La Churreria: Delicious Spanish Snacks in Downtown Manhattan
Part bakery, part hot-chocolate bar (there’s coffee, too), part sandwich spot, and all with the distinct flavor of Spanish cuisine, the new La Churreria on Mulberry Street does a great job of offering weary Soho and Nolita shoppers and on-the-go quick-bite seekers cozy relief on a dreary February day. Opened in December by Jesus Manso, aka Lolo, of next-door Socarrat renown (by the way, one of our favorite meals and nicest nights of 2011 was spent at the bar here, falling in love with a platter of paella), La Churreria has a pedigree that should at least get you in the door. And though La Churreria may specialize (and, mostly, excel) in frying up its namesake doughy, chewy, cinnamon-y sticks, there are also enough other things on the menu here, both sweet and savory, to earn it a permanent spot among our top picks for snacks and treats.
We stopped in to La Churreria on one of the coldest, rawest afternoons of this so-far mostly fake NYC winter, and had a very pleasant hour or so chatting and sipping and snacking. The space at La Curreria is tiny–just a few elevated tables, a few stools before a narrow counter on which to perch your food and drink–but we’re guessing that a good deal of the business comes from on-the-go “breakfast rolls” (the Huevos Con Chorizo sounds especially appealing) and take-out lunch baguette-built Bocatas, or, to the laymen, sandwiches. If you do stay, the La Churreria staff is friendly and flirty (not inappropriately), the seats comfy, the neighborhood ideal for people-watching.
Anyway: the food. We were hungry, so split one of La Churreria’s “Pierna De Cerdo En Adobo Pan Blanco” sandwiches, which featured mounds of juicy shredded pork, caramelized onions, melty manchego, and was salty, spicy, and completely satisfying. And, of course, we had an order of Churros, a six pack which, while fine texture-wise, definitely needed the thick cup of, in our case, Double Dark dipping chocolate (you can also get hazelnut or “spicy aztec” flavors) to achieve the proper sugar intake level such a snack requires. And so, properly fueled, we left La Churreria re-energized and ready to take on the rest of our day.
Stop by La Churreria in Downtown
La Churreria is located on Mulberry Street just south of Houston Street, and right next door to Lolo’s Soccarat paella restaurant (the original Soccarat, in Chelsea, is smaller than the one here but, we hear, just as good). La Churreria is open on Sunday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday until 11:30. For a look at the complete La Churreria menu, please see the restaurant’s MenuPages page, here.
Posted in Downtown, NYC Dining | Tagged Downtown New York Spanish Cuisine • Downtown NYC • La Churreria • La Churreria NYC • Lower Manhattan • Mulberry Street • Mulberry Street New York • Mulberry Street Restaurant • NoLita • Nolita NYC
