Cuisine guide · data as of 8 October 2026
Mexican food scored: LA and New York lead, value is in the taquerias
Across 631 Mexican places, Los Angeles and New York edge ahead, and the best value sits with casual spots rather than the acclaimed tasting menus.
- Places scored
- 631
- Scoring 90+
- 20
- Cities compared
- 12
- Median Harry score
- 77
The ten best-scored mexican places
Ranked by Harry score among places with at least 150 reviews. Chains are counted once. Scores are explained on the how-it-works page.
| # | Place | City | Harry | Worth it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Holboxmexican | Los Angeles, CA | 98 | 84 | Smart Spend · Michelin Guide · World's 50 Best · Eater 38 |
| 2 | Macariomexican | New York, NY | 94 | 82 | Smart Spend |
| 3 | La Unica Tacos & Tequilamexican | New York, NY | 94 | 82 | Smart Spend |
| 4 | Californiosmexican | San Francisco, CA | 94 | 78 | Occasion Worthy · Michelin Guide · World's 50 Best · Eater 38 |
| 5 | Q Rico No Manchesmexican | New York, NY | 92 | 81 | Smart Spend |
| 6 | Taqueria Al Pastormexican | New York, NY | 92 | 81 | Smart Spend |
| 7 | Tacos zamasmexican | Los Angeles, CA | 92 | 81 | Smart Spend |
| 8 | Alma oaxaqueña Restaurantmexican | Los Angeles, CA | 92 | 81 | Smart Spend |
| 9 | Mayaflormexican | San Francisco, CA | 92 | 83 | Great Value |
| 10 | Oh Mexico Taco Shop Ocean Drivemexican | Miami, FL | 92 | 81 | Smart Spend · $$ |
Which city is actually best for Mexican food?
Los Angeles tops the city averages at 79.9, with New York at 79.6 and London at 79.4. Those three are separated by half a point, which is too little to call a winner. The more useful break comes after them: San Francisco at 77.5, then Miami at 75.2, then a long tail running down to San Jose at 68.9.
The practical reading is that London sits in the same bracket as the two big American cities, from a smaller pool of 36 places. Austin has the most places scored here, 87, yet averages 72.8. Volume does not buy quality. If you are choosing a city for a Mexican-led trip, the top four are safer bets than the rest.
Which city does it best?
Cities with at least twelve scored places for this cuisine, ranked by average Harry score.
| # | City | Places | Average | Best scorer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles, CA | 59 | 79.9 | Holbox |
| 2 | New York, NY | 83 | 79.6 | Macario |
| 3 | London | 36 | 79.4 | Carne Mexican |
| 4 | San Francisco, CA | 57 | 77.5 | Californios |
| 5 | Miami, FL | 51 | 75.2 | Oh Mexico Taco Shop Ocean Drive |
| 6 | Sydney, NSW | 41 | 74.5 | Taco Paco |
| 7 | Austin, TX | 87 | 72.8 | Santa Catarina Mexican Restaurant - Cherrywood |
| 8 | Seattle, WA | 44 | 72.1 | Tacos Cometa |
| 9 | Chicago, IL | 53 | 71.9 | Ayayay - Mexican Eatery |
| 10 | New Orleans, LA | 32 | 71.8 | Lagos Tacos Ebenezer |
| 11 | Melbourne, VIC | 24 | 69.5 | Maiz y Cacao |
| 12 | San Jose, CA | 64 | 68.9 | Chingadazos Taqueria & Bar |
Is the top ten all fine dining?
No, and that is the interesting part. Holbox in Los Angeles leads on 98, and it carries Michelin Guide, World's 50 Best and Eater 38 acclaim. Californios in San Francisco, on 94, has the same three. But seven of the ten have no acclaim listed at all, and they score 92 or 94 on reviews alone.
That tells you the Harry Hungry score is being driven heavily by diners, not just critics. Places such as Macario, La Unica Tacos & Tequila and Taqueria Al Pastor are earning their positions from consistently strong public ratings. Of the ten, New York supplies four and Los Angeles three, so the top end is concentrated in a few places.
Best value in the data
Places scoring 70 or above on the Harry score, ranked by Worth It score.
| # | Place | City | Harry | Worth it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Holboxmexican | Los Angeles, CA | 98 | 84 | Smart Spend · Michelin Guide · World's 50 Best · Eater 38 |
| 2 | Mayaflormexican | San Francisco, CA | 92 | 83 | Great Value |
| 3 | Macariomexican | New York, NY | 94 | 82 | Smart Spend |
| 4 | La Unica Tacos & Tequilamexican | New York, NY | 94 | 82 | Smart Spend |
| 5 | Early Bird Tacos - Cateringmexican | San Francisco, CA | 90 | 82 | Great Value |
| 6 | Q Rico No Manchesmexican | New York, NY | 92 | 81 | Smart Spend |
Where does the value actually sit?
Holbox leads the value picks with a Worth It score of 84, which is unusual: the highest-scoring restaurant is also the best value in the set. After it come Mayaflor on 83, then Macario and La Unica Tacos & Tequila on 82.
Compare Californios, which scores 94 for quality but 78 for value and wears the Occasion Worthy badge. It may be excellent, but the data says you are paying for the occasion. Most of the top places are badged Smart Spend, so you rarely need to trade quality for price. Early Bird Tacos - Catering, on 90 with a Worth It score of 82, shows the value end does not need a famous name.
When do the review platforms disagree?
Google is the generous platform here. Zombie Taco in Chicago has 4.7 on Google from 1425 reviews but 3.8 on Yelp from 163. La Cantina Grill, also Chicago, has 4.4 on Google and 3.5 on Yelp. Polvo's Downtown Central in Austin falls from 3.8 to 2.8.
The widest gap on the page is El Camino Cantina The Rocks in Sydney: 4.5 on Google from 9584 reviews, against 3.5 on Tripadvisor from 648. That pattern looks like a crowd-pleaser, strong with large volumes of casual visitors and less so with reviewers on other platforms. It is not a verdict that the place is bad, but it is a reason to read a few recent reviews before booking.
What do the awards and prices tell you?
Michelin Guide is the most common acclaim source in the data, with 25 mentions, followed by Eater 38 with 14 and Eater with 13. James Beard Foundation appears 8 times and The Infatuation 7. Twenty places score 90 or above, so the top band is narrow.
Price data is partial: only some places have a confirmed tier. Among those, $$ has 34 and $ has 29, while $$$ has 3 and $$$$ has 4. So the confirmed picture is that Mexican dining is mostly casual and mid-priced. Treat the price tiers as a sample, not a full census, because most of the 631 places are not covered by them.
Where the review platforms disagree
Places with at least 150 reviews on both platforms and a gap of 0.4 to 1.0 stars. Yelp is used for US cities, Tripadvisor elsewhere.
| Place | City | Other platform | |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Camino Cantina The Rocks, Sydney | Sydney, NSW | 4.5 (9,584) | Tripadvisor 3.5 (648) |
| Polvo's Downtown Central | Austin, TX | 3.8 (773) | Yelp 2.8 (283) |
| Zombie Taco | Chicago, IL | 4.7 (1,425) | Yelp 3.8 (163) |
| La Cantina Grill | Chicago, IL | 4.4 (2,667) | Yelp 3.5 (767) |
The short version
Start in Los Angeles, New York or London, and do not assume acclaim means better value: Holbox is the exception. For the rest, trust the cheaper places with strong Worth It scores, and check Yelp or Tripadvisor when Google looks too good.
Every figure on this page is computed from Harry Hungry's own database on 8 October 2026; the commentary is written with AI assistance from those figures and checked against them. Scores blend Google, Yelp and Tripadvisor with editorial acclaim; see how they work. No placement on this page is paid for.