For the most part, Rachel’s eyes are fixed on me, but every so often they dart to the line and the counter, and she jumps up just as quickly with an apology to run a taco-filled basket to a customer. The customers at Dorado are what Rachel calls “a very eclectic mix.” Made up of students from nearby universities, tourists and nearby office workers, Dorado’s fans also include lots of neighbors. It is 2:30 p.m., yet the lunch rush has not dwindled, and we are surrounded by diners. Her hair is a mix of flaxen and grey strands that reach her shoulders. She is dressed casually, wearing a striped long-sleeve T-shirt and supportive sneakers. I sit on a high stool across from Rachel at a counter-height table near Dorado’s left-hand wall. To the left of the counter is a drink cooler, where you can find refreshing, golden Mexican beers, and underneath sits a meticulously arranged rainbow row of Jarritos sodas. (Photo by Min Ji Kim)īehind the order counter, there is a window to the kitchen, through which you can see the bobbing, baseball-capped heads of line cooks. A strand of vibrant papel picado hangs in the center of the space, occasionally swaying in the breeze that comes through the door.
Along one of the bright yellow walls hangs a framed map of the Baja peninsula and its surrounding pale blue waters. During the lunch rush, which lasts from about 12 to 2:30 p.m., there is a line that almost reaches the front door. Its central table and the counters lining the walls allow room for maybe 20 seated customers at a given time. The couple moved to New York City nearly 10 years ago and opened their Mexican eatery Dorado Tacos & Quesadillas in January 2012. Rachel, 65, and Michael, 69, who come from Baltimore and a small Pennsylvania town, respectively, have spent most of their lives in San Diego. Thirty-eight years ago, if you had asked Rachel and Michael Brau if they would be running a flourishing Mexican restaurant in Greenwich Village, they might have been incredulous, as they were in the thick of starting their bagel business in their longtime home, San Diego.
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