El Original

New York was flooded with queso during the great Tex-Mex surge of 2015, thanks in part to this cavernous Hell's Kitchen eatery from blogger and Homesick Texan author Lisa Fain, along with co-owners native Texan Michael Ginsberg and Michael Barett (the Tippler). Fain cut ties with the restaurant in late 2015, and the owners have since brought in a new executive chef Miguel Franco to serve up his take on the Southern comfort fare. Across a 7,500-square-foot stretch of barn-wood wainscoting, twinkling strung lights and pedal-steel guitar licks, the kitchen dispatches Tex-Mex classics like slow-stewed beef frito pie, a giant chimichanga (fried burrito) and a new short-rib burger topped with spicy chile, refried beans, queso and a fried egg.