Taco Project in Tarrytown: Dining Scene

In the old Village Dog space on Tarrytown's Main Street, two restaurateurs opened Taco Project, offering quick, quality Mexican lunch and dinner. Their project was complete and available to the public Oct. 4.

"It was actually on National Taco Day, believe it or not, and we really didn't plan it that way," said Nick Mesce, co-owner with Sebastian Aliberti. Before tackling this project, Mesce ran Giovanna's in Manhattan's Little Italy for eight years and a slider concept in West Village, which continues at outdoor markets in Manhattan. Aliberti has owned Sebastian's Barber Shop around the corner on John Street the last four years.

Mesce is originally from Westchester and moved back to run this quick-service restaurant. They hired a consulting chef to ensure the food was more old-school Mexican than Tex-Mex. "I was trying to reach into the roots of Mexican cuisine, the boutique taco or street cart taco – what they do in Mexico," Mesce said.

He says the best tacos are the fish ones, made with Atlantic cod either sautéed or battered, served in pairs with six-inch corn tortillas, a guacamole-salsa vinaigrette, cilantro, radish and red cabbage slaw. So far, the steak tacos are the best sellers. There's also shrimp, short rib, chicken, chorizo, pork belly proteins. All the meat is organic. You can get house-made blue corn tortilla shells instead for 50 cents extra. For those not in a taco state of mind, they can try the salads, burritos, quesadillas, bowls, apple habanero salsa and guacamole.

Besides Mexican Coke, there are a few other special drinks made on premises: The Agua Frescas (Spanish for fresh waters) include horchata, sweet rice milk; tamarind, a tree pod; and hibiscus, a flower tea with simple syrup.

Customers order from the wood-carved menu board up front and staff members deliver the order to the table. It's an 18-seat eatery.

Taco Project, 18 Main St., Tarrytown. 914-909-4455. Hours: 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, til 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, til 9 p.m. Sunday.

-- By Amy Sowder

Connect with this reporter on Twitter: @AmySowder.