Taqueria El Chiltepin

Steps from the Castle Hill Avenue stop under the elevated 6, El Chiltepin is a cheerful, loud room, with salsa on the speakers and the walls covered in color. The menu is long and the welcome is warm, which is a large part of why the neighborhood treats it as a living room. The family also runs locations in Harlem, Yonkers and New Rochelle; this Bronx room is the one to visit.

Come Friday through Sunday for the weekend barbacoa, braised in the oven until it falls apart, with a stack of fresh tortillas — an excellent lazy late breakfast. During the week, watch the specials board, which rotates: a taco placero one week, a chilpachole, the smoky epazote broth with crab, the next, sometimes with a whole fried fish. Whatever you order, the tortillas are the measure of the place.