Alta Calidad – Brooklyn's Mexican-Indian corner on Vanderbilt Avenue

On the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and Dean Street, where Prospect Heights fills with strollers and cocktail hour alike, Alta Calidad has spent close to a decade proving that Mexican cooking can carry someone else's memories too. Chef Akhtar Nawab, raised in Louisville, Kentucky by parents from India, spent years in Tom Colicchio's kitchens at Gramercy Tavern and Craft before a stint at La Esquina turned him toward chiles, masa and mezcal. He opened Alta Calidad in 2017, and the restaurant has held a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand every year since 2018 for cooking that is confident rather than fusion-for-fusion's-sake. The name translates simply as "high quality," a promise kept across a menu of tacos, pintxos and margaritas served from late morning chilaquiles through to last-call Coyote Wishes cocktails. It is the kind of neighbourhood restaurant Brooklyn claims as its own, and visitors discover with some relief.

01The room and the setting

Light floods through corner windows onto comfortable banquettes and a communal table, with a small bar lined in stools for solo diners and regulars. The dining room spills onto a patio, and in summer the restaurant takes its tables further still, out onto Vanderbilt Avenue itself during the street's OpenStreets weekend closures.

The address sits ten minutes from Barclays Center, which makes the restaurant a natural stop before a game or a concert, though the kitchen's pace and the corner's daylight make it just as suited to an unhurried weekday lunch.

02The chef

Akhtar Nawab's path to Mexican cooking ran through some of New York's most disciplined kitchens. He moved to the city in 1998 to work under Tom Colicchio at Gramercy Tavern, joined the opening team at Craft, and later ran the stoves at Craftbar before striking out on his own. A consulting stint at La Esquina pulled him toward the tradition-heavy cooking of Mexico, a cuisine he found echoed the complex, spice-driven food his mother cooked at home in Louisville. Nawab has since built a wider career in hospitality management and food halls, but Alta Calidad remains the restaurant where his two culinary inheritances meet most directly.

Insider tip

Reserve on Resy; the kitchen also holds back walk-in tables indoors and on the patio.

03The cooking

The dinner menu reads as a study in layering: Alta Queso Fundido arrives with lamb chorizo, chihuahua and halloumi cheeses, and a slug of mezcal; a Short Rib Birria version of the same fundido format leans into slow-braised beef. Tacos are built two at a time, from Wagyu flank steak with salsa verde to Shrimp Gobernador tacos finished with queso chihuahua and peanut salsa macha, or a Pescado a la Plancha taco carrying mango salsa, chipotle mayo and pistachio mole.

Beyond the taco list, dishes push further from orthodoxy: Octopus and pork belly is plated over arroz verde with potatoes and aji amarillo aioli, a Spaghetti Squash Enchilada is finished with queso burrata, and a Tuna Tostada uses bluefin with pickled cucumber and avocado asado. For the table, there is El Mejor Plato, a spread of guacamole, three quesos and a trio of salsas with unlimited chips.

04What to order

Start with the Guacamole and tortilla chips in guajillo salsa, or the Beef Picadillo Empanadas with bell pepper and chihuahua cheese. From the taco list, the Shrimp Gobernador and the Pork Shoulder Carnitas, finished with huitlacoche crema and chicharron, show the kitchen's range best. The Slow Cooked Lamb Ribs, glazed in a Mexican Coca-Cola barbecue sauce, are a dinner menu fixture worth the mess.

05Wine and drinks

The bar runs on tequila and mezcal rather than a conventional list: the Margarita Calidad comes in classic, poblano-spiked El Jardin, and pineapple-serrano Piña Picante versions, sold by the glass or pitcher. Coyote Wishes mixes mezcal espadin with Punt e Mes, Aperol and Ancho Reyes, while a Spiked Pumpkin Horchata turns a rum old fashioned toward cinnamon and oat milk. Wine stays short and useful, including a Rias Baixas Albariño and a Rioja tinto, alongside Mexican beers like Pacifico and Negra Modelo.

06When to go and booking

Alta Calidad opens from 11.30am to 9pm Monday to Thursday, stays open until 11pm on Friday and Saturday, and runs 11am to 9pm on Sunday. The restaurant takes reservations through Resy but always holds back a handful of indoor and outdoor tables for walk-ins, a useful detail on a corner this busy at brunch.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.