A few blocks south of the Lorimer L stop in Williamsburg there was once a beloved cafe, Hope and Union, which served divine pastries and stellar brunch in a cozy room with exposed brick walls and a tiny kitchen. A handful of name and management changes later, the space is occupied by Elote, a inexpensively priced breakfast-lunch-dinner-and-tequila drinking spot that retains all of the previous architectural elements but offers a Mexican menu. A full bar offers several dozen tequilas and the house's special cocktails, like the "dirty horchata," a variation of the milky rice-based drink often served in Latin America amped up with rum and vanilla liqueur.
Brunch is a bargain set at an $11 prix fixe, including both a cocktail and either coffee or tea. The bloody marys are pint-sized, with the option of garlic-infused vodka, which we found overpowering, but certainly give you bang for the buck (additional cocktails are $7 apiece). The chilaquiles con chorizo, a scramble of eggs, smoky adobo sauce, chorizo, cheese, and tortilla chips (rather than strips), was a nacho-like heap a bit unwieldy to eat, but not lacking on flavor and likely a perfect hangover concoction.
Our waitress recommended the tacos de pescado (fish tacos) – the most popular dish – but we found them plain, sparsely adorned with shredded iceberg lettuce and a scant portion of home fries. On the sweet size, bananas and pecans melted into slightly-too-dry corn cakes – a cornbread-like variation on pancakes much improved by fresh maple syrup. Coffee and water are refilled attentively in a comfortable dining room with generous natural light that looks out onto a garden for seasonable alfresco dining.
Elote is located at 366 Union Avenue. (718) 599-2655. Open daily for dinner at 4 p.m. and on weekends for brunch, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
