Toronto’s best Mexican restaurants

Toronto’s best Mexican restaurants

Our go-tos for tacos, tortas and tequila

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Campechano
504 Adelaide St. W., 416-777-2800, campechano.ca

Coca-Cola-themed murals and beat up wooden tables scream casual, but that doesn’t mean that owners Raena Fisher and Daniel Roe aren’t dead serious about tacos. They import corn from Mexico, soak and grind it in-house, then griddle tortillas to order. The result is a tortilla that actually tastes of something and is every bit as spectacular as the fillings it envelops, like carnitas, juicy tendrils of confit pork shoulder. The lone dessert option, a pina colada tres leches cake smothered in the caramelized awesomeness of roasted pineapple, delights.
 

Cocina Economica
141 Berkeley St., 647-748-4777, playacabana.ca/cocina

A recent addition to Dave Sidhu’s Playa Cabana group of Mexican restaurants is hidden in one of Corktown’s quietest corners—but mid-week, the place is full and everyone is tipsy from potent margaritas and sangria ladled out of clay pots. Large platters of slow-cooked meats are sold by the pound, accompanied by rice and beans, pickled onions and more fresh tortillas. Pork side ribs are wrapped in banana leaves and slow-roasted in a paste of achiote, chipotle and guajillo chilies. For dessert, the kitchen bakes little cornflour cookies sandwiched around dulce de leche and dusted with coconut. They’re so good you’ll want to order more to go.
 

El Catrin
18 Tank House Ln., 416-203-2121, elcatrin.ca

Mid-week, the tables are packed with tourists and Distillery District condo-dwellers, all making merry with pitchers of house margaritas. Chef Olivier Le Calvez serves Mexican food for the masses (tacos, burritos, churros) best enjoyed on the sprawling patio decorated with chandeliers and firepits. A mortar of guacamole, crushed tableside with a pestle, comes with salty, house-made tortilla chips—this combo, paired with a margarita, is enough for a good night. Baja tacos are stuffed with hunks of cod coated in crispy beer batter and slathered in creamy chipotle coleslaw: they’re pretty standard as far as fish tacos go. The tres leches cake is a nice enough finish.
 

El Rey
2A Kensington Ave., No phone, elreybar.com

Mescal is the inspiration behind this Mexican bar in Kensington—nearly 40 kinds are served in flights and blended into expensive cocktails. Clay copitas of the stuff cover the tables of the lantern-lit patio. The short menu, overseen by co-owner Grant van Gameren, makes an effort to transcend Tex-Mex clichés with traditional ingredients and preparations, yet the food—things like crispy squid, pineapple-y al pastor tacos and rajas poblanas empanadas—isn’t too serious.
 

El Trompo
277 Augusta Ave., 416-260-0097, eltrompo.ca

El Trompo’s west-facing patio is the perfect place to watch day turn into night in Kensington Market. Inside, the room is splashed with bright colours and sombreros on coat racks. To start, a creamy, cilantro-flecked guacamole gets freshness from tomato and onion and zip from a sprinkle of cilantro. Huitlacoche, a trendy corn fungus, makes a smoky, earthy filling for a quesadilla, but the dish only comes to life with a spoonful of hot salsa. The terrific tacos are five per order, with fresh corn tortillas and fillings like al pastor (spicy marinated pork and sweet pineapple chunks) and chipotle-peppered shredded chicken. Potent margaritas in plastic cups will get you drunker than a Tijuana tourist.
 

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Spicy Squid Tostada.

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Grand Electric
1330 Queen St. W., 416-627-3459, grandelectrictoronto.com

Ian McGrenaghan and Colin Tooke started the taco trend in 2011 with their Parkdale taqueria and bourbon bar. Securing a table can take up to an hour even on weeknights, but once you do, the staff treat you like a good friend. Taco options include Baja fish, arbol chicken and beef shoulder dressed simply with cilantro, onion and lime. Mason jars of key lime pie (graham cracker crumbs, lime curd and a pile of whipped cream) capture the mood—sweet-tart, a little trashy and totally enjoyable.
 

La Carnita
106 John St., 647-348-1166, lacarnita.com

The third outpost of Andrew Richmond’s wildly popular chain bears much of the same trendy visual branding that embodies so many gentrified taco joints (stylized sugar skulls, a whole lotta neon), but the Financial District location seems more grown-up, if only because it’s not the size of a dressing room. The two-floor space fills up quickly with downtown diners keen on the tacos piled improbably high, making them impossible to eat with grace. Menu standards like fried chicken thighs dressed in shaved cabbage and dripping with honey, hot sauce and a creamy peanut mole are pleasurably crunchy. Squash quesadillas stuffed with three types of cheese, chopped flowers and pepitas are served alongside a mountain of cream whipped with butternut squash. Even the desserts are a delicious mess—the sugar-crusted tubes of fried churro dough that dribble cajeta, for example, or the overloaded paletas and ice cream cones supplied by Sweet Jesus, Carnita’s sister dairy bar in the same building.
 

Los Colibris
220 King St. W., 416-979-7717, loscolibris.ca

Elia Herrera is determined to wake Toronto up to the beauty of regional Mexican cuisine. Chilled corn soup, a harmony of gentle spice, bittersweet bell pepper and one perfect pop of texture from a lightly sugared grape, is a testament to her ability to engineer a fine-dining experience from local ingredients and south-of-the-border techniques. Wrapped in a tortilla, soft strands of poblano pepper draped over tender nuggets of chicken in a béchamel-like sauce feels like a warm hug from your favourite abuela. And for dessert, there’s a deliciously different take on the Mexican doughnut: freshly fried, cruller-shaped churros sprinkled with sugar and spiced chocolate shavings. A slight arch transforms the main dining room into a courtyard cooled by a subtle breeze despite the formality of the banquettes, linens and portraiture that dominate the space.
 

Milagro
783 Queen St. W., 416-366-2855, milagrorestaurant.com

There are only two locations of this middle-of-the-road Mexican restaurant, but it feels like it’s part of a much larger chain: the decor is cactus cantina, the menu is ridiculously long, and sycophantic servers cheer on every dish as their favourites. However, the rooftop patio at the Queen West outpost is a magnet in summer, doing a brisk trade in icy cervezas and tart margaritas. Creamy, lime-licked guacamole is a good way to start, as is the tender octopus ceviche with its smoky chipotle dressing. Mains, like a pulled chicken enchilada drowned in an overly sweet mole poblano, are disappointing. An unconventional yet irresistible flan is made with cream cheese that gives it a dense, creamy texture.
 

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Carnitas ?

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Rebozos
126 Rogers Rd., 416-658-5001, rebozos.ca

Rebozos remains one of most reasonably priced places to find a plate of tacos. Mexican expats visit for the barbacoa special—platters of steam-cooked lamb served with warm, thin tortillas and freshly blended salsas. The thick, boat-shaped tortillas in the sopes are handmade and nestled with lettuce and refried beans. Their toppings are the same as those available for the tacos: beef tongue, spicy and tender; cochinita pibil, pulled pork’s earthier cousin; and tinga, ribbons of chicken stewed in cilantro, peppers and tomatoes. The tepid temperature and scant pork in the pozole is a shame, because it would otherwise be the best in the city. The broth is rich and thickly spiced, and the hominy retains its bite.
 

Seven Lives
69 Kensington Ave., 416-393-4636, @sevenlivesto

Just when we thought Toronto had reached the maximum municipal quota of taquerias, Seven Lives opened in Kensington Market. The 10-seat, mostly takeout shop is packed, the staff is often overwhelmed and the meat tacos routinely sell out. The fish tacos, however, are excellent. Options include smoked marlin, spicy grilled shrimp and fried mahi mahi, all expertly cooked and zestily seasoned. The best of the bunch is an incredible octopus version in a nutty pepita mole. A self-serve condiment station is stocked with top-notch house-made sauces, including a sweet blend of dried pasilla chilies and roasted tomatoes.
 

Torteria San Cosme
181 Baldwin St., 416-599-2855, sancosme.ca

This Kensington sandwich shop, owned by Arturo Anhalt of the Milagro restaurants, specializes in tortas, the Mexican equivalent of a sub. The tortas are made on plush buns baked across the street at Blackbird, and filled with steak or pulled pork from the neighbouring butcher Sanagan’s. There are usually eight or nine tortas on the daily menu, and they’re all delicious, especially if you’re in the mood for a lunch that’ll keep you full for the rest of the day. The standouts are the Milanesa (a breaded chicken cutlet with slices of avocado, manchego cheese and a relatively mild chipotle mayo that’s easily corrected by one of the available choose-your-dosage hot sauces), and the Nopales (avocado, bouncy panela cheese, sautéed cactus, and a salsa of tomatillos and serrano chilies). There are churros for dessert, but, if you have room, go for a cob of corn they’ve coated, street-style, with crema and cotija cheese.
 

Wilbur Mexicana
552 King St. W., 416-792-1878, wilburmexicana.com

Somewhere on the spectrum between Mexican fast food chains and hipster taco joints is Wilbur on King West. Diners order at the counter, grab bottles of Mexican cervezas (or craft sodas from a state-of-the-art fountain) and take a seat in a sleek room. There’s a self-serve hot sauce and salsa bar with condiments like a tart house-made pineapple-habanero salsa—the perfect pairing for a grilled avocado taco layered with feta-like cotija cheese and smoky, creamy chipotle crema. The pulled pork burrito is sadly dry and under-salted, but the grilled Mexican street corn smothered in more crema and cotija is a winner.
 

Quetzal
419 College St., 647-347-3663, quetzaltoronto.com

Everything about Quetzal, Grant van Gameren’s biggest, most elaborate space yet, is extraordinary. A year’s worth of construction has produced a dramatic room, with a plaster ceiling that torques and curves. Flames from the eight-metre fire pit, dancing up the walls, are visible from almost every seat in the house. Chef-couple Kate Chomyshyn and Julio Guajardo cook brightly modern Mexican, and the spotlight is on hero cuts of rib-eye, lamb barbacoa and, our favourite, pescado Zarandeado, line-caught fish that’s butterflied and rubbed with red chorizo seasoning on one half, green chorizo seasoning on the other, and grilled. It’s smoky, perfectly timed and deeply satisfying, wrapped in handmade tortillas and dressed with a sweet cherry tomato salsa. If you emailed for a reservation in the restaurant’s early days, you received an auto-reply politely suggesting you should try again later—much, much later. You must try, though.