El Diablo is a devilish revival of an old Broadway hotel

In the three years since Jesse Morreale bought the old First Avenue Hotel on Broadway, the two restaurants he's opened on the bottom floor of the property -- Sketch and El Diablo -- with chef and partner Sean Yontz have completely transformed the corner...

By Laura Shunk

August 2, 2011

Audio By Carbonatix

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In the three years since Jesse Morreale bought the old First Avenue Hotel on Broadway, the two restaurants he's opened on the bottom floor of the property -- Sketch and El Diablo -- with chef and partner Sean Yontz have completely transformed the corner.

Sketch came first, a quiet wine bar that offers little more than fine meats and cheeses for food options. But when El Diablo opened a year ago, it gave the neighborhood a devilish, 400-seat Mexican restaurant and tequila bar with a huge menu and huge crowds, packing in everyone from families to hipsters, who come for everything from breakfast to booze at last call to a street taco after that.

I've been drinking under El Diablo's elaborate murals and retro red lighting since just a few weeks after it opened. But for this week's review, I focused on the food, eating my way through Yontz's board, sampling tacos, tampiqueña and mole in the process.

How was it? Find out tomorrow when the review is posted here.

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Laura Shunk was Westword's restaurant critic from 2010 to 2012; she's also been food editor at the Village Voice and a dining columnist in Beijing. Her toughest assignment had her drinking ten martinis and eating ten Caesar salads over the course of 48 hours. She still drinks martinis, but remains lukewarm on Caesar salads.

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