The Black Ant

A restaurant named the Black Ant is the first clue this will not be your traditional Mexican experience. The dark, clubby space has ant-themed decor and favors sexy house music over norteño. Ants (chicatanas) and grasshoppers (chapulines) are among the delicacies on the modern menu, which is from the same culinary team behind the West Village's Ofrenda. At their East Village locale they further push the boundaries of Mexican food, offering crispy roast duck dumplings with mole negro, tacos stuffed with cod cheeks or free-range goat barbacoa. Lovely, creative desserts include pomegranate panna cotta coated with cacao-crumble vanilla sauce. For happy hour, consider the smoky jalapeño margarita, which packs a punch and has an intriguing, sweet-salty rim of ground black ants, salt and brown sugar. Serious tequila and mezcal aficionados will be pleased with the selection shelved here.