Two restaurants that haven’t opened their doors yet went before Community Board 8’s Street Life Committee this week, both after the same thing: permission to serve alcohol. Both got the committee’s blessing, though one had to agree to a condition first. One is an outpost of a downtown taqueria that’s drawn lines down the block at its other locations. The other is a new Korean restaurant opening as soon as next week.
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The taqueria is Santo Taco, which is planning to take over 1435 Third Avenue, between 81st and 82nd streets. Attorney Eleanor Shotton presented the application alongside owner and operator Santiago Perez, who told the committee he already runs several restaurants in the city. Perez is a co-founder of the Flatiron fine dining Mexican restaurant Cosme and a former CEO of the Casamata hospitality group, which he left to strike out on his own, according to Time Out. The first Santo Taco opened on Kenmare Street in 2025, a second followed at 94 University Place near Union Square, and a West Village location is listed on the company’s website as opening this month.The menu is deliberately short. It’s built around a handful of tacos on house made tortillas, including a carnitas made with pork belly and ribs, and Santi’s steak trompo, carved from prime New York strip and top sirloin. There’s also a tuna tostada with habanero mayo, guacamole with blue corn totopos, and a rotation of aguas santas blended with cucumber, lime and palo santo. On the drinks side, the company lists margaritas made with tequila or mezcal, micheladas and draft Modelo and Pacifico.
The Upper East Side location will be small. Shotton described 19 seats at six tables inside, plus a customer bar. Proposed hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday, with music limited to recorded background tracks. There’s an operable window for takeout service that would close at 9 p.m. daily, and the restaurant is asking for two private events per year. Shotton also flagged that the operator intends to apply for a sidewalk cafe later, with six tables and 18 seats, and would come back before the board at that point. No one from the public spoke, and the committee approved the application 12 to 0.
The other applicant is Bonga, which is seeking a beer and wine license at 408 East 64th Street, between First and York avenues. Attorney James Lee told the committee it’s a Korean restaurant, with proposed hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week and quiet recorded background music. There would be 42 seats at 10 tables inside and another 26 in a rear patio, for 68 total, with the patio closing at 10 p.m. Asked when the restaurant plans to open, Lee said they were looking at next week.
Photo by Ilya Kapovich
The space isn’t a blank slate. It most recently housed Bayon, the Cambodian restaurant run by Minh and Mandy Truong, which carried a Bib Gourmand from the Michelin Guide and was a revival of their earlier restaurant at the same address, Angkor Cambodian Bistro, one of the only Cambodian restaurants in the city when it opened in 2015. Lee told the committee the new operation is a continuation of what was already there, with the cuisine changing from Cambodian to Korean.
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That rear patio turned out to be the one sticking point of the night. A committee member said he’d pulled up the building’s certificate of occupancy during the meeting and that it doesn’t cover use of the rear yard, meaning the outdoor seating hasn’t been legally authorized regardless of how long it’s been in use. A certificate of occupancy is the Department of Buildings document that spells out what a space is legally allowed to be used for. Lee agreed to a stipulation that the restaurant can’t operate the patio until it produces either an updated certificate or a letter of no objection, which is a simpler DOB letter confirming the department has no problem with the use. Another member pushed back, saying the previous restaurant had operated its yard for decades with the board’s approval and that the community had lived with it. The committee approved the application with the stipulation attached, with one abstention.Both recommendations now head to Community Board 8’s full board meeting on September 16. Community boards only advise the State Liquor Authority on license applications, so the final call rests with the state.
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