“We love food, and we love serving food that we enjoy eating,” says Sasha Miranda, who co-owns Upstate Taco in Stone Ridge with her husband, Mauricio.
Open since August 2022, Upstate Taco has quickly gained popularity with locals, weekenders, and visitors alike—enough to nab this year’s Taco and New Restaurant Chronogrammies—thanks to quality ingredients on an inventive menu. Put aside preconceived taco notions; this is comfort food with a fine dining twist.
“We like to use ingredients that our neighbors aren’t using,” Mauricio says. That includes foods directly from where he grew up—the state of Guerrero in Southwest Mexico—like sun-dried chili peppers for salsa roja or jamaica flowers used in beverages. “But we also love our local farms and try to use in-season produce or locally sourced meat as often as possible.”
Their crowd-pleasing tacos are prepared akin to Mexican street tacos, with tender meats, marinated vegetables, and fresh herbs. The tacos de cochinita pibil is a popular pick made from pork shoulder that’s been slow-roasted for four hours with achiote. Burritos, not on the menu, were asked about so frequently that Mauricio created an alternative. His hybrid quesadilla-burrito, called quesaburro, was supposed to be a temporary offering, but grew to be their number one dish. It’s a folded-over tortilla with rice, beans, cheese, and a marinated protein like carne asada seasoned with house-blend spices, or tinga de pollo, a chipotle braised chicken. “Everyone does burritos, so we wanted to do something different,” he explains. “I started playing around, came up with the quesaburro, and from the first day guests have been going nuts for them; people love them.” Pair them with a house-made margarita—at Upstate Taco’s bar, nothing comes from premade mixes.
Both Sasha, a Culinary Institute of America grad, and Mauricio worked in various fine dining institutions in the city before the pair eventually chose to run their own Italian-Latin fusion restaurant, Miranda, in Williamsburg for nine years. After moving to Marbletown just before the pandemic, they opted to open a taqueria upstate with a fun and inviting vibe. “We love to see people enjoy the food that we love—their enjoyment gives us energy,” Mauricio says. “My paycheck is the ‘Mmm’.”
This article appears in July 2023.
