America's Best Mexican Restaurant

America has no shortage of Mexican restaurants, be they high-end establishments or small Tex-Mex joints that serve some of the best burritos you've ever tasted.

Yet America's best Mexican restaurant is Chicago-based Topolobampo. Topolobampo topped The Daily Meal's list of America's 50 Best Mexican Restaurants in 2014. In order to assemble the list and determine which restaurant would be American's best Mexican restaurant, The Daily Meal analyzed results from surveys sent out to leading culinary experts around the country, as well as referring to best-of lists in both print and online media, and rounded it out with some personal favorite Mexican restaurants around the country.

So what is it that makes Topolobampo America's best Mexican restaurant? Its Oklahoma-born chef, Rick Bayless, wears the crown of Mexican cuisine in the United States; even the Mexican government thinks so. In 2012, Bayless was named to the Order of the Aztec Eagle, which is the highest Mexican distinction that can be awarded to foreigners.

The chef's fame aside, Topolobampo is America's best Mexican restaurant for many additional reasons. Here you can find truly authentic Mexican food that is so irresistible it may even outshine the cuisine at some of Mexico's best restaurants. Dishes include red snapper in "red ceviche" (cured with crimson hibiscus), frogs' leg tamales with cascabel chile, lamb in ancho-tamarind sauce, and cajeta crêpes with chocolate and plantains.

If you ever find yourself in Chicago, be sure to spend an evening dining at Topolobampo and see (and taste!) for yourself whether this is America's best Mexican restaurant.