Best Oaxacan Food 2024 | Oaxaca Restaurant | La Vida | Phoenix
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Best Oaxacan Food

Oaxaca Restaurant

This place has come a long way since the bowling alley. Once hidden away in Sunnyslope's Let It Roll Bowl, Oaxaca Restaurant now boasts two stand-alone Phoenix locations. The standards like tacos, tortas and chilaquiles are here, but you can get those anywhere. Best to focus on the Oaxacan specialties of the house, such as memelitas — thick masa boats similar to sopes topped with black beans, Oaxacan cheese and tasajo, thin sheets of salted beef. Tamales Oaxaqueños, steamed in banana leaves, are deliciously fragrant, especially when smothered with a complex mole negro. The tlayuda — a crunchy, pizza-sized tortilla piled high with all manner of toppings — is an awful lot of fun to share. The house flan might fool you. It doesn't look like much, but its flavor is intense. And if your meal leaves you feeling inspired, a small market's worth of chiles, spices and other Oaxacan specialty ingredients are available to purchase and take home.

Best Chihuahuan Food

Testal Mexican Kitchen

Tirion Boan

The burritos at Testal probably are unlike any you've tried before. First, you need to order at least two for a good-sized meal. And second, they're not folded up into neat little parcels. These saucy bites are open on both ends, meaning the toppings and juices will run down your arms a little. But take one bite, and you won't care at all. Super soft flour tortillas envelop rich, savory fillings, such as the bright red pork Colorado, cheesy rajas or shredded beef with green salsa. The best part about the burritos' smaller size is that you can try multiple flavors per visit. The hearty fillings also can be served as tacos, inside gorditas or as bowls. Wash it all down with a Jamaica agua fresca or a bottle of pinole, a roasted sweet corn drink. Enjoy your meal inside, underneath a giant painted map of Chihuahua, or find a seat on the small patio, which often hosts live music.

Best Mexican Diner

El Horseshoe Restaurant

Shelby Moore

For nearly three decades, the Avitia family has run El Horseshoe right under the noses of the Phoenix fooderati, housed in a brightly muraled building on an industrial stretch of Buckeye Road near downtown Phoenix. The Avitias may not bill their restaurant as such, but this homey little joint is the epitome of the American diner — a no-frills, working-class breakfast and lunch joint serving classic dishes with a focus on simple, honest flavor and not a lick of pretense. Those classics include dishes such as supple cheese-stuffed chiles rellenos doused with bright tomato sauce; silky chunks of beef tongue plied with a fragrant, complex mole; tender-crisp chilaquiles made from torn tortillas pan-fried to order; and a steaming hot bowl of caldo de res, gelatin-rich, loaded with vegetables and served with thick, scalding hot fresh tortillas. The flavors are familiar, but rarely are they so honest and vibrant. In a town that reveres its homey Sonoran cooking, El Horseshoe remains an underappreciated gem.

Best Vegan Mexican Food

Tacos Veganos

Dominic Armato

Bring a ream of napkins or some paper towels if you plan on eating Tacos Veganos' ridiculously good hot messes of street tacos. Plant-based carne asada, chicken or pork is piled on a chewy and greasy corn tortilla, then heaped with guacamole sauce and studded with onions and bright cilantro. The burritos are as big as the tacos are messy, packing significant heft from being crammed full of rice, beans and your choice of plant-based meat. Other highlights include the mountain of nachos covered with refried beans and a rich cashew-based "cheese," and beer-battered cauliflower Baja-style tacos that taste like a party in the mouth thanks to pickled red onion and chipotle mayo. Your carnivore friends would never know the difference.

Best Upscale Mexican Restaurant

Santo

For their second restaurant together, Armando Hernandez, Nadia Holguin and Roberto Centeno went bigger. The trio, who worked together on Espiritu (along with Rene Andrade), opened Santo in Arcadia in early 2024. At the bright, airy 200-seat restaurant and bar, Centeno has expanded on the land-and-sea-spanning menu that wowed diners at Espiritu, while infusing some fusion along the way. Take the birria dumplings, which are a star among the primeros. Tender smoked beef cheek is stuffed into each dumpling, which arrive in a bowl of rich, umami-loaded beef broth studded with Chinese broccoli and sesame seeds. The larger plates are often big enough to share, including a flame-kissed dry-aged ribeye that's served with beans, potatoes, salsas and flour tortillas. While there's an ample selection of cocktails and Mexican wines, if you're ready for a nightcap, ask your server about Pecado. The sister bar is a dark, sexy contrast to Santo with its own unique roster of drinks inspired by the seven deadly sins. After a decadent evening, we like to roll the dice and ask for Wrath, Pecado's version of bartender's choice.

Best Tacos

Juanderful Tacos

There's a massive spectrum of tacos in Phoenix. There are the more traditional tacos served simply with onion, cilantro and maybe a drizzle of salsa, options that lean into a region of Mexico and bigger, brasher, dressed-up versions that infuse global flavors. One spot that rose to prominence this year was Juanderful Tacos, which was one of the stops TikTok food influencer Keith Lee made this year while visiting Phoenix. In addition to getting a glowing review from Lee, Juanderful Tacos is our pick because it succeeds in offering a mix of options that scratch the itch for authentic and less-so tacos. There's cabeza and lengua available alongside asada steak and chicken, as well as a griddled cheesy quesataco. Each is made with a corn tortilla that's crafted right at the counter. The scratch cooking doesn't stop there, with everything from its fiery salsas to its aguas frescas being made in-house. And, when they can't make something, they'll often find a way, such as promoting a bring-your-own-fries deal, offering to dress up a fast food fry with cheese and meat.

Best Gorditas

Tacos Chiwas

Jackie Mercandetti Photo

Tacos Chiwas, as the name suggests, is known for its tacos. But we're partial to a less common dish that's no less delicious. The gorditas are thick flour tortillas cut open to create a pocket perfect for stuffing with savory fillings. Opt for the deshebrada, which comes in either red or green, for a spicy, messy, satisfying bite. Shredded beef, potato and beans are stewed with rich red and green salsas and stuffed into the little pockets. Order two or three, or mix and match with the local restaurant's tacos for a fun and delicious meal. With two Tacos Chiwas locations in the Valley, these tasty treats are never too far away.

Best Burritos

Rito's Mexican Food

Jackie Mercandetti Photo

When you walk into one of Rito's Mexican Food's four Valley locations, there's an instant feeling of being welcome. The restaurants aren't flashy or super-modern, but they aren't old-school Mexican restaurants, either. Rito's Mexican Food is somewhere comfortably in between, and their extensive menu of traditional Mexican food is top-notch. Everything at Rito's is a decent choice, but their burritos are the standouts. Made the way a burrito should be — starting with an excellent flour tortilla — Rito's offerings include delicious green chile, red chile, chicken, bean and carne asada burritos that loom large both in size and taste. If you're feeling daring, and you should, try them enchilada style, preferably with a mix of red and green sauce. Your taste buds will thank you, because this is the best burrito in town.

Best Breakfast Burrito

El Norteño

Chris Malloy

Though the exterior of this Phoenix staple has been given a fresh paint job, don't get it twisted: This is frill-free Mexican food at its best. In the Valley since 1981, El Norteño elbows out stiff competition to claim the best breakfast burrito in town. El Norteño's burros are so big and hearty, they don't need the -ito suffix. If you're a milquetoast gringo, there's no shortage of breakfast-staple options to fit your tastes — bacon and egg, ham and egg or egg and cheese. If you prefer more heat, try a chorizo or machaca burro. Grab some red sauce and add potatoes for just $1.25 more, then gorge on that tortilla-wrapped feast at home, in your car or sitting in El Norteño's small enclosed patio. For $10 or less (cash only, though there's an ATM on site), there's no better way to fill your belly in the morning.

Best Barbacoa

La Mejor Comida Mexicana

Lauren Cusimano

How good is the barbacoa at La Mejor? So good that if you come for lunch at noon, it might already be gone. If that happens, it's not a tragedy. La Mejor slings a brash pozole verde, along with quesadillas as long as your arm and huaraches big enough to shoe a sasquatch. But you'll want to return for the barbacoa, which is the star of the show. Hunks of lamb, seasoned, roasted and steamed in banana leaves, are served either silky soft or tatemada-style — griddled to a sizzling crisp on the flat top. The barbacoa arrives with a simple plate of onion, cilantro and lime, along with thick, fresh tortillas to accompany. But the optional consommé isn't as optional as you might think. Few things hit like a hunk of that lush, succulent lamb, dipped into a bold broth and eaten with a thick tortilla and a splash of fresh salsa.

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