Best Tacos in NYC
The 10 best tacos in New York, from Chelsea's vertical trompo to the Bronx birria that started a citywide craze, all verified open and ranked.
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The list
- 1Fordham · $ · 2503 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10468
Also No. 1 on Best Tacos in the Bronx →
The Grand Concourse outpost of the food truck operation that set off the citywide obsession with Tijuana-style birria. Beef birria comes as tacos, mulitas and tostadas, every order with a cup of consomme for dipping.
It takes the top spot because the New York Times put this Grand Concourse window on its 2025 list of the city's 100 best restaurants, and the birria still eats like the truck that started the whole craze.
Order Birria de res tacos with consomme
Keep the consomme in its cup and dip as you go so the shell stays crisp; pouring it over the taco ruins the whole architecture.
- 2Chelsea · $ · 75 9th Ave
Also No. 1 on Best Tacos in Manhattan →
Map ↗verified 7w agoA counter inside Chelsea Market that runs a real vertical trompo for al pastor, pork shaved to order, pineapple on top, tortillas pressed by hand a foot away from where you stand.
Because the trompo here is the genuine vertical-spit setup (not pre-cooked pork tossed on a flat-top), the tortilla is hand-pressed within view, and the pineapple-marinated pork has the right balance of sweet, smoke, and char.
Order Two adobada tacos with everything (cilantro, onion, salsa verde) and a horchata.
Order from the back of the counter rather than the front, the back line is where the trompo sits and the meat goes onto your tortilla within ten seconds of being shaved.
From @lostacos1 on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 3East Village · $$ · 210 E 3rd St
Also No. 7 on Best Tacos in Manhattan →
Map ↗verified 7w agoA carnitas-only taqueria from the Taqueria Ramirez team, frying every cut of the pig in its own lard behind a bronze-glowing glass case in the East Village.
Because nose-to-tail carnitas this honest, lengua, trompa, even brain, used to require a flight to Mexico City, and here it costs $5 a taco.
Order Surtida taco, lean and fatty cuts together, salsa verde, pickled onions on top.
Order the surtida and let the counterman mix the cuts.
Photo: Bex Walton, CC BY 2.0 Photo: Bex Walton, CC BY 2.0 - 4Soundview · $$ · 1506-08 Westchester Ave, Bronx, NY 10472
Also No. 3 on Best Tacos in the Bronx →
Map ↗verified 2w agoA sit-down Soundview Mexican restaurant holding a Michelin Bib Gourmand, still rare air for the borough. The tacos to know are the cabeza de res and the goat barbacoa, served with smoky red and green salsas.
It earns third because Michelin inspectors singled out the beef cheek and goat barbacoa tacos, which only confirmed what Soundview regulars already knew.
Order Cabeza de res tacos
Ask for both salsas with the cabeza; the smoky red is the sleeper, and the tender beef cheek can carry either one.
- 5Parkchester · $$ · 2103 Starling Ave, Bronx, NY 10462
Also No. 4 on Best Tacos in the Bronx →
A Parkchester storefront doing regional Mexican street food: al pastor, suadero, mole, and burritos folded tight enough to pass inspection. It blew up citywide after TikTok critic Keith Lee rated its tacos among the best he had eaten.
It sits at four because the Keith Lee bump came and went, and the suadero is still exactly as good as the hype said.
Order Suadero and al pastor tacos
Beat the weekend dinner rush; the room is small and the line has moved slower ever since the TikTok crowd found it.
- 6Greenwich Village · $$ · 120 MacDougal St
Also No. 8 on Best Tacos in Manhattan →
A late-night Mexico City-style taqueria a block from Washington Square Park, pressing its own tortillas for trompo tacos and cheese-crusted vampiros until 1am.
Because the trompo, annatto-stained pork with charred pineapple, eats like it came straight off a Mexico City spit, and the kitchen runs it past midnight.
Order Trompo vampiro, extra salsa, eaten standing on the MacDougal sidewalk.
Get any taco as a vampiro, the cheese-crisped tortilla is the move.
From @taqueriaelchato.nyc on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 7Van Nest · $ · 2140 White Plains Rd, Bronx, NY 10462
Also No. 2 on Best Tacos in the Bronx →
A street-style taqueria on White Plains Road that grew out of a food cart the family started running in 2009. The menu sticks to the classics, carne asada, al pastor and quesabirria, all on tortillas made by hand.
It sits at two because Bronx Times readers voted it the borough's Best Taco for 2025, and a borough that eats tacos daily does not hand that title out lightly.
Order Carne asada and al pastor tacos
Eat there while the tortillas are still warm; the handmade corn loses something in a delivery bag, and the al pastor plus asada combo is the right first order.
- 8East Village · $ · 79 St Marks Pl
Also No. 4 on Best Tacos in Manhattan →
Map ↗verified 7w agoA no-frills walk-up counter on St Marks Place running the kind of basic-and-correct Mexico-City-style street tacos that most East Village kitchens stopped making once they could charge $9 a plate.
Because the suadero here is properly griddled (not boiled), the salsa cart at the front gives you four real options rather than a tomato puree, and a four-taco order with a Jarritos still lands under twenty dollars.
Order Two suadero, one al pastor, one chorizo, all with onion-cilantro and green salsa.
Skip the Saturday-night drunk rush, the line gets long after 11 p.m. and the kitchen rushes the suadero. Tuesday at 1 a.m. is the quiet sweet spot.
Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim (Flickr: edenpictures), CC BY 2.0 Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim (Flickr: edenpictures), CC BY 2.0 - 9
Cosme▲ buzzing
Flatiron · $$$$ · 35 E 21st StAlso No. 5 on Best Tacos in Manhattan →
Map ↗verified 7w agoEnrique Olvera's Flatiron flagship, Pujol's American sister project, modern Mexican fine dining, with a famously small but serious tasting-menu taco section at the bar.
Because Cosme treats the taco as a chef-driven dish rather than a street snack, and the duck carnitas here is the singular taco-format dish that justifies a fine-dining markup in Manhattan.
Order Duck carnitas tacos with white onion and morita salsa; husk meringue for dessert.
Walk in at 5 p.m. for the bar, bar service starts at five and a single seat usually opens within twenty minutes, where the same taco menu is available without the dining-room wait.
Photo: Transpoman, CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo: Transpoman, CC BY-SA 4.0 - 10Belmont · $$ · 618 E 183rd St, Bronx, NY 10458
Also No. 10 on Best Tacos in the Bronx →
Map ↗verified 2w agoA family-run Belmont tortilla factory, open since 2019, that mills its own organic masa and serves tacos over the counter. You can watch the tortillas come off the line while you wait on your order.
It closes the list because nobody else in the borough is milling masa on site, and you taste the difference in the first bite.
Order Tacos on house-milled tortillas with mole
Buy a pack of fresh tortillas to take home with your tacos, and do not leave without trying the mole.
Good to know
- What is the best taco in NYC?
- Birria-Landia's beef birria with consomme, at the Grand Concourse window of the truck operation that set off the city's birria craze. The New York Times put it on its 2025 list of the city's 100 best restaurants.
- Where are the best cheap tacos?
- Los Tacos No. 1, Taqueria St. Marks Place, Tacos El Bronco 2, and Birria-Landia all sit in our lowest price tier.
- What is quesabirria?
- Tijuana-style beef birria folded with cheese, griddled crisp, and served with a cup of consomme for dipping. Birria-Landia is the operation that started New York's wave.
- Is there a fine-dining taco worth the price?
- Cosme in Flatiron. Enrique Olvera's duck carnitas is the one taco-format dish in Manhattan that justifies a fine-dining markup.