Mexican taquerias in the United States

The taqueria is the most widespread Mexican format in the United States, and also the most regional: what people order in San Antonio looks nothing like what they order in Los Angeles or Chicago. The Southwest runs on Sonoran-style carne asada grilled over mesquite; the Midwest, especially Chicago's Mexican neighborhoods, leans on Michoacán carnitas and suadero; California and Nevada favor trompo al pastor and Sinaloa-style seafood; and across the whole country, birria — in its quesabirria-with-consommé form — has been the defining dish of the past decade.

How to spot a serious taqueria: the tortilla tells you most of it. A shop that nixtamalizes its own corn — increasingly common, with heirloom corn imported or grown in the US — serves a pliable tortilla that smells of corn rather than of industrial flour. Look as well at the salsa bar (a tomatillo green and a dried-chile red at minimum), whether the meat is chopped to order, and whether the onion and cilantro are cut fresh rather than pre-mixed.

This directory lists taquerias verified one by one in cities across the country. Every entry is cross-checked against the business's own website, its Google Maps listing and, where it exists, local food press. Fields we cannot verify are left empty rather than filled in by guesswork.