Lone Star Taco Bar
Tacos and grilled street corn out of the Allston bar's second kitchen, with more than eighty tequilas and mezcals behind the counter. Max Toste took the old Lizzy's space across the street from New Deal Fish Market and said he would grill whatever the fishmonger had.
Why go
Toste and Aaron Sanders started together at Bukowski Tavern in Inman Square, and their general manager and partner Dave Cagle worked the B-Side Lounge, so this block was a homecoming.1 The recipes are chef Rian Wyllie's, written for the Allston room when it was a side project.1 In Allston the kitchen was shared with Deep Ellum and the food fought its way out; here they built one for it, in 700 square feet.1 The bar came over from Deep Ellum: agave first, then American whiskey, craft beer and draft.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: tacos and the grilled street corn, the two things the Allston room was known for.1
- Order: mezcal. The list ran past eighty agave bottles at opening.1
- Avoid: counting on a Sunday whole fish. Toste described it in 2014 as something he hoped to do, and nothing published since says it happens.1
Good to know
- Different door: there is a Lone Star Taco Stand on Main Street in Cambridge and the original bar in Allston. This entry is the East Cambridge room at 635 Cambridge Street.2
- The dishes above are from the opening announcement, so treat them as the plan and read the card.
Verdict
listed — The intent was specific and it is on the record in the owner's own words: the Allston taco menu, Deep Ellum's bar behind it, more than eighty agave bottles, and fish bought that morning from the shop across the street. Twelve years later I have found nothing written about the cooking itself, so that intent is all there is to weigh. The city inspected the kitchen three weeks ago, so the door is open.