Mexico City

Mexico City (CDMX) may be the greatest taco city on earth. Its millions of residents fuel a nonstop street-food culture, with stands and taquerías serving everything from breakfast to the small hours of the morning.

Al pastor is the city’s signature. Lebanese immigrants brought spit-roasted lamb shawarma to Mexico in the early 20th century; over the following decades, Mexican cooks swapped in pork, a chile-and-achiote marinade and corn tortillas, and the modern taco al pastor took shape in the capital by the mid-1900s. A skilled taquero shaves the meat from the trompo and flicks a sliver of roasted pineapple onto the taco in one move.

Then there is suadero, a thin beef cut slowly confited on a domed griddle called a choricera, alongside longaniza and tripa. Order a campechano to get a mix. Tacos de canasta, small tacos filled with potato, beans or chicharrón and steamed in a cloth-lined basket, are sold from bicycles across the city; many of their vendors trace their roots to the state of Tlaxcala.

Home-style tacos de guisado are lunchtime staples: rows of clay pots filled with stews like chicharrón en salsa verde, rajas con crema, tinga and picadillo, spooned onto tortillas to order. Don’t forget the gringa, al pastor with melted cheese in a flour tortilla.

Signature Tacos

• Al pastor with pineapple, onion and cilantro
• Suadero
• Campechano (suadero + longaniza)
• Tacos de canasta
• Tacos de guisado
• Gringa
• Cabeza and lengua