Jay Cheshes gives the newly relocated Hecho en Dumbo four out of five stars. "Beyond to-go tacos and bulging burritos, New York’s Mexican options were once pretty bleak," writes Cheshes. "And the more ambitious restaurants were pricey and fussy. In the past few years, however, a new breed of cantina has helped bring life to the genre. These rollicking places—serious about cooking, yes, but also devoted to tequila-shot benders—aren’t Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex; hip-Mex is more like it. Hecho en Dumbo joins Cabrito, La Esquina and Barrio Chino in this new pantheon." The Times also approves, and features a photo of the same delicious-looking dish as Time Out: Hecho en Dumbo’s tacos de costilla "bones and all."

And GQ's Alan Richman trashes Ted's Montana Grill in midtown, which is owned by Ted Turner, who killed some American Bison who wandered onto his range and slaughtered them for his restaurants. "I don't want to save our buffalo from Ted Turner," writes Richman. "I want to save them from Ted Turner's kitchens. Perfectly sensible in concept is the plate of bison pot roast, potatoes, and green beans. The tragedy is that the pot roast was overcooked, stringy, and covered in thick brown gravy; the potatoes were dry and lumpy; and the beans had been cooked nearly to mush... Buffalo at least have rights groups out there defending them from abuse. Pity the mashed potatoes, or for that matter the macaroni and cheese. Nobody speaks for them."