María Mozo helped cook meals during community events, an honor in San Juan Pilcaya, a small town in Puebla. At her Rogers Park restaurant, she showcases her skills by serving dishes like picaditas —  freshly made small and chewy corn patties topped with beans, queso fresco, salsa, add chicken or beef. Diners can also indulge in tamales cenizos, a flat and square delicacy that’s used charcoal for centuries, way before it was trendy. The flat, fragrant bundles are perfect for sopping up red or green mole. Weekends bring goat consommé or the hyperlocal guasmole, also known as “mole of hips,” a beloved Pueblan light mole made with a mix of chilies, vegetables, and the highly regarded goat hips and backbone.

Popular with locals and visitors alike, Mas Allá del Sol’s chef and owner Adam Moreno’s food is so impressive that he was once commissioned to cook for a group of visitors, including the Archbishop of Mexico City. This anecdote is somewhat poetic, as the Catholic Church has historically been involved as part and patron of Mexico’s culinary history. Moreno’s menu features Mexican favorites like enchiladas, tiny sopes known as picaditas, chiles rellenos, and a cactus salad, all prepared with carefully chosen ingredients. Other dishes are just as Mexican but not always easily found, like the puerco con verdolagas, a tangy, meaty leaf that brings out pork in an extraordinary way. This casual neighborhood eatery is open for dinner but offers a weekend brunch and is usually busy. Stay in the loop on the restaurant’s schedule changes, menu highlights, and upcoming events by following their Instagram account.

Kie-Gol-Lanee (“Old Stone” in the Zapotec dialect) is the phonetic spelling of Santa María Quiegolani, a small Oaxacan village in this state’s southern sierra. Here is where siblings and co-owners María and Reynel Mendoza and María’s husband, Léonides Ramos, grew up and learned to cook with recipes passed down through generations. The two-time Bib Gourmand Award-winning team pays homage to their hometown with their offerings. The menu includes well-known regional staples like their Oaxacan-style red or green tamales cooked in banana leaves, red mole, and traditional tlayudas, as well as more exotic dishes featuring quail, rabbit, wild boar, and seasonally, grasshoppers. The environment is relaxed, and the Oaxacan servers are well-informed. 

Save room for dessert — try their café de olla and tres leches cake.

Owner Soraya Rendón opened the restaurant amid a financially turbulent 2008. Focused on sustainable cuisine and freshly sourced ingredients, Chilam Balam’s ever-changing menu of shareable plates features a creative take on traditional dishes like the corn masa black-bean-stuffed memelas with goat cheese, tomatillo, and chile de árbol salsa or the roasted delicata squash with pecan mole and cranberries. The plates, many of which are gluten-free, are brought to life by chef Natalie Oswald, a Topolobampo and Frontera Grill alumna. Fish specials and fresh tortillas are available on weekends, and there is a special dessert that changes weekly.  The atmosphere is eclectic with an underground feel.  Only cash and Venmo are accepted. B.Y.O.B.

It is always summer at Baha Restaurant, where patrons can enjoy the flavors of the ocean in every form — From the traditional ceviche or the whole grilled fish enjoyed beachside in Mexico to fish sandwiches, tacos, empanadas, and even seafood-stuffed chiles rellenos. Do not miss the Instagram-worthy ceviche towers, a Sinaloan seafood fad that stacks ceviche, seafood, avocado, and a generous amount of condiments into tubular structures. The menu features three options: verde, with aguachile, squid, scallops, avocado and jalapeños; Baha, with shrimp, octopus, tuna, lobster, and squid; and the cleverly dubbed “the Sears Tower,” which layers up shrimp, fish, crab meat, mango, cucumber, and tomatoes which are topped off with a signature spicy red sauce.

This pambazo is street food royalty, made using a soft bread roll that is dipped in a red guajillo pepper sauce, is usually stuffed with potatoes, and lightly fried. These sandwiches are standouts at El Habanero where it’s obvious that chef and co-owner Enrique Lara draws inspiration from his native Mexico City. His menu boasts a few staples — think tacos, sopes, huaraches, enchiladas, and chilaquiles (give the green ones a shot). The pambazos truly steal the show by packing a punch with stuffing options that include potatoes and chorizo, steak, chicken, or plain potatoes with avocado. The best part is, chef Lara is willing to adjust to customer preferences (he has made pambazos with tilapia and even chiles rellenos). And when the plate comes out, it’s piled high with lettuce, sour cream, and cotija cheese.

Born in Montana to a Mexican family, owner Julián Almanza has created a menu that showcases his unique upbringing and love for the flavors of the Pacific Northwest. Open during the pandemic, the small eatery’s menu features a variety of options ranging from ceviche to quesabirrias and several taco options. It is the Baja-style fish tacos that steal the show, though. Served with a house-made tartar sauce, sweet cabbage, and pickled habanero, they pack many flavors and textures. According to Almanza: “It’s not as easy as it sounds, and you can easily mess up something fried by battering it too much or not enough.” But Don Pez is more than tacos. The restaurant offers a weekend brunch menu featuring anything from avocado toast and quesadillas to chilaquiles and the northwestern huckleberry in pancakes and several beverages.

In 2021, the former Northbrook eatery found a new home near a secluded cul-de-sac across Lincoln Park. The patio’s packed for as long as the weather allows as the setup adds a backdrop to the vacation vibes of the eatery’s colorful plates and agave-based drinks. Hailing from Mexico City, Mesa Urbana’s chef Mauricio Trujillo’s menu features a section with tapa-style dishes, including a must-try shrimp ceviche with blanched shrimp, habanero, mango, and jicama. The queso fundido plate is served with poblano peppers and an irresistible molcajete salsa. You won’t want to miss their elote en tequesquite, a mineral salt used since pre-Hispanic times for various cooking needs — the result is very soft, juicy, and flavorful corn kernels topped with queso fresco and sour cream. If you are looking for larger plates, there are several options, including skate wing, an al carbón salmon dish with tamarind glaze, mango and papaya, and pumpkin enchiladas with a sauce made from pumpkin seeds.

Paying homage to Chef Carlos Gaytán’s hometown of Huitzuco, Guerrero, Tzuco quickly positioned itself as a foodie destination for locals and tourists. The first Mexican chef with a Michelin-starred restaurant (Mexique), Gaytán’s story and gravitas in Chicago and beyond added to the buzz around his noteworthy comeback. His River North restaurant transports you to the environment of an upscale restaurant in Mexico. Guests rave about the nostalgic Mexican dishes brought to life with family recipes, food memories, and inspiration drawn from French cuisine and its techniques. The menu (perhaps due to the chef’s stint in Playa del Carmen) features several dishes inspired in southeastern Mexico. Fan favorites include the aguachile and the Guerrero-style cochinita pibil. Save room for dessert.

Like it or not, seven-time James Beard Award winner Rick Bayless offered a platform to Mexican food in the U.S. way before UNESCO declared this cuisine a cultural treasure in 2010, giving it a serious awareness boost. Frontera Grill delivers a changing menu of dishes powered by traditional, thoughtfully sourced ingredients and first-hand knowledge. Three decades later, and with several restaurants under his name (including the upscale Topolobampo and the Oaxacan-centric Bar Sótano), Frontera’s dining room is packed day in and day out with both locals and tourists. Diners can enjoy a menu featuring a few of Mexico’s “greatest hits,” including beloved regional specialties like the Pueblan tacos Árabes and a variety of mole sauces. And very much like it is the case with other prominent chefs, Bayless’ establishments are a talent incubator and a springboard for aspiring restaurateurs in the city. 

Rubi’s served customers at the Maxwell Street Market for 25 years before finding a permanent home in Pilsen. Owners Gilberto Ramírez and María Landa credit their clients’ loyalty to the authenticity of their food, which they prepare with the same love and care they put into cooking when hosting family: “Taco sauce is not our thing, and yes, the salsa is spicy.”   

People flock to Rubi’s for the asada tacos or quesadillas (made with either blue or yellow corn), which can be topped with beef tongue, chicharrón en salsa verde, a milder sauce prepared with tomatillo sauce and pork rinds, or their complex red mole. Expect a line to try them, as tortillas are made to order. Time will likely fly by as Ramirez, the charismatic patriarch and star of Netflix’s Taco Chronicles, keeps the energy high while you wait with his singing, dancing, and signature catchphrase, “Yes, yes, yes!” Following their home state of Guerrero’s tradition, Rubi’s also features pozole on Thursdays. The restaurant’s team is active on social media, where there is up-to-date information on their schedule and offerings.

When it comes to tortilla pairings, pork is an absolute game-changer. And there’s no better example of this delicious duo than the mouth-watering dish known as carnitas. 

Introduced by Hernán Cortés to what we now know as Mexico during the Holy Inquisition, eating pork was considered proof of being a Catholic. In modern Mexico, enjoying a carnitas taco is a different kind of ritual — one that is shared by Mexicans of all walks of life across time and space. Hailing from the state of Michoacán, the epicenter of Carnitas know-how, Inocencio Carbajal opened Carnitas Uruapan in 1975. With a third-generation Michoacano recipe, Carnitas Uruapan must be doing something right, as patrons keep coming back to order either one taco, a whole pound (or many), along with the traditional cactus salad, pickled chilis, chicharrón, or brain quesadillas. 

The lines were already long way before the story of this Chicago staple was featured in the third season of Netflix’s Taco Chronicles. Beyond the food, patrons of all generations come from the experience: according to Inocencio’s son,  Marcos, who now manages the family restaurants, some Mexican customers bring their children for a carnitas experience akin to how their their grandfathers enjoyed them. Also on the menu are difficult-to-find Michoacano tamales known as corundas. Made with two different masa types and stuffed with either queso fresco or swiss chard, corundas can replace a tortilla as a vehicle for the carnitas. The tamales are served with chile de árbol sauce, sour cream, and cotija cheese.

Founded in 1989 by celebrated chef Samuel Linares (lost to COVID in 2020), La Casa de Samuel is an established destination for authentic regional Mexican plates.  The Little Village restaurant features an impressive range of options that seamlessly bridge the well-known with the exotic, which this eatery reminds us, can be relative. Tortilla soup and ceviche can be enjoyed along with iguana, rattlesnake, venison, frog legs, cornish hen, and even bull testicles.  Some seasonal dishes are served during festivities, such as the emblematic chiles en nogada (chiles in walnut sauce) and romeritos (a wild, edible plant usually served with mole and shrimp), can be found here year-round. Don’t miss their handmade tortillas.

Little Village restaurant is Mexican breakfast heaven. Playing on the cathedral theme, its décor features saints and other religious imagery. According to the owner and chef Jalisco-born Ambrocio “Bocho” González, his collection has grown thanks to the saints and other religious motifs his customers gift him. The menu features something for everyone, from eggs, omelets, and pancakes to crepes and tortas, but this especially rings true for those with a shrine in their hearts to chilaquiles. According to González, at La Catedral, the traditional chilaquiles verdes are made with tomatillo sauce, or the very spicy a la diabla version, which adds the smokiness, and depth of chipotle chilis to the heat, are the most popular. Try the café de olla or sample one of the many milkshakes. Lines are out the door on weekends but worth the wait.

The stunning quality of Lucidos’s tacos al pastor makes it no wonder that what started as a weekend home-based kitchen has secured a brick-and-mortar location. Lucido’s menu features staples like chilaquiles and sopes and quesadillas and enchiladas. Unlike many typical taquerias which are open primarily during the evening hours, this Little Village restaurant opens in the morning and serves breakfast.  But with al pastor so good, it might be easy to be distracted. To get the full experience, order it con todo with all the garnishes. Don’t forget to request pieces of grilled pineapple for that perfect sweet and tangy kick (it’s not included with “con todo”). Experiment with the red and green salsas to add another dimension of flavor, or start by squeezing a hint of lime. To fully embrace the taco culture, hold your taco lightly by the middle and lift your pinky finger as the locals do in Mexico City.

The Zaragoza clan has been dishing up the celebratory Jalisco dish for almost 15 years sticking to a 100-year-old heirloom recipe from the Los Altos region. The family, recently featured on Netflix’s Taco Chronicles along with three other Chicago favorites, takes great pride in their process and ingredients, which include raising their goats. The meat is seasoned and cooked for several hours and served with a tomato consommé, red mole, handmade tortillas, and a fleet of garnishes (onions, cilantro, chilis, and lime). Try your birria or head taco with the molcajete sauce made with fire-roasted tomatoes and chilis — it is the G.O.A.T.

After closing down due to an electrical fire in 2019, this West Lawn family-friendly taquería is back with a relaxed, bright, modern atmosphere, a patio, and a revamped menu that mixes new dishes with fan favorites. Comer, Beber y Querer (eat, drink, love) is the mantra at this establishment and a wink to the restaurant’s liquor license. Much like its food, which has a regional flair that speaks to the owner’s Jalisco roots, the beverage menu highlights the flavors of Western Mexico, as it incorporates agave drinks beyond tequila, such as mezcal and raicilla. Patrons can choose from a list of favorites that includes guacamole with fruits and mouthwatering ceviche, as well as a selection of tacos: (each order has two) asada, suadero, tripe, fish, and the southeastern cochinita pibil, to name a few. The family also has a restaurant in West Loop, La Josie.

Chef Miguel Escobar and sous chef Carlos Cahue are the creative culinary engines behind this newish suburban ode to the comfort food of Huandacareo in Michoacan and Huitzuco in Guerrero. In partnership with wine director Sergio Angel and chef Michael Lachowicz (Aboyer, George Trois), the pair deliver fun and thoughtful options like chile relleno (queso Oaxaca, pintos martajados) and sope manteca infused with pork renderings.

Taqueria Chignon has quite a backstory. It’s from the second-generation owners of Le Bouchon, one of the city’s cherished French restaurants. Chignon gives two of the family’s loyal cooks a chance to cook the Mexican food they grew up with, and the taqueria has thrived. The specials rotate and diners will find pastor, octopus — even an Indian-style cauliflower makhani. There’s a lot of care, thought, and creativity with this food. While some may scoff at the prices, saddled by belief that Mexican food needs to be cheap, let them hate. Taqueria Chignon is no hipster taco joint and surprises and exceeds expectations with each visit.