually uses tortillas.

What makes this really special, this particular mole,

is that they use saltines.

It's earthy like a regular mole,

but it also has an acidic kick

and I'm not sure where it's from.

Like I can't pinpoint the flavors.

That's what makes it so good and interesting.

And it pairs very well with the tender braised chicken.

It's also kinda spicy, which I like.

Traditionally, Barbacoa is whole cow head

cooked under the ground.

Obviously that's not always possible in New York City.

What they use here is beef cheeks.

All right.

Mm! It's so fatty, so moist.

The gooey gelatin after four hours

just completely melts in your mouth.

I feel like I'm really putting this

on a pedestal right now.

I've eaten a lot of Carne Guisada in my life.

It's a little bit of a tougher cut,

either top round or chuck or something like that.

Something that you typically braise.

Tomato, usually stabilized with a roux.

It's essentially Tex-Mex beef stew.

And this one is slathered in cheese, which, shocker.

That is so good.

A lot of the times when I have this dish at home

it lacks a little bit of acidity,

and this one is really balanced.

[Eric] Yes.

So what were the standouts for you?

[Eric] I'm gonna have to go with the Barbacoa.

[Jackie] I think the Carne Guisada is my winner.

Big surprise! Out of this round.

Yeah, right? Shocked. [laughs]

Shock of the century.

[upbeat music]

How are you feeling, Jackie?

I admittedly maybe stepped away for a break,

feeling a little bit cocky.

Went and got an oat milk cortado,

and I think that was like a really big fumble on my part.

It just hydrated all the tortilla in your stomach.

[Jackie] Yeah.

And expanded it and now you're staring at

seven massive tacos for this round.

We have shot in front of us.

Nice little Mezcal. No lime, which is why we vibe.

Yep!

[Eric] This should bring our appetites back.

This is a combination of tacos from both the lunch

and dinner menus.

And I feel pretty strongly that we should start off with

the bean and cheese.

It's just two ingredients

and it's like such a staple in Tex-Mex.

It's as clean and delicious as it gets.

[Eric] Hmm. Mm-hmm!

Oh, yeah! Good cheese, good beans, great tortilla.

A little bit of the salsa verde,

just the acidity to round everything together.

That's a damn good bite.

It's a really good bite. No complaints here.

Okay, so our next taco is the Papas Ranchera.

It is quite literally just potatoes in ranchera sauce.

Surprisingly delicious, right?

For a two ingredient taco?

One of the few times you don't crave a crispier potato.

It's really balanced. Really delicious.

Chicken Fajita!

Looks like we've got some sauteed poblanos

and onions in there.

Comforting flavors. Delicious.

White meat cooked perfectly well.

Very tender, juicy.

With every bite of these tacos,

I'm just reminded how much of a difference

a good tortilla makes.

[Eric] Truly. Okay.

[Jackie] This is the Steak Fajita.

[Eric] Salsa?

Yeah! Salsa dive for me.

Okay.

I wouldn't say I like the taco better with the salsa.

I think the salsa provides a very good moisture

and extra flavor,

but it almost mutes the protein a little bit more.

[Jackie] The braised chicken.

[speaking in Spanish]

The chicken tastes like

American chicken noodle soup chicken.

Yeah, that's correct.

Celery salt, mirepoix flavor.

It does have kind of a celery quality to it, doesn't it?

Right! Yeah, Yellow Rose, man!

Doing America justice.

[Jackie] This is our Carne Guisada.

We had it earlier in one of the combo plates.

Got it.

I almost prefer this guisada in a taco form.

There's no other things masking the flavor of the braise,

and you get like the most purified form of the guisada,

I guess.

Yeah!

I mean it's also the sauce that it is stewed in

is very much soaked into the tortilla which is nice.

I am almost positive this one's gonna be my favorite.

[Jackie] The Barbacoa? Yes!

They built in the avocado into the taco,

which I already love.

That's good.

The avocado blends in with the fattiness

but then provides a different layer of flavor,

and then the tortilla just kind of like breaks apart

but still fights your tooth a little bit.

For sure Barbacoa is my favorite.

I feel like the potato taco was my favorite

out of all of these.

[upbeat music]

We are on the official round of breakfast tacos.

Eric, how are you doing?

I'm doing okay.

The last round, even though it looked like a lot,

we finished with the banger.

That was the Barbacoa.

It was good.

I'm still thinking about it.

And these also look fantastic. I love breakfast tacos.

I genuinely thought that

that last round was gonna take us out,

and I'm still feeling pretty good.

What are you drinking?

I'm having a Little Shrub, a watermelon vinegar shrub.

Non-alcoholic for this round.

I'm having a pretty classic Michelada.

Cheers! Let's go!

[glasses clink]

Lest we forget, we're here on a Tuesday

and these tacos are not available until the weekend.

[Eric] I think we should do the Migas first.

[Jackie] For sure, yeah! Let's do it.

Yeah. I've never had migas before, so I'm excited.

Migas means crumbs.

You've got some sauteed onions.

This one has peppers in it as well.

You're leftover tortilla chips,

scrambled eggs and usually like a red salsa.

Our tacos are accompanied by a couple salsas.

We have the salsa habanero and salsa verde.

Oh!

So much greater than the sum of its parts.

You think, Oh, fried tortilla and then cooked in salsa.

Doesn't it sog it up?

But no, it sogs up the very first layer

but inside the tortilla chip still has the integrity

and structure to hold up to the soft and super tender eggs.

And the peppers!

Like egg and pepper is a classic combination.

Classic. Right?

You can't really go wrong.

I didn't grow up with this

but it makes me think of my Nana's house.

This is really a heartwarming moment for me

watching you experience migas for the first time.

I'm at a loss of words.

I don't understand how this can be so good.

I think there's objectively good food

and there's food that's subjectively good depending on,

you know, your nostalgia.

Yeah.

This is objectively good.

[Jackie] Let's keep moving.

So potato and egg sauce. You did a habanero sauce?

I sauced.

[Eric] I think I'm gonna sauce this one too.

[Jackie] Yeah.

Nowhere to hide in this taco.

Again, good potatoes, executed well.

Fantastic eggs.

Is it my go-to? Probably not.

But then again, very, very good taco.

[Jackie] Okay, so this taco here is just bacon and egg.

The Benton's bacon.

So Benton,

they're famous for almost over-smoking their ham

and their bacon, their pork products.

Right. I'm excited for this one.

I like that the bacon is not too crispy

and there's still a little bit of give.

That is my ideal way of eating bacon.

This is the?

[Jackie] Chorizo and egg. Chorizo. Yes.

Chorizo is made in-house.

You can really taste all of the chorizo spice in there.

Yeah!

The egg almost yields its texture to the chorizo

and chorizo yields its flavor to the egg.

Agreed.

I'm still thinking about migas though.

Dig into an egg taco. Are you?

I'm still thinking about the migas.

It's just like that one bite.

So many flavors were hitting me from different directions.

All these other tacos are fantastic.

It's just that first bite.

There are definitely more layers to the migas taco.

[upbeat music]

First we gotta give a very special shout-out

to pastry chef Young Cho.

A lot of this stuff is not really on the menu

on a Tuesday lunch,

but she wanted to make sure that we get the full experience.

How are you doing, Jackie?

I'm doing better than I expected.

I'm feeling more than anything so sleepy. [laughs]

My stomach is doing pretty well though.

A kolache is a pastry, almost a brioche-style dough,

that is very common in Central Texas.

There's a big Czech population

and they brought these to the US.

They have savory and sweet versions

and sometimes they're like enclosed,

stuffed with meat and cheese,

or they're these more open ones

that are more common with the dessert kaloches.

[Eric] Yeah.

Which is what we have here.

Mm! The cherry's really balanced up.

[Eric] Yes!

I mean, it really is like brioche.

Yeah!

It's like a sweet dough but not overly sweet.

[Eric] So this is what? Hominy sugar.

[Eric] Oh, my God. Super airy.

Are you more of a cake donut or a yeast donut person?

Yeast donut. I like the texture.

And the flavor of the hominy really comes through.

I wasn't sure how much that would read,

but it tastes corny, yeah.

There's a light savoriness to it

that really balances out the sugar.

Chocolate or buttermilk? You got a choice.

[Jackie] Ooh, let's do buttermilk first.

[Eric] Okay, cool. Same good texture.

It's got that nice tart smell to it from the buttermilk.

[diners chattering]

I almost prefer it over the hominy sugar.

This one because it's encased in that glaze.

There's like an element of surprise underneath the glaze.

Chocolate! Something so special about.

It's so beautiful.

Holding a chocolate donut, right?

I feel like we're off to a good start for great donuts.

So decadent.

Like look!

This is how decadent it is.

[Jackie] Rhubarb Pie with a lovely edition of

the dulce de leche whip.

You may go ahead first.

Okay!

This is a phenomenal pie dough.

It's so light, it's so airy.

The rhubarb is, again, not overly sweet.

It's got a nice tartness to it.

A Texas classic is the Sheet Cake.

The olive oil is really nice touch.

The pecans are so crispy.

And the cake itself is so moist.

It's so moist.

I have to go with the Chocolate Sheet Cake.

For me, it was a pretty clear winner with the Rhubarb Pie.

[Eric] I can see that.

Pie is always at an advantage for me.

[upbeat music]

Eric, how you doing, Chef?

I'm not gonna admit defeat.

Kinda like winning the lottery.

I'm not gonna tell you, but there will be signs.

My hair is messier.

[Jackie laughs]

I'm a little more slouched over.

I need to make space physically for more food in my stomach.

How are you doing?

I'm feeling like we are so close

to crossing the finish line and we're gonna do it together,

but it feels kinda bad. [laughs]

If I'm being honest.

Yeah. I don't know why I keep doing this.

Okay, so we've got our specials and mains,

which are a constantly rotating section of the menu.

And in front of us is the Chicken Fried Squid.

What's the sauce here? Is it gravy?

It's not gravy. [laughs]

What is the sauce?

Like a non-ranch ranch.

Delicious!

I can't wait for the Ceviche.

It just looks way lighter than the rest of the offerings

on the table.

[Jackie] Red onion, tomato sauce,

shrimp, cilantro, avocado.

[Eric] Sounds very refreshing.

There's some serrano in there.

[food crunches]

Good, right?

The brinyness of the shrimp paired with the tomato

and the chilies.

Traditional Mexican: Cilantro, onion, tomatoes.

Yeah, it's like a Mexican take on a shrimp cocktail.

I would order this again. Yeah.

Cornbread! It's done in a skillet, seared nice and crispy.

[Jackie] Yeah!

We've got some butter, some pecan and some scallions.

It's almost like a really, really fluffy pancake.

[Jackie] Yeah.

That happens to be super crispy on the outside.

Yeah, exactly. Crunchy!

So here's the Fried Chicken Sandwich on Texas toast.

So Texas toast is just toast but thick.

It's just fat-ass toast.

[Eric] Looks like dark meat.

[Jackie] Yeah, that looks like a thigh to me.

[diners chattering]

That is a very solid chicken sandwich.

I'm going to do this.

It's got a really nice spice to it.

Nice crunch from the lettuce.

The Texas toast is nice and buttery.

It's a really solid chicken sandwich.

The Texas toast is actually the perfect vessel

for the chicken sandwich.

Oh, my God. [dishes sizzling]

I hear that.

[dishes sizzling]

Boy!

Final two items.

In front of us we have the dueling Sizzlin' Fajitas.

The chicken here on my right and the steak on my left.

We saw these in the tacos earlier

and now they are here in a different form.

Let's eat more.

I can see that being really good in a flour tortilla

with a little sauce.

Still delicious.

Chicken time. Last bite.

As they say in Texas, Vaminos.

I mean, that is really a beautiful bite though.

Yeah.

I don't usually say this, but chicken better than steak.

[Jackie] Mm-hmm!

I think in this category for me, I'm picking the Ceviche.

I am also picking the Ceviche.

The chicken sandwich was a close second.

I think, just 'cause I'm so full.

Yeah!

This felt better to eat.

Yes!

[upbeat music]

How are you feeling?

For all intents and purposes, not great. [laughs]

I am extremely full

and I cannot wait to take a nap after this.

Right there with you.

But we're not done yet.

We need to figure out our Star, our Repeat, and our Regular.

So The Star.

For me, I'm torn between the Migas and the Barbacoa Taco.

It's a really hard choice, right?

There were so many great dishes on this menu.

And you know how I feel about the Carne Guisada,

but I think I'm also gonna have to say Migas.

Not only did it hit a very special place in my heart,

but I was also really blown away by the flavor.

Similarly to how you were.

[Eric] Yes!

It really like kinda caught me off guard.

And that moment when I bit into the Migas,

I was like, Ooh! Fireworks!

[Jackie] Yeah!

That alone I think deserves The Star treatment.

Also, the fact that like

it's something that I've had so many times

and it still hit that mark for me says something too.

[Eric] Yeah! Yeah.

Migas, The Star.

For The Repeat, it's if you live around the area,

you come here all the time,

what is the one thing you always get?

The avocado dip was really exceptional.

The smoked Chipotle.

That spice with the chili crunch.

[Jackie] Yeah! The nuts.

So many layers of texture and flavor.

The smokiness, the umami.

It was great. Yeah. Okay!

So The Repeat is the Smoked Avocado Dip.

And now The Regular.

The thing that as a sophisticated diner you know to order.

Which we are!

Yeah.

We're two sophisticated diners.

After today, for sure.

For me it was a toss-up between the Arancini

and the Romaine salad.

I'm inching towards the salad.

Yeah!

Because just how much body it had.

I've never had a salad that spoke to me like that

in terms of how savory it was.

I wasn't really expecting that much from, you know,

a riff on a Caesar, and it was shockingly good.

If it were up to me, I'd go with the Romaine.

Just saying.

Curve ball! I'm gonna go with the Romaine too.

So the regular Tomatillo Romaine Salad.

We've done every single item here at Yellow Rose.

Think we did well!

I think so too!

Thank you, Yellow Rose.

Thanks for watching.

Put me in a blanket.

Wrap me in a blanket and call me a pig. [laughs]

Yes!

Call me the pig I am.

I'll put my card down.

You can pay me backwards though later.

Sounds good, Chef.

[upbeat drumming]