The food Americans have missed the most during long months of not dining out — and most look forward to eating again when restaurant-going gets back to normal — is Mexican, according to figures compiled by the online food ordering company DoorDash.
If any further proof is needed that we love Mexican food in this country, Mexican is the second most popular “ethnic” cuisine overall in the United States after Chinese, and the number-one favorite in some 27 states, according to an analysis of Google searches for various cuisines conducted by the international food publication Chef’s Pencil.
Of course “Mexican” can mean different things to different people: sea urchin tostadas with bone marrow salsa atCosme in Manhattan; black mole enchiladas with chorizo atGuelaguetza in Los Angeles; a five-item combinationplate at thenationwide Chevy’s Fresh Mex chain; even a keto salad bowl with adobo chicken at the ubiquitousChipotle or a never-in-Mexicocreation like a Quesarito or a Crunchwrap Supreme at the local Taco Bell. (These are the top 15 Mexican chains in America.)
In this listing of the best Mexican restaurant in every state based on Yelp scores, 24/7 Tempo has included establishments of every type — elegant contemporary restaurants, family-style neighborhood places, bare-bones counter-service establishments. Some specialize in the cuisines of specific regions of Mexico. Some offer the standard fare we’ve come to expect, but done particularly well. They range from the casual to the sophisticated, the Americanized to the authentic, but every one is a place you’ll want to try.
At this writing, most if not all of the restaurants on this list are open for at least limited indoor service. It’s always a good idea to double-check with the establishment before making definite dining plans.
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This top-rated Tuscaloosa taco joint serves up tacos for the adventurous eater. In addition to quesadillas, tostadas, and carne asada, diners will also find tacos featuring calf’s head, tripe, and beef tongue. But if you’re looking for alcohol, you’re out of luck. The owner says adding alcohol to the menu would lead to longer wait time.
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House-made chorizo and salsas and signature beers are among the selling points at the two locations of this Anchorage hotspot. The menu offers everything from tiger prawn ceviche and cheddar cheese queso to fajita burritos and tortas (Mexican sandwiches) served with cilantro-parmesan fries.
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Arizona
> Restaurant: La Bamba Mexican Grill Restaurant > Location: El Mirage > Yelp rating: 4.5
“Street Tacos,” “Mexican Food,” and “Only Cash For Now” read the signs in the window of this bare-bones storefront place in El Mirage, northwest of Phoenix. The blackboard menu is short, offering a small selection of bargain-priced tacos, quesadillas, a salad and a torta.
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California
> Restaurant: Guelaguetza Restaurante > Location: Los Angeles > Yelp rating: 4
Considered one of the best Oaxacan restaurants in the country, this 26-year-old institution serves six kinds of mole, as well as such authentic regional fare such as pizza-like tlayudas with various toppings and squash blossom empanadas. The list of mezcals, another Oaxacan specialty, is encyclopedic.
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Colorado
> Restaurant: Xicamiti La Taquería Bistro > Location: Golden > Yelp rating: 5
“Street Mexican cuisine” is the specialty at this taquería, tequilería, and mezcalería in a strip mall in the Rocky Mountain foothill town of Golden. From breakfast burritos to melted cheese with chorizo to tacos al pastor, this is the real thing.
Offering gorditas, chalupas, alambres, huaraches, and sopes, as well as better-known choices like nachos and an array of tacos, this counter-service place offers authentic Mexican food of good quality at budget-friendly prices.
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Tacos come soft or crisp, with corn or flour tortillas, in half-moon shape or rolled, and even in salad form at this hidden gem, which fans call “the perfect Mexican restaurant.” The guacamole and fresh salsa get high marks, and the churros are an essential for dessert.
This friendly restaurant in a Boca Raton suburb offers large portions, reasonable prices, and an appealing menu. Octopus ceviche, poc chuc (sour-orange-marinated pork), fajitas, and crisp-fried tuna tacos are among the more unusual items served.
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Mexican street tacos with 10 different fillings plus three American-style tacos are on the menu at this restaurant just south of Atlanta. But it’s the Oaxacan specialties — like chicken in mole sauce and tlayudas (a bit like pizzas on oversize corn tortillas) — that make this place stand out. Hand-made tortillas are an added attraction.
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Hawaii
> Restaurant: El Gallo Rosa > Location: Kailua > Yelp rating: 4
This counter-service restaurant near Honolulu proposes a modest menu offering just six tacos, five quesadillas or sincronizadas (two-tortilla quesadillas), four “snacks,” and one dessert. The relatively small choice isn’t a problem, though, since everything is delicious.
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Idaho
> Restaurant: Pueblo Lindo > Location: Meridian > Yelp rating: 4
The extensive menu here includes plenty of seafood and vegetarian dishes, as well as chicken, beef, and pork in various guises (chicken breast in chipotle sauce, carne asada tacos, pork carnitas, etc.). The service gets good marks from reviewers.
Rick Bayless is the country’s leading non-Mexican authority on Mexican food, and at this flagship restaurant of his, the authentic fare includes Veracruz-style fresh corn tamales, grilled swordfish with squash blossom crema, crispy carnitas tacos, and cochinita pibil (achiote-marinated sucking pig roasted in banana leaves).
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Indiana
> Restaurant: Festiva > Location: Indianapolis > Yelp rating: 4.5
This place claims to have “the best guacamole in town,” and its fans seem to agree. Other top choices include costillas (honey-and-guajillo-braised pork ribs with chipotle crema)(according to the restaurant), several taco variations, carne asada, and an unusual preparation of whole rainbow trout with morita chile salsa.
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Iowa
> Restaurant: El Bajio Mexican Restaurant > Location: Cedar Rapids > Yelp rating: 4.5
The large menu here ranges from ceviche-like aguachiles and shrimp soup through both Mexican- and “Texano”-style tacos in numerous variations and all the way to hearty pork stew or stuffed poblano chiles served with house-made tortillas.
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The menu includes dishes from Yucatán not often seen in the U.S., like Sikil-pak (a dip of pumpkin seeds and roasted tomatoes); tok-sel lima beans, cooked with green onions, parsley, lime juice, and ground roasted pumpkin seeds; and tikin-xic (silver carp in achiote-lime sauce).
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Using gluten-free, non-GMO ingredients, local and organic when possible, this establishment serves pork tamales wrapped in banana leaves, quesadillas made with housemade corn tortillas, Louisiana Gulf shrimp with mojo sauce, and other specialties that avoid the usual Mexican-restaurant clichés.
This is one of the few places in the Northeast that serves San Antonio-style puffy tacos (the tortillas are deep-fried raw so they balloon up), as well as the more conventional soft and crispy varieties with meat, seafood, or vegetable fillings.
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This family-owned restaurant makes its own corn and flour tortillas and serves an assortment of simple but imaginative tacos, like carnitas with crispy pork cracklings and green sauce and lightly battered cod with pickled cabbage slaw and habanero cream. The ceviches are also first-rate.
Tacos filled with carnitas, tongue, steak, and other meats are popular here. Pozole rojo (pork stew with hominy and red chiles) and menudo (tripe soup) get good marks, too, and even the rice and beans win praise.
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Michigan
> Restaurant: Taquería Mi Pueblo > Location: Detroit > Yelp rating: 4.5
The immense menu at this popular place offers all the standard dishes served by Mexican restaurants in the U.S., but also such specialties as carne en su jugo (Pueblo-style beef and bean soup), chicharrones (fried pork rinds with hot sauce), and arrachera (grilled skirt steak Mexican style).
This combination restaurant and well-stocked Mexican market in suburban Minneapolis offers a wide selection of meat, chicken, and other fillings for burritos, quesadillas, tortas, and of course tacos. Guy Fieri loves this place.
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The menu offers an assortment of quesadillas, burritos, tacos, and enchiladas with various combinations of ingredients. One specialty is the “super quesadilla,” filled with steak, chicken, cheese, and mushrooms.
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Missouri
> Restaurant: Ixtapa Fine Mexican Cuisine > Location: Kansas City > Yelp rating: 4
The owner of this popular restaurant gets special praise from diners for his hospitality and for creating special meals based on his customers’ preferences. Margaritas, tortilla soup, vegetarian tacos, and enchiladas and burritos are among the favored choices here. (There is another location in nearby Overland Park, Kansas.)
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Owned by a family from Guanajuato in central Mexico, Los Maya’s serves a standard menu — huevos rancheros, chiles rellenos, enchiladas, tamales, tacos (shredded or ground beef on corn or flour tortillas), etc. — but the quality is tops.
Diners here often begin with a “salsa flight,” consisting of three salsas served with a choice of pork rinds or tortilla chips. Other favorites include shrimp nachos, duck tamales, and mineras — Oaxacan scrambled-egg enchiladas with chorizo and bean sauce. (There is a second location in Omaha.)
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Baja California is famous for its seafood, so it’s not surprising that ceviche-like aguachiles, marlin or spicy octopus tacos, and sashimi-style fish tostadas are among the specialties here. The fish tacos are also considered some of the best in the city.
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New Hampshire
> Restaurant: El Rincon Zacatecano Taquería > Location: Manchester > Yelp rating: 4.5
Menudo, pozole, carnitas, shrimp in ranchera sauce, pork guisado (stew) in green sauce, and a renowned (and amply sized) green chile burrito are some of the dishes this place is known for. The usual combination plates are also available, though.
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New Jersey
> Restaurant: Taquería Mi Mariachi > Location: Jersey City > Yelp rating: 4.5
All the basics are available at this friendly, colorful restaurant: burritos, quesadillas, tacos (soft or fried crisp, with a choice of 10 different meats, from steak to tripe), enchiladas, tamales, fajitas, chilaquiles, tostadas, tortas, and more.
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New Mexico
> Restaurant: El Callejón Taquería and Grill > Location: Santa Fe > Yelp rating: 4.5
There are burgers and salads (including the Hail, Caesar) on the menu here, but it also lists al pastor, carne asada, and other taco variations, as well as ceviche tostadas, enchiladas filled with queso fresco, and a torta filled with red-chile-marinated pork.
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When a small Mexican restaurant in Queens wins a Michelin star, you know it’s something special. Many of the items on the menu will look familiar — guacamole, chicken tacos, chile relleno, carne asada, etc. — but everything is prepared with unusual skill. This is a must for lovers of Mexican food.
“Vaquita” is Spanish for “little cow,” but it’s a very large cow that stands atop this ultra-casual counter-service place with outdoor-only seating. The long menu ranges from tacos (the specialty) and tortas to assorted fajitas and beef tongue stewed with guajillo chiles.
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North Dakota
> Restaurant: La Enchilada > Location: Bismarck > Yelp rating: 4.5
The food at this modest establishment is more serious than appearances might suggest. Among customer favorites are choriqueso (melted cheese dip with chorizo), garlic shrimp, and steak fundido (with the meat covered with queso and sautéed onions), and the standard enchiladas, tamales, and tacos are excellent.
Six variations on guacamole (including one with smoked trout and bacon), six different taquitos (one with duck confit, another with salt-roasted beets, spiced peanuts, and goat cheese), and avocado-leaf-braised lamb enchiladas with mole are among the unusual offerings at this “ModMex” restaurant.
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Generous combination plates are a specialty here, and there are quesadillas made with either flour or corn tortillas. In addition to more usual items, the menu here offers vegetarian versions of its nachos, tacos, and burritos.!”
This chef-owned restaurant offers a smallish menu with a number of unusual dishes, including crispy lollipop chicken wings with black mole, smoked mushroom and cactus tacos, grilled Spanish goat cheese in banana leaves with pumpkin seed salsa, and tamarind-marinated Mexican white prawns. The tortillas are fresh-made in-house.
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Pennsylvania
> Restaurant: La Palapa Mexican Kitchen & Mezcal Bar > Location: Pittsburgh > Yelp rating: 4
“We share the dream of bringing the real flavors of Mexican cuisine to the people of Pittsburgh,” say the proprietors here. Specialties include meat or vegetable tamales, pork shoulder cooked in morita chile sauce, and slow-roasted lamb shank with guajillo chiles.
The ample choice of dishes at this self-styled “family” restaurant and bar near Pawtucket ranges from chicken wings and fried hot dogs with onions and spicy salsa to assorted tacos, enchiladas, burritos, and fajitas. Shrimp with chipotle or mango habanero sauce are also offered.
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South Carolina
> Restaurant: Carmen y Juan > Location: Mount Pleasant > Yelp rating: 4
Tacos, burritos, tostadas, tortas…There are no real surprises on the menu here, but the queso, mole enchiladas, carnitas street tacos, and even the rice and beans get good notices from reviewers. Tortillas and salsas are house-made daily.
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South Dakota
> Restaurant: Sabor a Mexico > Location: Rapid City > Yelp rating: 4
Among the dishes regulars favor here are the carnitas torta, the chicken tostada, the fish tacos, and the cheese tamales. Other house specialties include tamales filled with pork in red sauce or chicken in green sauce, chicken mole, and a carnitas plate served with tortillas and rice and beans.
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Described on its website as “a small, fast-casual counter specializing in the hand-held delicacies it boasts in its name,” Maciel’s also serves nachos, fajitas, quesadillas, burritos, and other items. Shrimp and tilapia tacos are among the options.
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Texas
> Restaurant: Fonda San Miguel > Location: Austin > Yelp rating: 4
In a city (and state) famous for its hybrid Tex-Mex cuisine, this attractive establishment takes pride in serving “true regional Mexican cuisine from Mexico’s interior culinary epicenters.” Besides more familiar dishes, that includes such things as ancho chiles filled with chicken, olives, capers, and almonds, and a slow-cooked lamb dish called mixiote.
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This food cart turned restaurant offers a stripped-down menu of tacos (six kinds, including one with dry-rubbed 16-hour chopped brisket and another with plantains, beans, poblano chiles, and queso fresco), plus a handful of snacks and side dishes — and an imaginative cocktail list, too.
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The menu specialties here change daily, but include a range of guisos (stews), tamales, empanadas, chiles rellenos, and barbacoa, among other examples of what might be called Mexican comfort food. The portions are generous.
Known for its cool bar, featuring top-notch margaritas among other drinks, and its dependably delicious food, this restaurant and cantina makes its own tortillas, featured as the basis of a choice of street tacos. Other popular dishes include ceviche, fried quesadillas, and crab meat enchiladas.
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Nachos galore, a selection of fajitas, and the “macho burrito challenge” are among the attractions here. That challenge involves a two-foot-long burrito filled with steak, chicken, two kinds of beans, rice, and grilled vegetables, and topped with cheese dip. It costs $12.99 if you finish it in 30 minutes, $29.99 if not.
Opened in 2018 in this suburb of Madison, this Guadalajaran-inspired restaurant counts Mexican-style skirt steak, char-grilled chicken, and cheese, chicken, or beef enchiladas in red or green sauce among its specialties.
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This is a 24-hour-a-day roadside counter-service place serving California-style Mexican fare in a former KFC. The signboard menu of tacos, tortas, tostadas, and the like is standard, but the place is known for its great breakfast burritos and for a serve-yourself salsa bar with plenty of choices.
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