If there is one cuisine Angeleños have every right to be passionate about, it is comida Mexicana.
We have restaurants serving some form of Mexican dish or Mexican-inspired food on every other damn block. We grew up going to them. We get upset if we try a new spot and the salsa is too watery. We get euphoric whenever we find the next legendary plate of chilaquiles. We get sad when our favorite Mexican restaurant, which may have been around for decades, if not generations, closes.
And now more than ever, we need to support Mexican restaurants.
Their sheer existence is an act of resistance in these times of exorbitant and rising food costs, a government that criminalizes immigrants for the color of their skin, and the woes of trying to run a small business during late-stage capitalism. Many are barely holding on by a thread, and every dollar spent at these establishments might be the difference in surviving just a little longer.
To select L.A.’s best Mexican restaurants, the L.A. TACO team held yet another staff battle royale to duke it out and decide which we feel are the very best of the more than 5,000 reported Mexican restaurants in our county.
Our criteria prioritize restaurants that keep honoring what we think is the best cuisine in the damn world by honing in on each chef’s standards for regional representation or creative ambitions, shunning homogenization or nostalgia to find those innovators who continue to push themselves and further burnish L.A.’s reputation as the Mexican food capital of the United States. We also esteem transparency in sourcing and the sustainability of proteins and farmers market produce.
Most importantly: We center chefs who give a damn about tortillas and go the extra mile to source organic, heirloom, or high-quality nixtamalized corn or wheat flour, as well as handmade techniques, over those who choose the cheapest tortillas available, fry it a bit, and hope that no one notices the inferior taste and texture. Nothing makes us happier than restaurants that don’t take shortcuts and always make an extra effort to source ingredients from Mexico or, if sourcing locally, show intentionality.
We also rewarded the chefs who are refining rusticity and advancing Mexican food by making it exciting, treating it as the living, beautiful, breathing foodway that has made it a global sensation.
Our team was set loose on the city to test whether each contender held to the high standards of their promise, with an execution that added to the conversation about great Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles. Some rose to the top, while many others were too similar to every other place in the County.
The following are certified bangers only.
This is an homage to the kinds of places where you’ll be seated, greeted, and presented with a wide menu of dishes and drinks, separate from our annual autumn review of L.A.’s 69 best tacos.
These are all places we think will blow you away in one way or another, through food, service, vibe, and more often than not, all of the above.
¡Provecho!
