America's 75 Best Tacos

When you close your eyes and picture a perfect taco, what do you see? Is it a hard-shell taco with spiced ground beef, shredded cheese, lettuce and tomato? Or perhaps two small corn tortillas with shredded pork, onions and cilantro? Or maybe something in between? There are countless varieties of tacos out there — from fried fish to pork with pineapple, from roasted goat to cow's tongue — and we're proud to present our annual ranking of America's best.

First, let's define what exactly a taco is. By the broadest definitions, it's a handheld, folded, unleavened flatbread encasing something edible. For our purposes, however, we're defining a taco as meat or vegetables placed onto a warmed tortilla, with the express purpose of folding it and eating it with one hand. And man, there are some amazing tacos out there.

One great thing about a taco is that, along with the burger and the hot dog, it's one of the most democratic foods known to man. You'll find tacos at the most homespun, rustic roadside shacks as well as on the menu at some of the country's most high-end Mexican restaurants. One reason they're so popular is because they're so inexpensive, usually selling for just a couple of bucks. 

In order to assemble our ranking, we started by compiling a list of several hundred of America's best taco joints and their most sought-after individual taco, with the aid of online review sites and local publications, and then narrowed down the playing field to the top 75. In order to stand apart from the pack, these tacos had to have clean, vibrant and varied flavors, with each component good enough to stand on its own. A perfect taco is balanced, and isn't loaded down by superfluous add-ons. The tortilla (traditionally corn-based, but occasionally flour) should be super fresh and, ideally, handmade on the premises. The filling should be made with an eye for balance. The toppings, be they onions and cilantro or chipotle harissa, should brighten, heighten and tie the whole taco together into a cohesive, delicious dish. And most importantly, the tacos have to be absolutely beloved in their home town, because it's the locals who know best, after all. 

This community in the famously posh town of Greenwich may be the last place you'd expect to find real Mexican takeout food. But at El Charrito, Carlos and Alex Terrón, who also run a popular food truck in neighboring Stamford, have brought to southwestern Connecticut a standard of Mexican cooking usually found only in urban Texas or California. The wide variety of taco fillings ranges from chicken, shrimp and spicy pork adobada to pig's ear, tripe and cow's tongue. The carnitas tacos are typical: a couple of flavorful steamed corn tortillas with a scattering of sweet, crispy pork bits, minced onions and cilantro, with lime segments on the side for squeezing over everything. Simple and perfect.

The tiny Los Gauchos in Columbus, Ohio, serves a wide variety of Mexican street food including tortas, quesadillas, burritos and huaraches, but it's the tacos — especially the al pastor — that are its claim to fame. The al pastor is made the old-fashioned way, by marinating pork and roasting it on a vertical spit, and to serve, it's sliced and piled onto two corn tortillas with pineapple, onions and cilantro. They take a lot of pride in their al pastor (the spit is emblazoned on their logo and the motto is "The best tacos al pastor in the city!"), and justifiably so — they've really got a winner on their hands.

If a restaurant is going to call itself "Best Fish Taco in Ensenada," it better be able to stand by it, and this place is the real deal. This Los Angeles, California, gem is run by Joseph Cordova, who sources high-quality fish, shrimp and vegetables and turns them into something truly special. The crust that surrounds the seafood is soft and crispy, the tacos are fresh and light, there are several salsa options (go for the mango), the slaw is crunchy and crisp and the seasoned crema is icing on the cake.

The large number of Latin farm and meatpacking workers in Iowa has made the state's small towns an unexpected destination for truly spectacular tacos, and with so much corn around the fresh tortillas are nothing to sneeze at. Case in point: La Juanita in Storm Lake, where Tyson Foods has a large operation. This beloved hidden gem has been in business for about 20 years, and serves a wide variety of authentic fillings like carne asada, chorizo, lengua, fish, chicken, carnitas, al pastor, tripe, liver and chicharron. Their tortas and sopes are also popular, but carne asada tacos are a must-order, especially when topped with homemade hot sauce.

There's no shortage of solid Mexican spots in Newark, New Jersey, but locals agree Aguilas de Mexico is the real deal. This family-owned Ironbound gem has only been around since 2012, but its freshness and consistency has already endeared it to locals. The al pastor is tender and delicious, with a little crisp on the pork and some pineapple tying it all together.

The best way to explain how Chico's serves one of America's best tacos is to say how improbably bad this small chain and its fare appear at first glance. Signs outside the drab, unimpressive buildings give no indication of its signature dish: three rolled tacos containing ground beef covered in finely shredded cheese, all soaked in translucent red "salsa" in a white cardboard boat and topped with jalapeño salsa. Some might question the cheese, which is so finely shredded you could swear you see powder. But something happens with that first bite. The flautas are crunchy, but soaked in the salsa, the crispness begins to give. And though it's more like a thin broth, there's surprisingly good flavor. The heat of the broth melts the cheese, turning it into a soupy mess of flavor punched up by the heat of the jalapeño sauce. There's a hot, dip-with-every-bite experience, and no need for plastic utensils. You pick one up, bite, dip and bite again until they're gone and you're left with a quarter-inch of cheese and sauce that begs drinking.

Tiny Wilmington, Delaware, restaurant El Pique, one of the best hole-in-the-wall restaurants you'll find anywhere, gets packed on a daily basis, but it's still easy to pass by. Head inside and you'll encounter just a few tables and behind the counter, a plancha manned by two ladies cooking an astounding variety of proteins, including hard-to-find cuts like pork snout (trompa), beef head (cabeza), and a combo of all different types of offal (surtida). The best move is to go for the birria, made with lamb. It's super-flavorful and incredibly tender, crisped up on the griddle and served with onion, cilantro and your choice of three sauces.

When chefs with the pedigree of John Besh and Aarón Sánchez team up to open an authentic Mexican restaurant, you can bet good money on the end result being spectacular (even though Besh is no longer involved). And by all accounts, Johnny Sanchez is. To get a good idea of the amount of skill (and the quality of the ingredients) on display at this super-popular New Orleans, Louisiana, eatery, start your meal with an order of carne asada tacos, made with perfectly cooked grilled skirt steak and topped with a one-two punch of pickled jalapeño guacamole and fresh pico de gallo. It's a masterpiece.

Graciela Chavez and her crew make their own Mexican pastries and flour and corn tortillas, offer all the Mexican standards at low prices and serve classic menudo and caldo de res (beef soup) on weekends. No wonder La Ranchera has been called Abilene's best Mexican restaurant. Enhance some of those (corn) tortillas with nothing more than a generous portion of tender, perfectly seasoned beef tongue and some onions and cilantro — simplicity itself — with rice and beans on the side, and you're all set.

At Torchy's, which has locations throughout Texas (centered in Austin, Dallas, and Houston), owner Michael Rypka has created tortilla-bound concoctions that are nothing short of devilish and are made fresh every day. There's the Brush Fire (Jamaican jerk chicken, grilled jalapeños and mango), the Dirty Sanchez (scrambled eggs with fried poblano chile, guacamole, escabeche carrots and shredded cheese) and the Republican (grilled jalapeño sausage with shredded cheese and pico de gallo), but the wildest and most delicious creation on the menu is the Trailer Park, a massive battered and fried hunk of chicken breast, topped with sautéed green chiles, lettuce, pico de gallo and shredded mixed cheese on a flour tortilla from El Milagro, topped with poblano sauce. If you prefer to "get it trashy," they'll remove the lettuce and replace it with cheese sauce. And who needs lettuce when cheese sauce is an option?

Big Truck Tacos in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is putting a fun twist on traditional Mexican street food. Get there early to avoid the lines, and take your pick from specialties including The Rancher (brisket, sautéed mushrooms, onions, potatoes and escabeche); Okie-Wahoo (tilapia, sweet chili jicama-cabbage slaw and green onions); and Borracho Chicken (spice-rubbed beer-can chicken, spicy tomato sauce, onion and cilantro). But if you're only going to try one taco, make it the Green Chile Pork with slow-roasted pork, Hatch green chiles, queso fresco, onions and cilantro. It's a classic Southwest dish, and these guys do it right.

If you're looking for a classic taquería experience in Las Vegas, Nevada, you're going to need to abandon the Strip and head to Taco y Taco, which has locations on East Tropicana Avenue and South Eastern Avenue.

Opt for the al pastor and pork will be sliced from a giant rotating spit and deposited directly onto the flat-top for some extra caramelization. Piled into a tortilla with onions, cilantro and chopped pineapple with an elote (ear of corn) on the side, it's the perfect distraction from the glitz and glamor of the Strip.

The Eastern Europeans who dominated the area surrounding Maxwell Street in Chicago, Illinois, from the 1880s to the 1920s are credited for turning the original open-air market into the bustling hub it is today. The market has moved to a new location, but it remains a center for food and goods vendors to hawk their wares. Rubi's at Maxwell Street Market is beloved by locals, and its huitlacoche probably has a lot to do with that. Huitlacoche, also known as corn truffle, is a Mexican delicacy that tastes a bit like mushrooms, and Rubi's gets major authenticity points for helping to make it a widely known and appreciated food in Chicago.

Pinches Tacos in Los Angeles claims to serve "Real Mexican Food by Real Mexicans," and their menu — the same across all four locations — is certainly authentic. Their carne asada taco is a favorite of devoted local customers; it's dressed simply with cilantro, green sauce and raw white onion.

You just can't beat the value of Albuquerque, New Mexico's Tacos Mex y Mariscos' inexpensive tacos, and it helps that they're also of incredibly high quality. We encourage you to peruse the menu and pick out something a little out of the ordinary, like cabeza (head) or tripas (which are intestines, not tripe), but their al pastor taco is sure to please even the least adventurous eater. The spit-roasted pork and grilled pineapple is loaded into double-layered tortillas and sprinkled with cilantro and raw onions, which you can then take over to the salsa bar and garnish with traditional condiments like fiery tomato salsa, guacamole and pico de gallo.

Folks line up daily at Newport Beach gem Bear Flag Fish Co. for seafood served every way you can imagine: as sushi, in poke and ceviche, in salads, as burritos, grilled in sandwiches, in soups and, of course, in tacos. Made with basa (similar to catfish) or another fish of your choice, coated with panko, grilled, and topped with pico de gallo, fresh cabbage and a curried hot sauce they call "Tommy Sauce," Bear Flag's offering is fish taco perfection. It may take a while to get through the door, but it's definitely a restaurant that's worth waiting in line for.

Just about anything chef José Andrés makes turns to gold, and that can certainly be said of his tacos. At Oyamel, his now-legendary Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C., tortillas start out as heirloom Mexican corn and are ground in house daily and cooked to order. Shredded pork, sautéed mushrooms, braised beef, shredded goat, grilled chicken, cobia, house-cured pork belly and even grasshoppers all make for delicious fillings, but you absolutely must try the carnitas Michoacán: slow-cooked shredded confit of suckling pig topped with green tomatillo salsa, onions, cilantro and pork rinds for that extra crunch. It'll stop you dead in your tracks.

The perpetually packed Baltimore, Maryland, destination Tortilleria Sinaloa is consistently drawing crowds for the homemade tortillas and fresh, plentiful fillings. Don't miss the tamales, pozole and special tilapia tacos with Old Bay butter sauce, but the menu's standout is the al pastor, tender and flavorful with chunks of grilled pineapple mixed in. 

Loteria Grill has become a bit of an LA institution, renowned for its charming and lively vibe and its fabulous tacos. Many repeat customers will encourage you to order the taco platter, but if we had to pick just one variety, we'd go with the carne deshebrada: braised shredded beef, cilantro, guacamole, onions and salsa roja.

This tiny restaurant in an off-the-beaten-path location serves some of the finest tacos in Chicago. The al pastor earns high praise, but the real standout at La Lagartija is the shrimp taco. The shrimp gets a light batter and fry that leaves it crispy, juicy, succulent and not greasy at all. Topped with a creamy sauce and tucked into a house-made tortilla, this taco might just make you think you've been teleported to Mexico City.

My Ceviche is a fast-casual seafood spot that's become a Miami, Florida, standby, with six locations throughout the city. Ceviche (made with your choice of three types of seafood and in six styles), burritos, bowls and salads are all solid options, but don't miss the tacos, which are available with fish, shrimp, octopus, chicken or raw tuna. It may be unexpected, but raw tuna is the way to go: It's chopped into tiny pieces and piled into a corn or flour tortilla with a bright combo of pickled red onions, julienned radishes, shredded queso fresco and cilantro; we suggest you ask for some sliced avocado on top as well.

When the name of the restaurant contains both "octopus" and "seafood," you know that the octopus served there is going to be good, and the hidden-in-plain-sight Mariscos El Pulpo is a winner. There are three octopus tacos on the menu: one with the octopus sautéed in garlic butter (mojo de ajo), one in a house chile sauce (enchilada), and the third in a garlic and ancho chile butter (ajillo). Go for the ajillo; tender chunks of octopus are slathered in the most flavorful butter imaginable, topped with a sprinkling of cilantro and onion. If you weren't a fan of octopus before trying this, you will be once you do.

One of Louisville, Kentucky's finest restaurants, Seviche also serves what's most likely the city's best taco. The mahi-mahi in the taco at chef Anthony Lamas' shrine to Latin cuisine is marinated and grilled before being topped with a cumin-lime aioli, cabbage and a cilantro-flecked pico de gallo and placed atop two frilled corn tortillas. You might as well order two when you sit down, because you're not going to want to stop eating these.

San Francisco's beloved Tacolicious has six locations in the Bay Area, and its success lies in fresh ingredients and an eye toward authenticity. Their bistec adobado is a work of art: Flank steak gets a heady three-chile adobo marinade before being grilled to medium-rare and piled onto a fresh tortilla with a handful of pickled onions. 

Joe's Bakery was established in 1962, and has been a destination for Tex-Mex breakfast and lunch ever since. Recipes have been passed down for generations, and the carne guisada is nothing short of revelatory. Pork butt (as opposed to traditional beef) is slow-cooked in tomato sauce with garlic, cumin, salt and a little flour, and heaped into a house-made flour tortilla. Belly up to the counter and experience a true Austin original.

Since Carnitas Uruapan opened in Chicago in 1975, chef and owner "El Güero" Carbajal has undertaken the mission of introducing "the authentic carnitas of his hometown of Uruapan to Chicagoans." We think he can count his mission accomplished, as his carnitas is among the best you'll find north of the Rio Grande. The pork is slow-cooked for over two hours and then loaded into a flour tortilla. Feel free to garnish it with pico de gallo, although there's really no need. Bonus tip: You can order a pound of the carnitas to take home, which you should absolutely do.

Wicker Park's Big Star, from Chicago superstar chef Paul Kahan (of Publican fame), combines Mexican street food with a honky-tonk atmosphere, and the results are phenomenal. The menu is small but brilliant: six tacos (plus a corn chip-based "walking taco"), queso fundido, chips and guacamole, and cheap whiskey shots to wash it all down, all prepared with the expert precision of a world-class chef. The taco al pastor is the first item on the menu and the one to order: Pork shoulder is spit-roasted and sliced off to order, and served with grilled pineapple, grilled onion and cilantro. It's smoky, small enough to eat (more than) a few, and astoundingly delicious, especially after a couple of Big Star margaritas. You might have to line up to get in, but you'll be glad you did.

With more stuff on the walls and floors than a TGI Fridays (including a 1924 Model-T dump truck), a wonderfully raucous jukebox and an atmosphere that suggests a funky roadhouse more than an urban Tex-Mex place, Ray's — which opened in 1965 — turns out fine versions of the local standards, along with hot dogs, hamburgers and fish sandwiches. It is particularly famous, though, for its puffy tacos, which weren't invented at Ray's, but may have first been named here. They're light, crisp and flavorful, and the meltingly soft carne guisada (stewed beef) filling is perfectly spiced and not at all greasy.

Modern Mexican restaurant La Condesa does things its own way: there's a sea trout ceviche with pineapple-aji sorbet, a roasted cauliflower "steak" with chipotle-raisin purée and chile de árbol vinaigrette, and a lump crab tostada with green mango and grapefruit, among other things, so it's hardly surprising that the tacos are non-standard as well. The Arabicos tacos, for instance, which get high marks for originality and intensity of flavor, combine seared venison with pickled cucumber, chipotle harissa, fennel pollen yogurt and cilantro, all wrapped in a tortilla made — in decidedly non-Arabic style — with bacon fat. Neither classic Mexican nor Tex-Mex, this thing is just plain good.

Guisados has become an essential Los Angeles taquería. It currently has five locations, but the original is located in the heart of Boyle Heights and run by three generations of the De La Torre family, and these folks know what they're doing, right down to the homemade tortillas. The cochinita pibil is a thing of beauty: Pork shoulder is marinated overnight in a citrus-heavy mixture, and then simmered for nearly four hours before being shredded. Served with pickled onions, fresh cilantro and as much habanero salsa as you can handle, it's a true masterpiece.

Located right next door to the legendary White House Sub Shop, this unassuming taquería was opened to cater primarily to employees of the local casinos, but it quickly achieved a level of local renown when chef David Chang stopped by and deemed it "the best Mexican food on the East Coast" in Lucky Peach magazine, and when legendary Philly chef Michael Solomonov fell in love with it on an episode of "Vice Munchies." So what makes Panchos so good, exactly? For one, the tortillas aren't just homemade, they're made to order. Second, tacos and huaraches are filled with a wide variety of expertly prepared proteins like steak, chicken, brisket, goat, tripe, chorizo and carnitas. And third, their mole poblano enchiladas are life-changing. Just go. And when you do, order the chivo, slow-roasted and shredded goat in red chile sauce.

At the Mission District's beloved Taqueria Vallarta, more than a dozen meats stay warm on a circular iron comal. When you place your order it gets a quick crisping before heading into a warm tortilla (also heated on the comal), then topped with your choice of grilled or fresh onions, grilled jalapeños, fresh cilantro and a splash of killer green salsa from a self-serve counter. Opt for the carnitas, which is crispy and melt-in-your-mouth.

Santa Fe loves the green chiles from Hatch, down in the southern part of New Mexico, and their nearly supernatural ability to pair perfectly with just about any type of food you can think of. At The Shed, in business since 1953, the chiles are grown especially for the restaurant and brought in fresh daily, then processed on site. One of the best applications of this spicy green sauce that you'll find in the city is on the restaurant's taco plate: two fresh blue corn tortillas with baked chicken topped with green chile, cheddar cheese, onion, lettuce and tomato. The chicken is perfectly cooked, but the chile is the real star of the show (as is the stellar posole that comes with it).

There are precious few restaurants in the U.S. that specialize in Yucatecan cuisine, but La Flor de Yucatan is serving wonderfully authentic fare from the once-isolated peninsula. Traditional classics including chirmole (slow-cooked pork and beans) and puchero de tres carnes (beef, chicken and pork cooked with vegetables, noodles, cabbage and garbanzos) are on point, but no visit is complete without a couple tacos loaded with the most famous Yucatecan dish, cochinita pibil. To make this dish, pork is slow-cooked with citrus and achiote until falling apart, and it's simply served with a smattering of pickled onions.

When a taqueria has the word carnitas right there in its name, you know that they're going to do it well. And at no-frills South Side showstopper Carnitas Lonja, chef/owner Alex Paredes cooks massive hunks of pork — skin, fat and all — in large cauldrons of boiling lard until the skin is crunchy and the meat is tender and caramelized, and it's chopped and piled into spectacular handmade corn tortillas. Your taco will come accompanied by free pickled jalapeños and onions, pico de gallo and red and green salsas, but make sure you try some carnitas as-is before piling on the accompaniments. You'll never look at fried pork the same way again.

Located in an unassuming Barrio Logan back alley, Las Cuatro Milpas has been serving some of San Diego's best tacos since 1933. Order up front, grab your table in the middle, and watch tortillas being made in the back. With the tortillas deep-fried to order, these crunchy tacos are filled with beef, chicken or pork, but opt for the shredded pork, topped with lettuce and tangy, crumbled goat cheese. The hot sauce — which is made by simmering chiles and spices in lard — isn't for the spice-averse, but is addictively good.

One of LA's most beloved taquerias (and our pick for the city's best), Los Cinco Puntos is also an essential neighborhood grocery, and it sells its meats by the pound or inside of taco or burritos. Tacos are the real draw here, though, starting with corn tortillas made by hand from corn masa in the back on a large plancha. Meats including carne asada, buche (esophagus and stomach), and suadero are displayed in steaming piles behind a counter, but peer into the back and you'll see a cauldron filled with pork shoulders boiling in their own fat. Clearly, carnitas are what you should order. After some crisping up on the plancha, they're chopped and nestled into those homemade corn tortillas, topped with pickled nopales and salsa verde, and will forever change your view of carnitas.