Best Tacos You Can Eat in America

Taco competition is tough. These tacos still come out on top.

Best Tacos You Can Eat in America

Tacos are one of those perfect foods the world loves. Mexicans have been enjoying them since before the European-American encounter. The United States started serving them in 1905.

Many countries now have Mexican restaurants that make tacos, but few countries have as many taco offerings as America. And the country that's right next to Mexico doesn't just have variety. It has some of the tastiest tacos outside of Mexico.

These are the best tacos you can get in the U.S.

30. El Green-Go’s

Location: Anchorage, Alaska

Where to find it: 390 L Street

Best taco to order: Alaska salmon

Delicious details: You wouldn’t expect Alaska to have noteworthy tacos, but this food truck has managed to surprise both residents and visitors.

What sets it apart is that ingredients are locally sourced, so you’ll be able to order fresh Alaskan ingredients in your tacos. There are also vegan and vegetarian options.

The best taco here is the Alaska salmon taco. The flavor may be different from other taquerias, but the freshness and innovation make this one of the best taco trucks in the U.S.

29. Green Ghost Tacos

Location: Jackson, Mississippi

Where to find it: 2820 North State Street

Best taco to order: Carnitas

Delicious details: Despite its inexplicable name, Green Ghost Tacos is dedicated to quality.

The family-owned restaurant makes its corn tortillas in-house, ensuring they are always fresh and perfectly crispy. It also provides its own slow-cooked sauces, which help to enhance flavors.

The carnitas taco is a classic that is done incredibly well here.

28. Loco Taqueria and Oyster Bar

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Where to find it: 412 West Broadway

Best taco to order: Braised short rib taco

Delicious details: Sure, tacos and oysters don’t seem like something that should mix, but this Boston restaurant pulls it off incredibly well.

The fusion restaurant gives itself creative leeway. Their signature offering is the braised short rib taco, with habanero hot sauce, pickled red onion, pico verde and queso fresco.

It’s hot, tender and absolutely delicious.

27. Tacos El Bronco

Location: New York, New York

Where to find it: 4324 4th Avenue

Best taco to order: Cabeza

Delicious details: Don't believe New York’s terrible Mexican food reputation. There actually are some great taco places around the city.

Tacos El Bronco, for instance, has authentic Mexican flavors and many New Yorker fans. The favorite taco here is cabeza, which is veal head.

Yes, it’s not for everyone, but you might be surprised at how delicious the slow-cooked tender meat tastes topped with cilantro and salsa verde.

26. Nuevo Ladero Cantina

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Where to find it: 1495 Chattahoochee Avenue NW

Best taco to order: Tacos de brisket

Delicious details: Opened in the 1990s, Nuevo Ladero Cantina is one of Atlanta’s staple Tex-Mex restaurants.

You’ll be able to get all the authentic Mexican flavors, and a mix of typical American ones. Lobster and crab are popular because of their rareness, but it’s the brisket tacos that take the prize.

The way they make them is a work of art.

25. Los Guachos Taqueria

Location: Columbus, Ohio

Where to find it: 5221 Godown Road

Best taco to order: Tacos al pastor

Delicious details: Los Guachos has an inspiring story. The restaurant is a labor of love of the Nonato family, which emigrated from Mexico and opened up a taco truck.

The truck was a hit with the Columbus community, so the family was able to open a restaurant and now has multiple locations in the state.

The restaurant claims to have the best al pastor tacos in the city. We won't argue.

24. ¿Por Qué No?

Chorizo tacos at ¿Por Qué No? Taqueria in Portland

Location: Portland, Oregon

Where to find it: 3524 North Mississippi Avenue

Best taco to order: Chorizo

Delicious details: Why not? This is what this taqueria’s inviting name asks its customers, and it’s a valid question.

The restaurant uses locally sourced ingredients and offers vegan and vegetarian options to customers. Is there a reason why anyone wouldn’t want to enjoy this goodness? No.

Try the chorizo taco, which is made with a family recipe. You wouldn't be disappointed.

23. Red Mesa Cantina

Red Mesa Cantina tuna tacos St. Pete, Florida

Location: St. Petersburg, Florida

Where to find it: 128 3rd Street South

Best taco to order: Ahi tuna

Delicious details: Blending Latin and Caribbean flavors, this restaurant makes it difficult for patrons to decide what to get. That is why people keep coming back over and over again.

For tacos, you have interesting flavors like sweet potato, portobello mushroom and duck. But the best taco to try is the ahi tuna, which is seared in soy orange coulis and topped with wasabi aioli.

It goes great with one of the restaurant’s expansive selections of mezcals and tequilas.

22. The Traveling Kitchen

Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Where to find it: Check Instagram for their weekly locations

Best taco to order: Korean bulgogi beef taco

Delicious details: Asian and Mexican fusion always works. This food truck has been bringing the heavenly mix to Louisville for years.

Though it’s difficult to choose a single flavor that rocks here, we have to go with the Korean beef (bulgogi) tacos.

Bulgogi is already one of Korea’s best dishes, so putting it in a taco just makes sense.

21. White Duck Taco Shop

White Duck Taco Shop in Asheville, North Carolina

Location: Asheville, North Carolina

Where to find it: 388 Riverside Drive

Best taco to order: Rotates

Delicious details: Asheville is hipster heaven, which means two things — the food is amazing, and it likes to be different.

We can’t say what the best taco at this fusion restaurant is because the menu rotates. That means that every time you go is a chance to try something new.

Rest assured, the flavors will always be exciting and include things like Bangkok shrimp. The quality is also top-notch, so whatever you choose is guaranteed to be amazing.

20. Taco Bamba

Taco Bamba fusion restaurant in Virginia

Location: Fairfax, Virginia

Where to find it: 10629 Braddock Road

Best taco to order: Nature Boy

Delicious details: The great thing about this upscale restaurant is that you can choose to go for authentic Mexican flavors or for creative fusion dishes. Whichever you choose will be delicious.

For typical flavors, you can count on staples like birria and carnitas. The fusion flavors are quite varied, with an Arabic taco served in a pita or a ramen-style taco.

But the winner is the Nature Boy, which uses North Carolina BBQ meat that is heaven on a tortilla.

19. Tacos Chukis

Location: Seattle, Washington

Where to find it: 219 Broadway East

Best taco to order: Taco Chukis

Delicious details: Tacos Chukis does tacos very differently from other taco places in the country.

Many of its tacos are topped with big chunks of grilled pineapple and the meats aren’t the usual ones you find at taquerias. This works though. It works so well that the place is a holy grail of tacos in the Emerald City.

Go for the house Taco Chukis, which is made with pork adobo and pineapple.

18. Mas Tacos Por Favor

Mas Tacos Por Favor restaurant in Nashville

Location: Nashville, Tennessee

Where to find it: 732 Mcferrin Avenue

Best taco to order: Chicken

Delicious details: You’ll definitely be asking for more tacos after trying the dishes in this humble, no-frills spot. You won’t even mind having to pay cash only. It’s just that good.

This taco place has some interesting flavors like Cuban carne, but the best taco is one of the most generally underrated ones: the chicken taco.

Simple, classic and flavorful, it doesn’t need to work hard to impress.

17. Taco Republic

Location: Kansas City, Kansas

Where to find it: 500 County Line Rd

Best taco to order: Jorge

Delicious details: Taco Republic may not be a fancy place, but it’s no hole-in-the-wall either. Its space is colorful and inviting, and it offers both indoor and outdoor dining.

Tacos dominate the menu, and the Jorge is the most popular one. With blackened shrimp and crispy fried pork belly, we have a difficult time imagining a more ingenious fusion flavor.

16. Coconut’s Fish Cafe

Fish tacos at Coconut’s Fish Cafe in Maui

Location: Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Where to find it: Azeka shopping center

Best taco to order: Fish tacos

Delicious details: The great thing about Hawaiian food is that it has taken bits and pieces of different places and made it its own.

That’s the case with the tacos at this small place, which offers fresh fish tacos covered in wasabi-coconut milk sauce, American cheese, cole slaw and mango salsa.

There are other non-seafood taco flavors, but it would be a mistake to not go for the freshness of the fish ones.

15. Taco y Taco Mexican Eatery

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

Where to find it: 3430 East Tropicana Avenue

Best taco to order: Tacos al pastor

Delicious details: Everyone knows tacos are one of the best drunk foods ever. This is why Las Vegas is filled with taco joints catering to the cravings of drunk travelers.

What is great about this taco joint is that it won’t overcharge you and that it’s kept true to its humbleness and simpleness.

The best thing you can get are tacos al pastor. You can see the juicy pork spit roasting right in front of you. And you’ll feel your mouth watering as the crisp meat is cut straight from the spit onto your tortilla, just like it’s done in Mexico.

14. Johnny Sánchez

Johnny Sánchez Mexican restaurant in New Orleans

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

Where to find it: 930 Poydras Street, Suite 101

Best taco to order: Pescado taco (catfish)

Delicious details: New Orleans might be the best food city in the country, so it’s no surprise they would have some good tacos.

Johnny Sánchez was opened by celebrity chef Aaron Sanchez, who brings his Mexican heritage and blends it with NoLa culinary tradition. Expect the chef to have a lot of fun with his inventions.

Basically, everything here will be good but go for the catfish tacos. There’s a lot of fish tacos out there, but you’ll have to try hard to find another place that has catfish ones.

13. Carnitas Uruapan

Carnitas Uruapan Mexican restaurant in Chicago

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Where to find it: 2813 West 55th Street

Best taco to order: Carnitas

Delicious details: Carnitas Uruapan is run by a father-son duo, and you’ll feel right at home at this typical Mexican taqueria. Founded in the 1970s, it’s one of Chicago's most beloved Mexican restaurants.

The house specialty is carnitas, slow-cooked pork that is seared for a day before being served with salsas. The pork basically melts in your mouth, but the flavor is anything but soft.

12. Los Cinco Puntos

Los Cinco Puntos Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles

Location: Los Angeles, California

Where to find it: 3300 East Cesar E Chavez Avenue

Best taco to order: Carnitas

Delicious details: The taco competition in Los Angeles can only be compared to "The Hunger Games." It is almost impossible to stand out from the hundreds of authentic and fusion restaurants all clamoring for attention.

Los Cinco Puntos, however, barely even has to try. Customers have been flocking here since 1967 for many reasons. First of all, this is a legacy establishment, set up by a family way before the taco craze happened in the city.

People also come for the big handmade tortillas, which are made from scratch every day and are thicker than the usual taco holder. You can't wrong with any of their meats, but the mouth-watering carnitas go perfectly with their fresh salsas.

11. Viva México

Location: Miami, Florida

Where to find it: 542 SW 12th Ave

Best taco to order: Tripa

Delicious details: Miami does Latin American food as well as anywhere in America. Even then, Viva México has carved out a fanbase in the city.

Head to famous Calle 8 for this colorful taqueria and try the tripa, which are cow intestines. You didn’t come to Miami not to be bold.

And there’s a reason this meat is one of Mexico’s favorite taco stuffings.

10. Tacos La Banqueta Puro DF

Location: Dallas, Texas

Where to find it: 1305 North Carroll Avenue

Best taco to order: Lengua

Delicious details: As the name suggests, this taqueria isn’t interested in fusion or Tex-Mex. It wants to serve its customers tacos as they would have them in Mexico City, which Mexicans refer to as "El DF."

Go for the lengua, or cow tongue, to try something you rarely find at fusion restaurants that cater to a more American palate. The texture is chewy but tender, and the flavor is more subtle than other meats.

9. Tacos La Pasadita

Location: Green River, Utah

Where to find it: 215 East Main Street

Best taco to order: Tripa

Delicious details: Most people come to this part of Utah to see Arches National Park. Those in the know, come for Tacos La Pasadita.

Don’t expect anything fancy. This restaurant is a non-mobile food truck that is parked in an abandoned gas station.

Do expect incredible tacos at absurd prices. Try the tripas, if only to say you once ate cow intestines in the desert. Also because they’re the absolute bomb.

8. South Philly Barbacoa

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Where to find it: 1140 South 9th Street

Best taco to order: Lamb tacos

Delicious details: This restaurant was featured on an episode of the acclaimed show "Chef’s Table." Even so, you have a high chance of being served by the now-famous chef Christina Martinez.

The lamb tacos are slow-cooked, as they should be, and you can enjoy them as you settle into the cozy feel of the joint. Ask for typical aguas, or water-based juices. for an even more authentic taco experience.

7. Cocina Madrigal

Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Where to find it: 4044 South 16th Street

Best taco to order: Oaxaca shrimp

Delicious details: This restaurant’s chef grew up in Mexico and brought the flavors of his country into the U.S. It’s a hole-in-the-wall, but that’s a good thing when it comes to tacos.

The restaurant only uses homemade tortillas and goes for fresh ingredients whenever possible. Though the flavors are Mexican, the specialty tacos are bold and try to stir away from the norm.

Try the Oaxaca shrimp, which takes one of Mexico’s most well-known culinary traditions and puts its own spin on it.

6. Coyo Taco

Location: Miami, Florida

Where to find it: Multiple locations in the city

Best taco to order: Cochinita pibil

Delicious details: Once a local favorite, this taco joint has now won over the world. Literally. It has expanded to have multiple Miami locations, as well as places in Panama, the Dominican Republic, France and Portugal.

But nobody worries that it has sold out. On the contrary, Coyo Tacos has stayed true to its roots and continues to deliver fresh, natural and locally sourced ingredients.

Though the hongos, or mushroom, tacos are an incredible vegetarian option, if you eat meat, go for the cochinita pibil. This traditional Mexican meat is strangely difficult to find in the U.S., but it is pork at its very best.

5. Kogi BBQ Taco Truck

Location: Los Angeles, California

Where to find it: 3434 Overland Avenue

Best taco to order: Spicy pork

Delicious details: Kogi BBQ Taco Truck is not just a taco truck. It’s the taco truck. By that, we mean this is the place credited with making food trucks a trend.

Sure, there were other food trucks, but the quality of the food that Kogi BBQ delivers propelled this once alternative food system into a worldwide phenomenon.

The truck fuses Korean and Mexican flavors, for a match made in heaven that continues to dominate the game, even with increased competition.

Try the spicy pork and see if you can handle a combination of Mexican and Korean spice.

4. Tio Luis Tacos

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Where to find it: 3856 South Archer Avenue

Best taco to order: Carne asada

Delicious details: Often deemed the "Best taco in Chicago," this family-owned restaurant is a city staple.

The prices are low, the ingredients are fresh, and the flavor is, oh, so rich. Support local businesses by filling your belly.

For this restaurant, you want to go with the carne asada — a classic flavor that fits with the authenticity of Tio Luis Tacos.

3. Veracruz All Natural

Location: Austin, Texas

Where to find it: In six Austin locations

Best taco to order: Migas taco

Delicious details: Another taco truck that beats out most restaurants is Veracruz All Natural, owned by the Vazquez sisters. The family business has done so well that they now have six trucks around Austin.

Their most famous taco is the migas taco, which has soft-cooked eggs, tortilla chips, Jack cheese, avocado and veggies.

2. La Taqueria

Location: San Francisco, California

Where to find it: 2889 Mission Street

Best taco to order: Carne asada tacos dorados

Delicious details: This legacy institution is mostly known for its burritos, which are often considered the best in San Francisco. But if you’re craving tacos, this is also the place where you want to go in the city.

The carne asada tacos dorados is particularly popular. What makes it stand out is that the tortilla is grilled until it's golden (dorada) for a perfect crunch that complements the tender sirloin steak filling it.

1. Restaurant Atoyac Estilo Oaxaca

Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Where to find it: 1830 W Glendale Ave

Best taco to order: Toreado

Delicious details: Maybe one of the most authentic Mexican restaurants you’ll find outside of Mexico, this is also where you’ll find the best tacos in the U.S.

The restaurant follows Oaxacan culinary tradition, which is a big deal given that Oaxaca is known as the food region in Mexico.

Order the toreado tacos, with beef, potatoes and chile topped with cilantro and onions. You’ll forget for a moment that you’re in Phoenix, Arizona.