In over a decade of sampling the best of Mexico City’s backstreets, finding a truly good taco has never been an elusive task. Navigating all the different types, toppings and tortillas is another story – from al pastor with Lebanese roots to pit-roasted barbacoa to delectable clay pots of stews for tacos de guisado, the world of Mexico City tacos feels infinite. There appears to be a different taco for every occasion, and the options can be overwhelming. Our local guides have done their due diligence in finding some of Mexico City’s best tacos and, in a long overdue roundup, below we bring you some of our favorites to date. From classic taquerías to busy market stalls and even an auto repair shop, read on for our top taco recommendations.
Tacos Beatricita: The Centenarian
With so many places to choose from, how to determine who makes the best tacos de guisado in town? One contender for these stew-topped tortillas we had long heard about is Beatricita, a brick-and-mortar taquería in the Zona Rosa that has quietly been using the same recipes to great acclaim for almost 110 years – certainly strong evidence that its guisados could be some of the best in the city.
The menu lists typical items such as enchiladas, soups, breakfasts, pozole, pancita and carnitas – but we were there for the tacos. The list of taco fillings is long: chicharrón, nopales (cactus paddles), tinga de pollo (chicken cooked in a tomato sauce), chorizo with potatoes, beans, rajas con queso (poblano peppers with cheese), barbacoa, carnitas and a variety of moles. We tried the tinga de pollo, rajas con queso and chicharrón in green sauce – all delectable. We still had room for one more so we asked our very attentive waiter, Lola, which one of the moles was the best. Without any hesitation she indicated the red one, which in this case was the mole poblano. And we were grateful for the suggestion: The mole was a delicious combination of spicy, sweet and savory in a smooth sauce. – Ben Herrera
El Vilsito: Al Pastor Masters
In Mexico, small business owners and entrepreneurs often display high levels of ingenuity. Take the case of El Vilsito, a taquería in the Narvarte neighborhood that does double duty as an auto repair shop.
We first came to El Vilsito one late night on the recommendation of a friend. We arrived to find a place that was shuttered and dark and looked disconcertingly like an auto parts store. Upon closer inspection, we found the entrance to the taquería a little further down the street, housed in the same building as the garage. Both establishments, it turned out, are owned by the same family, which came up with a clever one-building-fits-all business plan that allows the space to be a car repair shop by day and a taquería by night. (This plan, it must be noted, doesn’t extend to the personnel: fortunately, the garage’s daytime mechanics are not the taquería’s nighttime chefs.)
El Vilsito is accessed through a pair of large, matching, roll-up doors. We half expected to find stacks of tires and piles of greasy rags inside, but once we passed through the garage doors the interior magically transformed into a typical taquería without a hint of the neighboring auto business. Brightly lit and packed with people, the taquería consisted of a few tables and an open kitchen, lined with a counter with bar stools behind which chefs busily prepared food for hungry customers. Even at 2 a.m., every seat was taken, and customers overflowed onto the front sidewalk, where they ate standing up. Most people gathered around the taco preparation areas situated on either side of the restaurant. These two prep stations offered El Vilsito’s most famous dish, tacos al pastor.
The tacos were excellent, the pastor meat easily some of the best we’d had in the city. The tender pork had just the right amount of spicy flavor, which was perfectly complemented by the sweetness of the pineapple slices. We immediately understood why so many people were in line for these tacos, and quickly ordered another round. – Ben Herrera
Tizne Tacomotora: A True Original
Partners Pilar Canseco and Jorge Vaca started their business with a bike cart outfitted with a meat smoker that they would cart around from music festival to music festival, selling three of what would become their limited (and heavenly) menu of smoked-meat tacos. That history is on display at Tize Tacomotora, where the neo-industrial decor makes this mouthwatering taco spot seem more like a warehouse or underground club.
The slow-smoked brisket melts in your mouth, its intensity balanced out by sprigs of fresh cilantro and mint, and a few thin slices of tangy green tomatillo on top. All wrapped up in a jewel-toned blue corn tortilla. An additional dab of minty salsa verde puts this taco over the top – it’s obvious why it was their first big seller.
Their tacos are made from a unique fusion of cooking traditions that run the length of North America – from northern style barbecue and meat smoking, whose earliest influences were the Native Americans smoking game to preserve it for leaner times, to the pre-Hispanic technique of tatemar, a style of cooking where vegetables are burned on a flat griddle or comal. The phenomenal blending of these techniques is a reminder of the beautiful linkages (and potential linkages) between cuisines across cultures.
Due to the success of their tiny spot in Del Valle, the duo was able to open a second location in Roma in 2019. Yet this expansion necessitated a new production facility, which they opened at a spot half an hour south, near Mexico City’s wholesale market. As unassuming as both locations might be, Tizne Tacomotora offers a menu of tacos unlike any in the city. – Lydia Carey
Expendio de Maiz: The Freshest Tortillas
Preserving nixtamalization – an ancient and important method of processing corn birthed by Mesoamerica – among other traditional methods and heritage ingredients, has become particularly important to Jesús Tornes, managing partner of Expendio de Maiz. An expendio is a little corner store or stand, making this the “corn stand,” and working here has turned its staff into tortilla snobs, Jesús says. “They know how to make tortillas, to nixtamal the corn, to grind it into dough. When they are at lunch and are offered a machine-made tortilla made from Maseca, they get pissed off.”
They blend two types of corn that come from the state of Guerrero, one blue (prieto) and one yellow (cremoso), and sell their freshly made dough to restaurants across the city. What they save for themselves is converted into an endless variety of open-faced tacos that they offer at family-style tables just steps from the kitchen.
If you came every day for a week to Expendio, you would find something slightly different on the non-existent menu each day. The staff cooks with the seasons and the whims that take them. One day, fresh tortillas with hoja santa and a cotija-like Guerrero cheese; the next, fried corn kernels and quelites (Mexican wild greens).
It’s a place of collaboration, not just between cooks, but also between the kitchen and their clients. As Jesús makes clear, the customers that become part of the Expendio community get the good stuff. – Lydia Carey
Los Barriles: The Best Tacos de Guisado
On the weekends, we find ourselves at the Saturday Sullivan market for just one reason: breakfast at Los Barriles. The booth sells between eight and 10 different types of tacos de guisado – usually ready-made stews served atop a tortilla. After many visits, the realization dawned on us that here are the best tacos de guisado in the city.
Owner Alonso Perez told us that selling at the street markets on the weekends is not all they do. They also cater parties of 50 people and more all over the city. His wife, Isaura Gonzalez, is the cook and brains of the operation. She makes all the guisados at home and gets them ready to be taken to the street markets and catering locations. Every guisado we have tried at Los Barriles was perfectly cooked and seasoned.
Some of the extremely tasty guisados we’ve had were lengua en salsa de morita, delicious and tender beef tongue in morita pepper sauce; suadero a la diabla, beef shank in a spicy red sauce; chicharrón en salsa verde, pork cracklings in green sauce; rajas con crema, julienned poblano peppers in a creamy sauce; and chiles rellenos, cuaresmeño peppers stuffed with cheese and deep fried, among many others.
Although everything we’ve eaten at Los Barriles has been delicious, our all-time favorite dish there is cochinita pibil, the most representative dish of the Yucatán peninsula. Los Barriles’ cochinita – pulled pit-cooked pork – is tender and perfectly seasoned. Because this dish is their specialty, they make it every weekend, and we never fail to order at least one cochinita taco.
All tacos at Los Barriles are served with your choice of rice or black beans, which makes them generous and filling; one or two tacos would be enough for most people, while three or four would satisfy expert eaters such as ourselves. Los Barriles is definitely on our list of top five tacos de guisado in the city. That said, we plan to continue our search for more of these pockets of inexpensive deliciousness. – Ben Herrera
El Profe: Old-School Barbacoa
El Profe (“The Prof”) looks less like your typical market food stand and more like a mini restaurant, with small brass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling that provide more in the way of ambiance than actual light. A cramped open kitchen area in the center is surrounded by a stainless steel counter that wraps around it on three sides, with almost obscene-looking piles of uncooked meat stacked along the counter behind a clear glass panel.
In business for half a century, El Profe takes its name from owner and founder Sergio Blanco, who used to work at a local elementary school before leaving his job to follow his dream of opening this barbacoa joint. Barbacoa – pit-roasted mutton – has long been the most popular dish at El Profe, and for good reason. Sergio and his family raise their own sheep in Milpa Alta, a southern borough of the Distrito Federal that is well known for its farming. One sheep is slaughtered every weekday, while as many five or six are butchered to meet the demand on busier weekends, meaning that customers can always count on the freshness of the meat.
The barbacoa is used to make El Profe’s most popular dishes: consomé, a hearty broth, and tacos de barbacoa, shredded mutton meat tacos served with diced onion and cilantro. To prepare the dish, the meat is wrapped in leaves from the maguey – one of Mexico’s iconic plants – and slow-cooked for hours in its own fat and juices in pits in the ground until it is fall-off-the-bone tender, without the gamey flavor sometimes associated with the meat. The maguey leaves give the mutton a subtle but distinctive flavor similar to pulque, a pre-Hispanic alcoholic drink made from the same plant. It is then pulled apart by hand and heaped into tortillas or soup bowls depending on the customer’s order.
For diners not in the mood for barbacoa, El Profe also offers a range of other choices, including tacos de suadero, made with Mexico’s version of beef brisket. – Ben Herrera
Las Más Altas Montañas: The Best Chorizo Tacos
Red chorizo is common in Mexico City, but the green variety is rare, and finding a place that sells it freshly made is even rarer. But every day except Tuesdays, Juventino and his staff make the trip to Mexico City from Toluca – famous for its chorizos – to set up shop at Jamaica Market. The color of their green chorizo (always made from pork meat) comes from the cilantro, green peppers and pumpkin seeds used in its preparation. But the pine nuts, peanuts and almonds that Adrian Panolla, Juventino’s right-hand man, adds to the mix are what give the sausage its unique taste and satisfying crunch.
Besides the green chorizo, Juventino and his meat crew also offer the classic red chorizo, moronga (blood sausage), and cecina (thin layers of salted beef). This last item is brought directly from Yecapixtla, a town in the northeast state of Morelos known for its excellent cecina. All these meats are served as tacos or sold by the kilo. People come from all over the city to shop at this stand, purchasing kilos of meat for either reselling or their own consumption. However, the experience of sitting down among piles of produce and the market buzz to enjoy a delicious taco has no comparison. – Ben Herrera
Taquería Los Parados: The Late-Night Stop
Our destination, Los Parados, is one on a short list of taco joints usually shouted at full volume to rally the hungry boozers after a Roma-Condesa bar crawl. On this night, our group spoke in excited tones about all the tacos we were going to eat to satisfy our grumbling stomachs.
Of the chain’s three locations, this spot in the heart of Roma Sur is nearest and dearest to our heart – we’ve been here many times before. Yet looking at the wide array of goodies available on the big yellow menu, we found ourselves unable to decide between the many delicious possibilities. But it was a Monday night, which is when 2-for-1 tacos al pastor are on offer, so we quickly decided to start with that. A variant of the shawarma that was brought to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants, al pastor has become an essential element to any DF dining experience. The attendant posted by Los Parados’s vertical meat spit made quick work of the layers of seasoned pork, forming the iconic cone of meat on the tortilla before covering it with grilled pineapple.
The options at Los Parados break down as follows: tacos, combo tacos, tacos made with pan arabe (or pitas, another vestige of the Lebanese tradition), queso fundido (melted cheese) dishes, volcanes con queso (literally cheese volcanoes, with the cheese heated in mini-crucibles and poured over a tortilla), desserts and drinks.
As our tacos arrived and we began eating, we couldn’t help but think that the lack of chairs, assembly-line food production and Spartan décor reflect the utilitarianism of a taco – meat plus tortilla, no fuss. Such a place has worked so well for so long because it reliably serves its purpose. It’s a staple locals know is always there, open way into the night. There’s no need to find a table, just shuffle in, wait your turn and before you know it, you’re leaning into a crook in the wall having some meaningful face time with a taco. – James Young
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