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19 Must-Try Taco Spots in New Mexico

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CASA TACO

James Pecherski has been making puffy tacos for more than 30 years—even before he came to Santa Fe as the executive sous chef for Coyote Cafe in 1994. When the Detroit native opened Casa Taco in Elephant Butte, in 2010, he included three of the gorditalike creations alongside six signature tacos and three specialty tacos on his menu. To achieve the desired puffiness, Casa Taco mashes fresh masa by hand with flour and spices, then fries the shells until they are crispy on the outside and chewy inside. “San Antonio’s claim to fame is that they invented it, but they did not,” argues Pecherski, who opened a Casa Taco in Albuquerque in 2015. His puffy tacos draw from a recipe a former coworker made for her family. “People love it,” he says. “It’s still pretty unique for tacos.” Try this: The carne adovada puffy taco, featuring tender pork bathed in fiery red chile. —Monika Dziamka

Founded: 2010

Region: Central, Southwest

Price: $3.75–$5.75 a la carte, $9.95–$14.95 for a two- or three-taco plate

Style: Sit-down


Don Choche, an Albuquerque restaurant turned mainstay, offers Chihuahua-inspired eats.
Photograph by Tira Howard.

DON CHOCHE TACOS Y CERVEZA

“We don’t do anything special,” says co-owner Jorge Samaniego. “Our only secret is we put our heart in it.” Don Choche got its start as a food truck 16 years ago. While the mobile version can still be found at Marble Brewery’s downtown taproom, the Los Ranchos de Albuquerque restaurant has become a mainstay, thanks to the Chihuahua, Mexico–inspired eats of Jorge and his wife, Nancy, and their celebration of both Mexico and New Mexico. Colorful murals line the exterior walls of the adobe-house-turned-restaurant, mariachi music fills the air, and papel picado flutter on the patio. The micheladas are served in a huge blender-shaped container, molcajetes overflow with shrimp, and a salsa bar is as vibrant as a Frida Kahlo painting. Try this: The chile relleno taco is a nod to the Land of Enchantment. —Lanee Lee

Founded: 2008

Region: Central

Price: $14 for four tacos

Style: Sit-down and food truck

EL PAISA TAQUERIA

From a U-Haul turned food truck to the open-air brick-and-mortar at the same South Valley location on Bridge Boulevard, El Paisa Taqueria is one of the Duke City’s oldest and most beloved taco stands. “We still use the same family recipes from Juárez, Mexico, 30-something years later,” says Samuel Luján, son of the original co-founder Irene Elliott. The menu features hard-to-find specialty tacos like lengua (beef tongue) and buche (pork stomach marinated in red chile), plus a slew of other stick-to-the-ribs comfort foods like menudo and ham and cheese torta. Open mornings until late night, El Paisa hits the spot when you’re craving classic Mexican street food—no matter what time you go. Try this: The carnitas tacos. “You can have everything you need to make them, but if you don’t have the passion to cook, you will fail,” says Luján. “We just love doing it.” —Lanee Lee

Founded: 1993

Region: Central

Price: $2.50–$3 per taco; cash only

Style: Sit-down


El Toro Patron Taqueria in Los Lunas offers delicious Chihuahua-inspired cuisine, including their famous Patron and El Jefe tacos.
Photograph by Tira Howard.

EL TORO PATRON TAQUERIA

When Francisco Cervantes and his wife, Gabriela, started El Toro Patron Taqueria, in 2022, they intended to get things running and then hand the reins of the Los Lunas restaurant to their youngest daughter, Ximena. “But my wife and I love to cook,” says Cervantes, who also owns G&F Mobile Homes. “Two years later, we’re still cooking. We love it!” The couple use recipes handed down from their grandparents and make the flour tortillas in-house every day. “Everything is fresh,” he adds. Bestsellers include the Patron taco, which combines beef and house-made chorizo that is light on fat and heavy on flavor, and El Jefe taco, which combines picadillo (spiced ground beef), potatoes, onions, and lettuce in a fried corn tortilla. Luckily, Ximena, who works the register, doesn’t mind her parents staying around. “I’m very proud of my daughter,” Cervantes says. “Everybody loves her.” Try this: The quesabirria plate—three freshly fried corn tortillas wrap around generous portions of melted cheese and tender beef. “We cook our birria for 12 hours,” says Cervantes. —Monika Dziamka

Founded: 2022

Region: Central

Price: $3.50–$18.50

Style: Sit-down


No Te Rajes, a food truck in Rio Rancho, serves up delicious tacos and flavorful salsas.
Photograph by Tira Howard.

NO TE RAJES

Between a Rio Rancho auto-parts shop and a gas station sits the oasis that is No Te Rajes, a food truck specializing in mouthwatering tacos and eye-popping salsas. As the name suggests, don’t chicken out—try the red salsa (made with chile de árbol), the green salsa (made with serrano peppers), or the specialty salsa (a pineapple version that goes especially well with the al pastor tacos). “We try to stay true to Mexican traditions, but with a twist,” says Edgar Ramirez, who launched the truck in 2019 with his wife, Anna. Although they are both from Chihuahua, Mexico, they met while working at a restaurant in Albuquerque. Now they cook and create every recipe together. “It’s a small business,” he says, “but we love it, and we put our whole hearts into it.” Try this: Birria tacos with Hatch green chile and avocado, a heavenly match of Mexican and New Mexican flavors. —Monika Dziamka

Founded: 2019

Region: Central

Price: $9.95–$11.95 for four tacos and two salsas

Style: Food truck


Chef John Katrinak is celebrating his restaurant’s, Soo Bak Seoul Bowl, five-year anniversary in Nob Hill with a diverse taco menu that combines New Mexican preferences and his Korean culinary roots.
Photograph by Tira Howard.

SOO BAK SEOUL BOWL

When John Katrinak told his Korean mother he wanted to go to culinary school, she discouraged him. Luckily, he became a chef anyway. “Once you know what your passion is, you follow that passion,” says Katrinak, who will celebrate the Nob Hill restaurant’s five-year anniversary this summer. The spicy pork taco with Korean pepper paste, lettuce, crema, and jalapeño salsa was the OG taco on the menu of bibimbap, specialty bowls, and noodles. But as demand has grown, the taco offerings have expanded to seven varieties. “For us, it’s always been important to build community to bridge the gap between what New Mexicans want and the Korean food I grew up with,” says Katrinak. “The great thing about food is that you share it with people.” Try this: The sweet chili tofu taco gets its delicious heat from Korean pepper paste. “A lot of people say we have the best tofu in the city,” says Katrinak. —Monika Dziamka

Founded: 2019

Region: Central

Price: $8.95 for two tacos, $10.95 for three tacos

Style: Sit-down


Tako Ten offers dream-worthy tacos with unique flavors and toppings that tell a story and showcase chef Dominic Valenzuela’s diverse culinary background.
Photograph by Tira Howard.

TAKO TEN

“I dream about these tacos,” says Lisa Neil, Albuquerque Police Department officer and professed Tako Ten mega fan. “They’re that good.” Opened in the trendy Bridges on Tramway shopping center in August 2020, Tako Ten not only survived the pandemic, it has thrived—even adding a second location in a strip mall on Montgomery Boulevard. “Each taco tells a story and has its own personality—meaning unique flavor and toppings,” says chef and co-owner Dominic Valenzuela. The Fisherman, for example, starts with tilapia fried in a gluten-free, sake-based tempura batter that gets dressed in a Baja-style slaw of cilantro, pickled garlic, red pepper, and onion, and topped with cilantro crema. “Each component of my fish taco represents a different technique I learned at all the restaurants I’ve worked at, from Mexican to Japanese,” says Valenzuela. Try this: Valenzuela’s globe-trotting culinary skills shine in the Yogi, a vegan taco of sweet potato fries garnished with hummus and an Israeli salad. “I’ve always been adventurous,” says Valenzuela about his tacos. —Lanee Lee

Founded: 2020

Region: Central

Price: $3.75–$3.95 per taco

Style: Sit-down


Basit Gauba, co-owner of Tikka Spice and a 2023 James Beard Award nominee, challenges the simplicity of making tacos with their food truck’s fusion of Mexican and Pakistani flavors.
Photograph courtesy of Tikka Spice.

TIKKA SPICE

Tacos are pretty basic and easy to make, right? Not so, says Basit Gauba, Tikka Spice’s co-owner and 2023 James Beard Award nominee for Best Chef: Southwest. “We make our spice blends from scratch, the meats are grass-fed and certified halal, vegetables are roasted in-house,” he says. “Everything is the best we can find.” The food truck, which can be found in Albuquerque, Edgewood, Rio Rancho, or Corrales, depending on the day, distinguishes itself with Mexican-meets-Pakistani flavors. Try this: The Chicken Makhani Tacos with butter-curry marinated chicken, tomatillo chutney, crushed fenugreek leaves, and mint raita sauce in a homemade flour tortilla. “There’s nothing like it in the entire state,” says Gauba. —Lanee Lee

Founded: 2019

Region: Central

Price: $13.92–$15.99 for three tacos

Style: Food truck


Vamos con Gloria offers deep-fried tacos with a satisfying crunch.
Photograph by Tira Howard.

VAMOS CON GLORIA

A satisfying crunch. That’s what you get when biting into a Vamos con Gloria deep-fried taco, or taco dorado. Named after self-taught chef Gloria Rosales, the Gloria taco of red chile-smothered grilled steak and refried beans in a house-made flour tortilla is a bestseller. But the barbacoa, with its cinnamon-scented shredded beef, is nearly a religious experience. In fact, Rosales’s soulful cooking proved so popular that customers often waited up to an hour at the original food truck. “Now we can feed as many people that come,” says Asucena Rosales, one of Gloria’s five children, who works at the Albuquerque take-out spot that opened in May 2023. “That makes my mom very happy.” Try this: Gloria Rosales spent three years perfecting the birria. “The meat cooks over 10 hours,” says Elder Rosales, her eldest son and Vamos con Gloria owner. —Lanee Lee

Founded: 2019

Region: Central

Style: Takeout

Price: $1.75–$3.50 per taco


Yapopup, led by Ryan Rainbird Taylor, offers a unique twist on Indigenous soul food.
Photograph by Tira Howard.

YAPOPUP

“Frybread and frybread tacos are not something that I hate,” says Ryan Rainbird Taylor. “It’s just everybody’s doing it.” Instead, Taylor’s Yapopup (pronounced “Ya pop-up” and a reference to the Tewa leader Po’pay) offers what he calls “Indigenous soul food” with a changing array of creative flavors. Taylor draws inspiration from his Ohkay Owingeh family, as well as working for Manko food-truck chef Ray Naranjo and eating his way through Chicago and other major cities. The Three Aunties with a Fun Guy taco, for example, riffs on the Three Sisters (corn, beans, and squash) by including mushrooms and miso. After getting its start as a food truck and a time at Chomp, the Santa Fe food hall, Yapopup took up residency inside Old Town’s Tiny Grocer late last year (Editor’s note: Since this story was originally published, Yapopup has left Tiny Grocer and is looking for a new home.) “I love working with other businesses,” Taylor says. “We’re trying now to plan a taco crawl in Old Town this summer.” Try this: The duck confit taco with green chile, juniper, bay leaf, pink peppercorn, and roasted garlic. “The duck is sous vide for 36 hours, and then we sear it,” Taylor says. “When it gets to you, it’s chopped up and it’s got all these little crispy bits with a soft inside texture.” —Monika Dziamka

Founded: 2020

Region: Central

Price: $10 for three tacos

Style: Sit-down


The Atencio family’s El Parasol, which began as a roadside stand in 1958, has grown into a renowned family dynasty with six locations.
Photograph by Tira Howard.

EL PARASOL

What began in 1958 as a summer roadside stand in Española set up by brothers Pedro and Lorenzo Atencio to sell their mother’s tacos and tamales has grown into a family dynasty. The colorful patio umbrella that shaded the boys from those sunny days now serves as the logo for six locations in Española, Santa Fe, and Los Alamos. Together with their treasured El Paragua Restaurant, in Española, the Atencio family has been serving fabulous fare, earning renowned fame for more than half a century. While El Parasol menus feature plenty of authentic New Mexican dishes, tacos reign supreme. “We started with our shredded beef taco, which was always so popular,” says Olga Garcia, co-owner and head chef at El Paragua and the daughter of Frances Atencio, whose cooking launched the family business. “Also, we fry our tacos, and we have our own special way of preparing them.” Try this: Frances Atencio’s chicken tacos. “They’re served with guacamole, which really complements the chicken,” says Garcia. —Lynn Cline

Founded: 1958

Region: North Central

Price: $3.30–$5.25 per taco

Style: Sit-down and takeout

JALAPEÑOS TACOS & MORE

With more than a dozen taco varieties, including Baja fish tacos and Central Mexico’s rajas poblanos tacos, Jalapeños Tacos & More, in Taos, takes diners on a culinary odyssey. Co-owners Yamil Isbak and his wife, Mary Adame, wanted a restaurant unlike anything in Taos, serving the food they grew up eating in Mexico: He’s from Veracruz, and she grew up in Chihuahua. They met in Taos, working at the same restaurant. “My wife is the chef, and I work in the front of the house,” Yamil says. Together, they serve taco bliss. Try this: Crispy blue crab or crispy buffalo tacos dorados, aka taquitos, which are stuffed, rolled, and fried. —Lynn Cline

Founded: 2017

Region: North Central

Price: $13–$19 for five street tacos; $11–$15 for three tacos dorados

Style: Sit-down


For Quinn Stephenson, owner of Coyote Cafe and Coyote Cantina in Santa Fe, tacos are all about the salsa, with the use of chiles and fresh fire-roasted salsas being the key to making or breaking a taco.
Photograph courtesy of Coyote Cafe.

COYOTE CAFE & CANTINA

For Quinn Stephenson, tacos are all about the salsa. “You can make a taco with anything,” says the owner of both the storied Coyote Cafe and its hip rooftop sister restaurant, Coyote Cantina, both in Santa Fe. “It’s really the use of chiles and the salsa that can make or break a taco.” So the Cantina blisters tomatoes by the pound to make its fresh fire-roasted salsa for the steak tacos, and the best-selling fish tacos get a bright tropical salsa with pineapple, red onion, cilantro, jalapeño, and mint. “Tacos very much represent the cantina,” he says of the festive hangout that started as an overflow bar for the Cafe. Try this: Stephenson recommends the al pastor tacos. “I love that taco,” he says, “especially with extra pineapple.” —Steve Gleydura

Founded: 1987

Region: North Central

Price: $14–$18 for three tacos

Style: Sit-down


El Chile Toreado has been serving up tasty tacos with a lot of love for 20 years.
Photograph courtesy of El Chile Toreado.

EL CHILE TOREADO

Few food trucks get nominated for a James Beard Award or land on Condé Nast Traveler’s list of best restaurants in Santa Fe. But then, not every food truck is helmed by a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. For 20 years, El Chile Toreado has been turning out tasty tacos crafted by Berenice Medina and her father, Luis, who has decades of experience as a food cart operator in Los Angeles and his native Mexico. “We put a lot of love into everything we do,” she says. Take the best-selling carnitas, which cook overnight for a perfect harmony of fat and salt flavors. “That’s what makes them so addicting,” she adds. “I haven’t found our flavors anywhere else except at home with my mom.” Try this: Al pastor. “It’s a perfect mixture of sweet, salty, and spicy,” Berenice says. —Lynn Cline

Founded: 2004

Region: North Central

Price: $13 for four tacos

Style: Food truck


Colby Walkup, owner of Dope Street Tacos, offers a free taco to any skateboarder who can execute a kickflip.
Photograph courtesy of Dope Street Tacos.

DOPE STREET TACOS

Colby Walkup used to skateboard as a kid in Southern California. So, any boarder who can execute a kickflip earns a free taco from his Dope Street Tacos truck, which recently took up a permanent space by the Green House Dispensary in Farmington. “I wanted to do something different that sets myself apart,” he says. His signature Asian-fusion Dope Sauce blends 11 ingredients and gets its heat from ghost pepper, Carolina Reaper, or Trinidad Scorpion pepper (depending on availability). “It’s our number one sauce,” says Walkup. The birria taco, made with slow-cooked tri-tip beef and simmered into a red-chile-based consommé, is his top seller. Served with a side of jus—or “Mexican French dip,” as he calls it—the dish delivers Tony Hawk–level excellence. Try this: Breakfast tacos loaded with either bacon or sausage and topped with gravy. “They taste like biscuits and gravy,” says Walkup. —Lynn Cline

Founded: 2020

Region: Northwest

Price: $4–$5 per taco

Style: Food truck

¡ANDELE! RESTAURANT AND ANDELE’S DOG HOUSE

“What is an authentic Mexican taco?” the menu asks. “It is improvised cooking in a folded tortilla.” The small take-out operation Phil Schneider and his daughter, Andrea, opened in 1996 has expanded into a beloved Mexican restaurant in Mesilla, as well as Andele’s Dog House, a patio and hangout located just across the street. The menu’s crown jewel, tacos al carbon, boasts signature flavors from west-central Mexico. “All the meat is fresh, goes into a marinating process, and is cut and cooked in-house,” says assistant manager Ivan Rodriguez. “It’s part of the experience.” Your choice of four beef, pork, or chicken tacos features flame-broiled meat cooked on a spit and served with grilled onions, lime, cilantro, spicy frijoles charros, and a selection of vibrant salsas. Try this: Shrimp tacos cooked with red and green bell peppers, purple cabbage, and a hint of soy sauce. —Cielo Rodriguez

Founded:1996

Region: Southeast

Price: About $16 for four tacos

Style: Sit-down

ROCKN’ TACO MEXICAN GRILL

Growing up, Emilio Marin visited Mexico with his parents and became intrigued by the street vendors selling tacos. “I wondered, How the heck are they cooking all of that from the back of a little cart?” he recalls. Flash forward a few decades, and Marin whips up more than 20 taco varieties from his RockN’ Taco truck, in Hobbs. “I love tacos,” he says. “I used to stop at any food truck I saw to taste them.” It motivated him to create a menu with as many options as possible. “I ended up having 23 tacos.” In February, Marin added to his taco roster with the brick-and-mortar RockN’ Taco Mexican Grill, also in Hobbs. “It’s nice when someone who’s a picky eater says, ‘Oh my God, these are the best tacos I’ve ever had,’ ” he says. Try this: Asada with grilled steak, onions, and cilantro. “I like the regular old street tacos,” says Marin. “This has a lot of flavor.” —Lynn Cline

Founded: 2015

Region: Central

Price: $12–$15 for five tacos

Style: Sit-down and food truck

CEEZY F TACOS

“This is a real taco shop,” says Cesar “Ceezy” Martinez, “which means we focus on making great tacos with fresh ingredients. The F in our name is for ‘fresh.’ ” An Alamogordo native, Martinez had always dreamed of owning a taco place in his hometown, where he could make everything his way. He started with a food truck in 2020 and expanded to a brick-and-mortar two years later. For his best-selling birria tacos, Martinez cooks his beef each day for six hours in a consommé of meat juices, peppers, and a secret blend of seasonings, then assembles them as they’re ordered: Soft corn tortillas filled with meat, shredded mozzarella, diced onions, and cilantro, then dipped into the broth and grilled to perfection. “Everyone needs some Ceezy in their lives,” says Martinez, who has plans for a second Alamogordo location and expansion to Las Cruces and El Paso, Texas. Try this: The signature Ceezy Sauce—sour cream, jalapeños, and a proprietary mix of spices—adds a velvety, tangy counterpoint to any taco. —Debra Levy Martinelli

Founded: 2020

Region: Southeast

Price: $6 for two tacos

Style: Sit-down


At Habanero’s Fresh Mex in Las Cruces, Alfredo Felix serves cooked-to-order crunchy tacos inspired by the delicious potato tacos of his childhood.
Photograph courtesy of Habanero’s Fresh Mex.

HABANERO’S FRESH MEX

Alfredo Felix went from the fields of Zacatecas, Mexico, to a 1910 adobe just off Amador Street in Las Cruces, to fulfill his culinary dreams. Inside, the spirit of his home country is splashed on mosaic-tiled walls and primary-colored tables. Habanero’s Fresh Mex has made the old building a haven of flavors, a key element being cooked-to-order crunchy tacos. “When I was a little boy in Mexico, a lady would make tacos for a local festival,” Felix remembers. “I offered to help her with anything she needed, and she gave me two of her delicious potato tacos for my work.” When he opened his own restaurant, Felix knew those tacos had to be on the menu. “I brought them to Las Cruces,” he says. Try this: Whether it’s two or three chicken, beef, or potato tacos, these crunchy treats are topped with lettuce and tomato and served with sides of red chile, rice, and beans. —Cielo Rodriguez

Founded: 2006

Region: Southwest

Price: $12–$15 for a two- or three-taco plate

Style: Sit-down

Read more: Born of hardship and governmental cruelty, the Indigenous taco is an evolving symbol of resilience and good taste.

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