50 Best Mexican Restaurants in San Francisco

“The legendary San Francisco institution featured by Anthony Bourdain, Guy Fieri, and more does not disappoint people!! The carne asada burrito (get it el dorado style) is a must: no rice, just juicy meat, beans, salsa, and cheese, with a crispy, golden tortilla. The line moves fast, so don’t bother phoning in an order bc it won’t really save you that much time. Cash only but I saw they had some sort of card reader now.“

“Warm and attentive service.
Wine selection is extensive and so pleased to see wines sourced from México.
Food was quick to arrive, our table ordered chips and salsa (salsas very good), fresh made guacamole, empanadas, sopes, queso fundido, mole and churros with coconut ice cream.
Favorite dishes were the sopes and mole dish.
Least favorite dish was the churros and ice cream. The churros had a type of filling and were more on the crunch side and the coconut ice cream texture could have been smoother. I would have preferred vanilla ice cream paired with the churros but coconut was the closest flavor to vanilla they offered
Would recommend to a friend and would like to go back to try more dishes.“

“One of the best dining experiences we’ve had.

Californios is a Michelin two star restaurant well deserving of this recognition.
I wouldn’t change any part of their course menu and was blown away at the experience offered here.“

“Great food and the best margaritas.“

“Great tasty stop at the end of the day. Love the friendly staff“

“We went last night on 10/10/2024. Claudia was our waitress. She did a wonderful job,and her customer service was excellent. We had one issue with a plate. She and the manager took care of it. It wasn't big, but I appreciate them listening. The restaurant has a great atmosphere for a couples outing or dinner. They strive to have good dishes“

“Buena comida 🥘 y muy buen ambiente Gracias 🤩 🙌🏻“

“This is for the Pompano location. Ok folks, let me preface with I'm not a super fan of Mexican food. Last night we decided to try this place and boy I was more than impressed. I had the Las Olas chimichanga stuffed with shrimp & crab and boy what a flavor festival. My girlfriend had the chile relleno's and she said they are the best she has had in FL. The service was great & the food was beyond belief. I left looking forward to going back & that has not happened to me with regards to Mexican food in 15 + years. This place is a must try.“

“The food was delicious. I’ll go back for the birria tacos!“

“best tacos 🌮🇮🇹🐍🦅 in San Francisco 🚩🏟📍49ers 🏈 maybe 🤷 😂24th street 💘“

“Fast and friendly service. Food was FANTASTIC. We got the veggie and al pastor burritos topped with a delicious red salsa. I would say the only thing I noticed from our trip to Mexico city is that the al pastor there was sliced really thin and here it was more chunky.“

“So good. From the salsas to the tacos and spicy margarita, I was in heaven. Mexican food so often gets pigeonholed as quasi fast-food. At Otra, they're treating it as it deserves to be treated--elevated, contemporary and creatively inspired.“

“Great place great food. Love it“

“I had a wonderful experience here. I had an excellent cocktail (Oaxaca), delicious birria tacos (plentiful, too), & the churros for dessert. I sat outside and it was very cozy with the setting and the heaters. The staff was very professional, attentive & friendly.“

“Great staff and the food is excellent. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️“

“Awesome food! Would go back again!“

“Absolutely amazing experience love their happy hour specialty craft cocktails, the mango margarita w/ spicy rum salt was Top three margaritas all time !!“

“Empezando por el excelente servicio, te hacen sentir bienvenido 😊, la espera de la comida es muy poca y la comida deliciosa, muy buen lugar para comer 🙂 Gracias.“

“Delicious & friendly staff“

“What a fantastically amazing dinner we had while celebrating our 35th anniversary of being together.

The staff were kind, courteous and attentive. We had a reservation for a table but upon arrival decided we would prefer to sit at the bar. Our hostess said that would be no problem and we were welcome to choose any seat we wanted in the restaurant.

The bartender immediately asked us if we would like some water while we were looking over the menu. He brought two large glasses of ice water and to our surprise and delight it was cucumber water, my personal favorite.

There were so many interesting items on the menu we had a difficult time deciding what to order. Our bartender was able to offer us some of his favorites as well as some of the most popular items ordered by other guests. We ordered about half of his suggestions and were not disappointed by any of them.

Starting with our cocktails. I has a drink called Cara de Rosas. It was presented in a beautiful glass with a rose shaped ice cube. My husband enjoyed a gin and soda made with one of Hendrick's Neptune specialty gin he had not had before. My second drink was one of there speciality drinks called Leon y Sol. A deliciously light Tequila drink with round saffron ice cubes. The attention to detail on every level heightened our experience.

The entire top shelf of the bar was filled with Mezcal & the lower shelf was all Tequila. Plenty of choices.

Moving right along to our food selections. We decided to go the small plates route so we could try more items. Our first choice was chips, salsa & guacamole. I know that sounds boring but it wasn't. There were multiple choices of salsa, we chose the pomegranate one & guacamole as our second item. You were allowed to pick 2 to go with your chips from a list of several choices. The chips were different types, one was the standard tortilla chip & the other was listed as a lovash chip which had a tasty sprinkling of spices on it. Both were light & super crispy.

Next we had the pomegranate chicken wings. This was a much larger portion than we expected. It had 4 full wings. They were succulent & had a delicious sauce generously covering every wing not just the top ones. Plenty of pomegranate seeds were sprinkled on top. I would highly recommend ordering these, they were our favorite amongst everything we ordered.

Another must try item were the corn ribs. Small pieces of corn on the cob with the tiniest part of the cob attached so the corn held together. Once again seasoned perfectly and a sauce to add on top that made this dish irresistible!

On the recommendation of our bartender we tried the fish tacos and the filet mignon tacos. The fish was light and fluffy, it melted in your mouth. The filet was amazing. Tender and juicy. You could defitely tell it was a filet cut you were having. Each order had 2 tacos which made sharing perfect.

My husband had never had bone marrow so we gave that a try. It was served with a pomegranate chutney and seeded bread. The combination was outstanding.

The only item we had that wasn't beyond spectacular was the dessert. We ordered the churros. Crunchy on the outside & creamy on the inside. Too much cinnamon sugar coating for my taste & served with a very heavy chocolate sauce that overwhelmed the taste of the churros. This dish would have been better with a light powered sugar dusting, which would have melted onto the hot churros, and served with a thick Mexican hot chocolate to dip them in.

There was a long banquet that ran the length of the main dining area with several very small & short cocktail sized tables with round, short, stool like chairs that had barely any back on them. Taller patrons would find this seating to be a challenge.

We will definitely be back. Great place to bring friends.“

“Absolutely the best tacos I've ever bought. Carnitas all the way.“

“While visiting San Francisco’s Presidio National Park and the nearby Walt Disney Family Museum on August 11 2023, we came upon several food trucks parked up, one of which was El Fuego Authentic Mexican. It had the longest line of them all so we figured the food must be good. The delicious smell also was a big draw! We joined the long line and waited patiently for 15 minutes to be served. As we neared the truck, a lady crossed out the fish tacos on the menu - they must have been popular. We had to quickly rethink what we’d like to order. We went for the following (to share): 🌮 Combo de Lux 🥤 Mexican Coca-Cola (500ml in glass bottles) x 2 The Combo de Lux consisted of: Soft taco x 1 Mulita (sandwich taco) x 1 Quesabirria x 1 Consommé (broth) Pots of mild and spicy salsa We were given a pager so we would know when to return to the hatch. It was an exciting 10 minute wait while the tasty delights were freshly prepared inside the food truck. We took our food over to some large plastic rocking chairs on the Main Parade Lawn (opposite the Walt Disney Family Museum) and tucked in without delay. The food was incredible: full of birria-style beef, cheesy, spicy, tasty, juicy. We had to take great care when eating it, as it was a breezy day and we didn’t want to make a mess. The consommé was new to us. We didn’t dip the quesabirria into the broth - we drank it! The flavors were very rich, with a little spicy kick. El Fuego really was a good choice and just what we needed for lunch having walked many miles around San Francisco. These were our first authentic tacos in California and the benchmark has now been set very high!“

“fast & good friendly **************😜“

“We get takeout from here for dinner once a week. Our order is usually ready in 10 minutes. Great tacos and burritos. The Paplote sauce is hit or miss, but when it's good it's good. There is no place to sit down inside, so there really isn't atmosphere.“

“One of the best experiences, really, if I return to San Francisco, I wouldn't miss stopping by this place 🍾☕️🥪🫂💯

Kid-friendliness: You can take the liberty of having a very pleasant time with your family without worrying about the children being safe.“

“Great food, good service, and a wonderful overall experience.“

“A Taste of Señor Sisig

I was looking for a quick and small bite to eat for a late lunch/early dinner, and I stopped by Señor Sisig for the first time. A quick look at their menu and their tacos grabbed my attention. I opted for their tofu and chicken tacos. They come on a 6" corn tortilla with onions, lettuce, fresh jalapenos, and cilantro cream sauce.

The store is very small and towards the northern end of the Ferry Building. It has a few stools in the wide hallway in front of the store and a few tables outside facing the Bay. The staff was young and quick to take my order and turn it around, so I did not have to wait more than a few minutes. The tacos were spicy and tasty. I enjoyed them both and will likely return to try their burritos and other items.

Vegetarian options: Limited vegetarian options are available.“

“These breakfast burritos are A DEAL!!!!No where in SF have I gotten such a great meal at Texas prices... In the Bay area!?Loved the breakfast burrito and breakfast bowl. The coffee is delicious and their bar setup is ultra cute.In fact the entire spot is well decorated and clean. We had great sest where we were people watching inside and chatting.It's located very close to all the big tourist sites and so quick. Perfect for on the go meal and very filling.Their hot salsa is... fantastic and. You better ask for two.“

“I Love Purple Burritos!!!“

“Cash only. Sweetest people ever! Got 6 tacos and they asked if we wanted them split on two plates. Also happy to give us extra limes when we asked. Only two little tables set up outside but right across from a cute park! Al pastor was my favorite but the pollo and carne asada were both delicious as well. Great value for SF!“

“I always have an amazing experience in the wheels on this so nice and friendly. This is my favorite Mexican place. I love how they greet you with a warm welcome and they’re always ready to place you in a seat.“

“I love it when a first try of something new to me is a sensational first impression as well! friendly staff and great food! I'll be back for sure!“

“very yummy halal mexican food, had the fajita, nachos, quesabirria, chicken and birria tacos.
was absolutely delicious, so happy to be able to have delicious food available as halal !! huge shoutout to the restaurant for that. great if you love cheesy things like the family i was with!!

Dietary restrictions: serves all halal meat“

“All of their food is delicious🔥🤤😋“

“This place was amazing! I was in a party of 3 and we all had tacos. I got the carne asada tacos and these were amazing. The portions fit 1 person each. I got two tacos filled to the brim. These wee packed with flavor and were so good.

I also got a shirley temple it was perfect.

This place was recommended on the Michelin guide in 2018 and I can see why! The only issue with third place is that it’s a bit pricey, with the cheapest options being $13 and most of the stuff is around $20, but it is SF so that is expected.

I will definitely be coming here again, this place exceeded my expectations by a lot!

Vegetarian options: there were some vegetarian options, but not labeled.

Parking: Parking is a bit difficult to find, we parked about half a mile away

Kid-friendliness: Saw many young kids and the waiters were very nice

Wheelchair accessibility: No large steps“

“Been going there since the 70’s We loved their fresh made tortillas and masa for tamales. I did notice today the tortillas weren’t the same. I pray the masa hasn’t changed when we make our Xmas tamales. For the past 27 years I drive from Antioch to San Francisco for our masa.🙏🏽🙏🏽❤️“

“Muy acogedor el lugar, perfecto para un almuerzo en familia.“

“Good foods!! Hip looking w a commune table.“

“Another incredible restaurant in San Francisco. The Mole here is one of the best we've ever had, full stop. The portions are immense, and I can say that this is full on "home cookin'". I also want to point out how patient and gracious the staff was with our questions, and our broken spanish. Breakfast here is really a treat!“

“Great food. Really authentic!“

“The place is very nice and clean. The portion of food is big and filling. Chips and guacamole are so fresh and tasty. The servers are nice and waiting time is good. Overall I enjoyed the meal ( breakfast burrito)- it was pretty tasty and fancy.“

“The food was delicious and fresh.“

“My last time in this Taqueria was in 2017- it was great that time- ao i decided to go back today whole visiting SF again- it's still awesome. Great freshly prepared food, fantastic service and just a tasty Taco- it's a great place to enjoy a light, healthy meal for an affordable price:

Free Nachos included with a great Chipotle Sauce.“

“best tacos 🌮🇮🇹🐍🦅 in San Francisco 🚩🏟📍49ers 🏈 maybe 🤷 😂24th street 💘“

“Really delicious! I got the surfer mermaid zapato which is a burrito but toasted crusts kinda like a panini. The habanero sauce (added after) was great and not spicy. Will definitely be coming back!

There’s an entire vegetarian menu page! No protein option, but still good.

Vegetarian options: Burritos, nachos, tacos, and sides!

Dietary restrictions: There’s an entire vegetarian menu page! No protein option, but still good.

Kid-friendliness: Ample seating. Bit dark and loud inside.“

“Amazing food! The Quesabirria are AMAZING! 😋“

“I love Todo El Dia. Easy to stop in, order and grab a seat inside or on the patio. LOVE the Ana and Velouria salads. My partner loves the Pork Chile Colorado--two tasty tacos with a side salad. Easy location for public transit and parking is not too bad at this end of 24th Street.“

“Agua Fresca was delicious! food was so good, service was fast and accommodating. Atmosphere was well done. Great job Merkado SF. #GOGIANTS!!“

“One of the best Mexican meals I’ve had in SF—100% better than Chipotle, with all fresh ingredients. I highly recommend the noodle bowl and quinoa bowl. They’re only open from 11 AM to 2 PM, and I just wish they were open longer and on more days. A true hidden gem!“