Restaurant in New York City, United States
Serious Mexican cooking in unlikely Midtown.
Empellon is the most credible Mexican restaurant in Midtown East — chef Alex Stupak's kitchen has earned back-to-back Opinionated About Dining rankings and a 4.4 Google rating across 1,000+ reviews. It works best for business lunches, date nights, and occasions where you need a room that signals a considered choice. Booking is easy; Saturday dinner deserves 10–14 days' notice.
Yes — especially if you want serious Mexican cooking in a part of Manhattan that rarely delivers it. At 510 Madison Avenue, Empellon sits in the corporate heart of Midtown East, and that address tells you something useful: this is a restaurant built to serve business meals and special occasions without sacrificing culinary ambition. Chef Alex Stupak has built a program serious enough to earn consecutive rankings on Opinionated About Dining's North America list — #192 in 2024 and #214 in 2025 , alongside a 4.4 Google rating across 1,081 reviews. For the neighbourhood, that is a meaningful signal.
Midtown East is not where you typically look for destination-worthy Mexican food in New York. The area runs on steakhouses, expense-account French, and hotel dining rooms. Empellon is the exception that makes it worth reconsidering your usual Midtown routine. Stupak, a pastry chef by training, approaches Mexican cuisine through a technically precise, ingredient-forward lens , this is not a taqueria and it is not Tex-Mex. Expect a room calibrated for business and celebration: composed, quiet enough for conversation, and polished without being stiff.
The OAD rankings are a practical guide here. A #48 ranking in OAD's Gourmet Casual Dining in North America (2023) puts Empellon in territory that competes with serious tasting-menu restaurants at a lower pressure-point. You are not committing to a multi-hour omakase or a fixed menu , you get the quality signal of an awarded kitchen with the flexibility of an à la carte format. For a business lunch, a date, or a pre-event dinner, that combination is genuinely useful.
The Madison Avenue location also makes it a practical choice if you are staying in Midtown or visiting nearby offices, the MoMA, or Fifth Avenue. Compared to other quality-driven options in this zip code, Empellon gives you more culinary ambition per dollar than most of its neighbours. If you are working from a Midtown hotel and want one dinner that punches above the immediate area, this is the clearest answer. For other strong options across the city, see our full New York City restaurants guide.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy. For a midweek lunch, you can likely book within a few days. Dinner on Thursday or Friday requires more lead time , aim for at least a week out to get your preferred seating time. Saturday dinner (the only weekend service offered) books faster; give yourself 10–14 days if Saturday is your target. Sunday is closed entirely. If your schedule is flexible, Tuesday or Wednesday lunch is the path of least resistance. The restaurant does not open for Sunday or Saturday lunch, so plan accordingly.
Empellon competes at a different price point and format than most of the city's top-ranked restaurants. Le Bernardin, Atomix, Eleven Madison Park, Masa, and Per Se all operate at $$$$ with fixed or tasting-menu commitments. Empellon gives you OAD-calibre cooking without the pre-commitment of a set menu , a genuine advantage for business dining or mixed groups where not everyone wants a three-hour progression.
Within New York's Mexican category, Empellon sits above casual operators like Birria Landia and closer to the composed, chef-driven end represented by Oxomoco, Atla, and ABC Cocina. Oxomoco is the better choice if you want a livelier, more neighbourhood-feeling room and are heading to Greenpoint. Alta Calidad in Prospect Heights is a strong alternative if you are Brooklyn-based. Empellon is the right call specifically when Midtown is your geography and the occasion calls for a room that reads as a considered choice rather than a casual one. For Mexican cooking at a higher benchmark globally, Pujol in Mexico City and Alma Fonda Fina in Denver are points of comparison worth knowing.
If Empellon sits on your radar as part of a broader New York trip, the city's full range is worth exploring: hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences all have Pearl guides. For awarded chef-driven restaurants in other US cities that share Empellon's ambition-without-tasting-menu format, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Alinea in Chicago, Providence in Los Angeles, Emeril's in New Orleans, Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg, and The French Laundry in Napa are all worth knowing for trip planning.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empellon | Easy | — | |
| Le Bernardin | $$$$ | Unknown | — |
| Atomix | $$$$ | Unknown | — |
| Eleven Madison Park | $$$$ | Unknown | — |
| Masa | $$$$ | Unknown | — |
| Per Se | $$$$ | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Bar seating at Empellon is not confirmed in available venue data. Given the 510 Madison Avenue address and Midtown corporate setting, the format skews toward table service. Call ahead or check current availability before counting on bar walk-in dining — especially for a weekday lunch.
Small groups of two to four should book without much difficulty, particularly at lunch on weekdays when booking lead time is low. Larger groups should check the venue's official channels — Empellon's Midtown location and standard lunch-and-dinner format suggest limited flexibility for parties of six or more without advance coordination.
Come for the cooking, not the neighbourhood — Midtown East is not where you expect a restaurant ranked in Opinionated About Dining's North America Casual list to sit, but Empellon has held that position from 2023 through 2025. Lunch runs Monday through Friday, dinner Monday through Saturday, and the restaurant is closed Sundays. Book a few days out for a midweek lunch; Thursday and Friday dinner needs more lead time.
Lunch is the practical case: easier to book, available Monday through Friday, and a reasonable midday stop if you're already in Midtown. Dinner suits anyone making a deliberate trip — Saturday dinner is the only weekend option since the restaurant is closed Sundays. If OAD-ranked Mexican cooking is the specific goal, dinner gives you more time to work through the menu without a midday schedule pushing you out.
Empellon sits on Madison Avenue in Midtown East, and the surrounding clientele tends toward business casual. Nothing in the venue record specifies a dress code, but turning up in office-appropriate clothes — or slightly sharper for dinner — is a safe read given the address and the restaurant's OAD standing. Overly casual attire may feel out of place at dinner.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
