Corn and a remembered dish offer two different beginnings to a Mexican meal in Astoria, Queens. At Mayahuel, the family behind the restaurant describes soaking and stone-grinding heirloom corn before pressing tortillas by hand. At Chano’s Cantina, the owner connects flautas with the crisp tacos he remembers from Guerrero. These are useful stories because they lead directly to the menu. For someone seeking Mexican food in New York, they help distinguish a dinner shaped by masa, seafood and moles from a flexible cantina meal with a personal history behind it.
Mayahuel’s family roots are in Puebla, while the menu makes room for seafood and preparations from a broader Mexican repertoire. A crisp tlayuda combines corn tortilla, black beans, Oaxaca cheese and salsa macha. Gorditas carry pressed pork chicharrón and cheese, with guajillo cream. A shrimp aguachile introduces cucumber, avocado, onion and a darker sauce. The order can begin with a contrast between corn and seafood, letting the work of the masa appear beside a preparation that relies more on acidity.
The tacos are specific enough to reward reading past the name. Carnitas come with mango-habanero salsa, xnipek and crisp chicharrón. The pastor version uses chicken, rather than pork, with pineapple, onion and cilantro. Gobernador tacos give shrimp a cheese crust, while Baja fish brings beer batter, morita salsa and cabbage. A group can compare a few of these, but the larger dishes are another reason to choose Mayahuel: chicken with black mole and yellow risotto, or grilled octopus with peanut mole, bok choy and cauliflower purée.
Chano’s tells a different restaurant story. Born and raised in Guerrero, the owner describes working from dishwasher to bartender and manager before opening the cantina in April 2019. His flautas use rolled, crisp corn tortillas filled with chicken, with guacamole, black beans, chipotle aioli and other accompaniments. They give a shared beginning a more personal reference than a generic basket of chips. Grilled shrimp with sweet plantains or an esquite can take the first course in another direction.
The dinner tacos include pork al pastor with grilled pineapple and seafood with chipotle aioli and cabbage slaw. For a fuller shared order, a molcajete puts shrimp, steak, chicken, chorizo, cactus and cheese on hot stone, with tortillas, rice and beans alongside. Enchiladas and fajitas give diners more individual control. The menu also contains shrimp pasta and mofongo, making clear that this cantina is broader than a single regional repertoire. Mexican flan, the first dessert Chano says he learned to make, offers a fitting ending to the owner’s story.
Mayahuel is particularly interesting when tortillas, seafood and mole should shape the dinner. Chano’s fits friends who want recognizable cantina dishes and the freedom to choose between tacos and a substantial centerpiece. Both are in Astoria, but neither needs to stand for all Mexican cooking. Their value is more specific: one makes the work of corn explicit, and the other lets a remembered flauta and a learned flan anchor a restaurant’s personal account of the meal.
Explore the profiles: Mayahuel Astoria · Chano’s Cantina
Recommended restaurants
The profiles below explain each restaurant’s cooking and give practical details for planning a visit.
Mexican cooking with Puebla family roots, house-ground heirloom-corn masa, distinctive tacos, seafood and mole dishes.
Housemade heirloom-corn tortillas, tlayudas, aguachile, tacos and black or peanut mole.
A Mexican cantina whose owner’s Guerrero memories connect flautas and flan with tacos, enchiladas and a shared molcajete.
Mexican cantina cooking, chicken flautas, al-pastor tacos, shared molcajete and Mexican flan.
Sources & references
Sources for the information and reporting discussed in this guide.
- Mayahuel Astoria: restaurant, hours and contact ↗ Primary source mayahuelastoria.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Mayahuel: family and masa production ↗ Primary source mayahuelastoria.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Mayahuel Astoria: current dinner menu ↗ Primary source mayahuelastoria.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Mayahuel Astoria: Google Maps listing ↗ Primary source www.google.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Chano’s Cantina: restaurant, hours and contact ↗ Primary source chanoscantina.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Chano’s Cantina: owner’s story ↗ Primary source chanoscantina.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Chano’s Cantina: current dinner menu ↗ Primary source chanoscantina.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Chano’s Cantina: Google Maps listing ↗ Primary source www.google.com · Accessed September 28, 2026