Best Hidden Gem Mexican Restaurant in Every State

This 12-year veteran taco truck was named one of the 25 best taco trucks in America by the travel site Far and Wide. In addition to the standard taco meats, Los Dos Hermanos offers classic Mexican specialties like ceviche, lengua, buche, tripe, and lamb barbacoa. Reviewers rave about the burritos but warn that the lunch line can be long.

In business since 1979, this cash-only eatery in Anchorage delivers burritos and tacos with perfectly spiced toppings at the lowest prices around (try $4.50 for a breakfast burrito.) What keeps customers coming back is the consistency of the food and the congeniality of owner Oscar Hernandez.

With a pared down menu of tacos, quesadillas, tortas, and salads, this upbeat, casual joint is known for its great service and outstanding tacos, which dozens of reviewers say are the best they’ve ever had. Customers love the fish and shrimp tacos, churros, and drinks including horchata and fresh watermelon juice.

Offering the most authentic Mexican food in Little Rock, this extremely affordable taco truck is open late and features staples like chicken and chorizo as well as tripe, chicharrones, and tender barbacoa. Customers love the handmade tortillas and the burritos.

This Sonoma restaurant specializes in California style tacos and has a seasonal menu with vegetarian options including swiss chard or butternut squash enchiladas. Some crowd favorites are the pork tamales, Oaxacan mole, halibut ceviche, and beer-battered fish tacos.

Chivo (goat) tacos are a favorite at this modest but lively establishment, while other abundantly meaty specialties include cueritos (pork rinds), higado (calf’s liver), chorizo, and of course carnitas. All tacos are $1.99 on Tuesdays.

This counter-service restaurant serves tacos, burritos, and breakfast sandwiches as well as Mexican specialties like alambre (grilled beef covered in bacon, peppers, onions, salsa, and melted cheese) and freshly made huaraches and sopes. Customers appreciate the large portions and great service.

This no-frills eatery connected to a liquor store offers a limited but enticing menu that includes a few crowd pleasers like lamb birria tacos, lamb stew with chickpeas and rice, and tamales verde. Reviewers recommend not being turned off by the modest exterior, and heading inside for the five-for-$5 taco Tuesday deal.

Unbeatable prices, friendly service, and high quality are to be expected from this Englewood food truck. In addition to tasty hot sauces and tender steak tacos, Nando’s serves pambazos — sandwiches stuffed with chorizo and potatoes and dipped in guajillo pepper sauce.

Tucked into a BP gas station on a major highway, El Serranito wows customers with its shrimp and fish tacos, aguas frescas, and impeccably plated tostadas. A rarer item on the menu is the cemita poblana, a Pueblan-style sandwich on a soft, sesame seeded bun, filled with a breaded cutlet, avocado, Oaxaca cheese, and chipotles.

Serving a full menu of breakfast, lunch, and dinner items, Ono Loco takes pride in its ingredient sourcing — which includes Hawaiian angus beef — and its friendly service. The salsa verde, California burrito, fresh seafood, and carne asada fries have earned it many return customers.

This counter-service, family-owned restaurant and bakery boasts a full menu of breakfasts, platters, daily specials, and house-made desserts and hot sauces. Top items include the tacos rancheros, chile rellenos, beef barbacoa tacos, and flan.

What sets this family-owned restaurant apart from other Mexican eateries is its claim to fame: goat. Owner Juan Zaragoza specializes in goat recipes from his native Jalisco, serving platters of bone-in roasted goat, soups, and birria tacos, along with an outstanding fire-roasted molcajete salsa.

Located in the back of a Mexican grocery store, this authentic, bang-for-your-buck taquería serves filling portions of all the essential dishes with specialties including sopes, fried tacos dorados, and tortas cubanas.

Open late and boasting the area’s best burritos, La Juanita is a favorite of locals, tourists, and college students in a town that sees a healthy mix of all three. It is known for its affordable, swift service as well as its lengua tacos and shrimp fajitas.

This tiny restaurant offers limited seating but is big on flavor. With meats seasoned to perfection, homemade salsas, and tamales with a cult following, Tarahumara’s keeps their customers happy. Try the sopes and chile rellenos, and take advantage of the drive-through.

Known as the most authentic, affordable tacos in Lexington, El Gran Tako has a huge taco selection (and huge, filling tacos) with every traditional topping you could imagine and then some, as well as an extensive menu of tortas, burritos, seafood, freshly made aguas frescas, and desserts. It’s open late on Friday and Saturday.

This unassuming truck, tucked in next to a laundromat and a car wash, serves some of the cheapest tacos around. A great lunch spot with a pared down menu of classics, El Cazador delivers generous portions with unapologetic spice.

Formerly housed in a bus and serving migrant workers on a blueberry farm, this family-run business has upgraded to a permanent take-out stand with some picnic table seating. Their pride and joy are their fresh handmade corn and flour tortillas — the most authentic you’ll find downeast.

In addition to selling stacks of hot, freshly pressed corn tortillas by the pound, this Baltimore treasure serves a limited selection of superb tacos, soups, tamales, and specials, including a tilapia taco with Old Bay butter sauce.

This Eastie restaurant offers much more than colorful tilework and the best birria tacos in Boston. It also features an all-day breakfast menu, live music on Saturdays, house-made aguas frescas, and an authentic pozole (a soup of pork, hominy, and red chiles) worth writing home about.

The smoky smell of grilling chicken greets customers as they enter this 20-plus-year-old cash-only establishment, specializing in whole barbecued chickens and ribs. A wide selection of beer, tequila, and margaritas are available to accompany some of Detroit’s finest tacos, burritos, and salsa verde.

This popular eatery is known for having the best nachos in town, but customers also rave about the chicken tinga, steak tacos, camarones a la diabla, and the elote. Generous (shareable) portions are to be expected, especially if you get the torta.

Double corn tortillas are necessary to contain the heaping portions of lengua, shrimp, and steak that come on these tacos. Quesadillas and burritos, with the obligatory red and green sauces, round out the simple menu at this food truck, found in a gas station parking lot on the outskirts of Jackson.

Attached to a family-owned market and liquor store, this laid back eatery brings a rare, authentic Mexican flavor to St. Louis. Reviewers comment on the thick, crispy tortilla chips, al pastor tacos, chicken tinga, and exceedingly friendly owners.

With overstuffed burritos and a heaping scoop of salsa on every taco, this Missoula restaurant gives great value. Care is put into every ingredient, from the homemade salsas to the rice and beans. The spicy pork tacos are a must.

The something-for-everyone menu at this little strip-mall restaurant offers burritos, quesadillas, gorditas, flautas, nachos, tlacoyos (thick masa-dough ovals), and of course tacos, among other things. A wide choice of meat toppings or fillings for any of these is available, including lengua, tripa, chorizo, and cecina (dried beef).

Open 24 hours in downtown Las Vegas, this bustling taco truck is busiest around 10 p.m. Customers love the al pastor tacos and the salsas — especially the habanero cream sauce. The only downside is the wait during peak evening hours.

This full-service cantina offers dozens of specialty margaritas and a high energy atmosphere. The menu has a large selection of seafood dishes, specialty plates, and appetizers, including the best empanadas in town.

With made-to-order corn tortillas and a wide selection of meat and vegetarian toppings, this hole-in-the-wall taco joint draws locals and tourists back again and again. The friendly staff is a plus.

Open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily except Sunday, this busy, affordable eatery serves a full breakfast menu as well as lunch and dinner combo plates, tortas, soups, and seafood. Favorites on the menu include the shrimp cocktail, fish tacos, and a carne asada burrito.

This Grateful Dead-themed restaurant across from the historic Capitol Theater serves up groovy tunes, strong margaritas, and full range of tacos (including tacos árabes, a Middle Eastern-inspired Puebla specialty of spiced pork in a pita-like shell), among other dishes, and is open until midnight every night. Lunch specials (margarita included) and taco Tuesday deals await.

Known for the tan-and-white cow statue on its roof, this bustling little roadside shack is famous for its tacos, so waits can be long around lunchtime. Juicy meats and huge, perfectly stuffed tamales have made many return customers.

If you’re looking for the biggest and best burrito in North Dakota, look no further than El Parícutin. The wet green and Baja varieties are crowd favorites, and the Mexican candies and house-made hot sauces seal the deal.

This bright orange truck serves equally colorful fare including red Tijuana-style birria tacos, with tortillas that are dipped into a deep red chile broth before they hit the griddle. Loyal customers can be seen braving the cold for their daily Happy Agave burrito.

Catering not only to meat-lovers, but also to a vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free clientele, Big Truck Tacos (with both brick-and-mortar and actual truck incarnations) has made a name for itself in Oklahoma City with its edgy menu that includes smoked tofu, hickory-smoked cow tongue, and fried avocado tacos.

Nestled into a cozy Mexican bakery and market, this neighborhood favorite serves up homemade tortillas and some of the best creamy avocado sauce in Portland. Vegetarians beware — even the rice and beans are cooked with big chunks of meat.

Ranked as the nation’s third best taquería by Business Insider in 2019, this tiny cash-only eatery slings jumbo burritos and perfectly seasoned tacos on homemade tortillas. Customers consistently remark on the freshness of the ingredients and the low prices.

This affordable eatery is known for its speedy service and incredible, authentic tacos. Whether it’s a quick lunch you’re after, or a sit-down dinner with complimentary chips and salsa, this family-owned Providence gem will not let you down.

Tucked in behind a Mexican market, this hidden spot serves real home-style Mexican cuisine including whole fried mojarra (a tropical fish), and some seriously spicy hot sauces. Meats are perfectly seasoned and the bacon-wrapped burrito is a treat not usually found outside of Tucson.

A compact, sit-down restaurant with a small selection of bottled beer as well as margaritas, this friendly eatery offers breakfast all day and lunch specials. Customers laud the tamales, sopes, and chile rellenos.

Serving whole smoked chickens in addition to all the traditional taco fillings — including buche, lengua, chicharrón, and barbacoa — this taquería excels at meat. The creamy salsa verde is a must for just about any menu item.

Open for 66 years, this Texas smokehouse specializes not in Texas-style ‘cue but in pit-smoked cow heads, offering up tacos and platters of smoked cachete (cheek meat), lengua, and even eyeballs (which sell out by 8 a.m.), with stacks of fresh tortillas. Vera’s is only open Friday through Sunday for limited hours, closing early if they sell out — which they often do.

Open daily until 11:45 p.m., this Salt Lake City staple serves cheap tacos, burritos, and quesadillas bursting with meat and toppings. Customers love the carne asada burrito and chicken mole tacos.

With a large alcohol menu, brunch offerings, and well-flavored vegetarian options, this hip cantina is a great spot to meet some friends for a lively meal. The Mexican-inspired menu includes serrano pepper margaritas, elote dip, adobo roasted carrots, and crispy fish tacos with tequila-lime crema.

The exceedingly friendly service at this D.C.-area food truck is an attraction second only to their delectable tacos. Their loyal customer base rave about the juicy meat and authentic flavor, and often drive far out of their way to stop here for a bite.

A bustling little restaurant with great prices and service, Trejo’s serves a full menu of Mexican favorites (including the best al pastor in town), but specializes in seafood. Try the freshwater prawn soup, octopus ceviche tostadas, or shrimp cooked a dozen different ways.

This family owned cantina has space for larger groups and parties, and is known for its hospitality and kind owners. Customers crave the huge margaritas and fried chimichangas at this colorful local hangout.

This mobile food truck makes its way around Madison, and can be seen serving lunch outside the Veterans Hospital, dinner at the Ale Asylum brewery, and all day at various festivals and events. Follow them on social media to find out where they’ll be dishing out their elote, nachos, tacos, and more.

A local and tourist favorite just off I-80, Su Casa is famous for their green chile and their sweet and savory sopapillas, as well as their jovial atmosphere and service. Wyoming residents travel here from neighboring counties to score some of the best Mexican food in the state.