El Rey

The Shipping News

The Hilton Brothers’ New Taco Joint

None 4 Photos El Rey
It’s gotten downright balmy out there. Double yesterday’s number, even.

So it’s probably time to start drinking and eating tacos outside again.

Well, quasi-outside maybe.

Get ready for El Rey, the Hilton brothers’ new indoor/outdoor, heat-lamp-equipped taco joint fashioned from shipping containers, opening Friday.

This is a better proposition than stowing away across the Atlantic in a shipping container. For one thing: tacos. For another thing: micheladas and Latin American beers.

In front of you when you walk in: stone high-tops and a bar, which, like almost everything else here, was once a shipping container. That’s the place to go for a Pacifico on draft and a couple carne asada or pork rind tacos (an hour after last call, the grab-and-go window out front will still be hawking them).

But farther back, there’s a cavernous beer garden with a vaulted, retractable roof. True, it probably won’t be retracted this weekend. Instead, eight giant heat lamps will warm you while you summon pitchers of sangria and margaritas, and chile relleno tamales.

So it’s a great spot if you’re heading to a 9:30 Club show or you’re looking for any excuse to gather as casually as possible.

Like the monthly meeting of your taco club.

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