Just a counter and a couple of tables, Jo’s is one of those dash-in, dash-out spots that fits right in in the East Village. The taco list is short and sweet, carne asada, al pastor, chicken tinga, chorizo, birria, and shrimp, and the same fixings make their way into quesadillas, burritos, and tortas. Vegan meat substitutes available, too. Eat in and be served on eco-friendly ceramic plates.

From owners Krystiana and Dave Rizo, who were influenced by Superiority Burger, this comfy spot micro-focuses on the cooking of San Antonio late in the last century. Highlights of the menu include bean and cheese tacos, carne guisada tacos, chips and vegan queso, and a migas brunch taco, which is like chilaquiles wrapped inside a tortilla. House-made flour tortillas abound, and they’re really good.

Named after the town in Puebla, this miniature maze founded in 2000 is both a grocery store and a cafe, via proprietors Maria, Pompeyo, and Ruben Martinez, with a taco stand in front and tables in the rear. Check the chalkboard for daily specials, which recently included a nice tuck-in of albondigas (meatballs), each with a boiled quail egg at its center, and a delicious potato-and-chorizo taco made with a pair of blue corn tortillas. It’s a good place to pick up a kilo of tortillas, bottled salsas, or a six-pack of Mexican beer.

This dive bar offers tasty Mexican fare at unexpectedly low prices — in other words, a bit cheaper than you might expect given the prime location: neither does it stint on surprising options for the area, including buche (pork stomach) and cabeza (beef head) tacos. A burrito that’s a rare East Village find features the dried beef machaca found in the Southwestern United States and also associated with the states of Sinaloa and Sonora.

The excitement was palpable when this San Diego style burrito carryout (okay, there are a few seats along a counter) right on St. Marks opened in 2021. The menu is evenly divided into breakfast burritos and specialty burritos, with the former often containing french fries. Who can resist fries in a burrito? Meat choices include pollo asado, carnitas, and carne asada, but there are plenty of vegetarian options, too.

This gleaming taqueria that seems like it might have come from California is really from Florida, and originally went by the name of El Primo Red Tacos, tendering only birria in many permutations. That tanked, and the lively interior has been repurposed to sell a still-limited menu of taco fillings that include al pastor, chicharron, carnitas, and grilled steak. Get the gringa — a pair of flour tortillas stuffed with al pastors, slathered with salsa Porky, and glued together with cheese.

This place named after a city in the state of Morelos is descended from a Queens bar with a full menu of Mexican fare. It’s no longer connected to the original bar, and the menu here is reduced, but you can still find good hand-patted antojitos like huaraches and tlacoyos, as well as great breakfast chilaquiles and burritos.

The original of this place, then called Casa Tulum, was flooded out at the Seaport, and we’re glad to welcome its successor to the Bowery. Chef Rodrigo Abrajan, originally from Puebla, takes aguachile upscale with octopus, razor clams, and shrimp in a tart bath featuring seven chiles. Other recommended dishes in elegant surroundings include lamb shank adobo, a classic enchiladas Suizas, and the churro cake for dessert.

Morphing from an Italian bakery to a Mexican bakery and finally to a taqueria, this venerable bare-bones institution open since the early ’90s ( recently closed for a year and with a name change from Downtown Bakery to Downtown Burritos) was founded by Pueblan immigrants Olivia Marin and Manuel Marmolejo. It produces some of the most wallet-friendly eats in the neighborhood. My favorite is the chicken enchiladas with chile guajillo sauce, but the breakfast tacos and humongous burritos are similarly compelling.

This sprawling spot from the veteran restaurateurs behind Cookshop offers a veritable index of Mexican regional cuisines. The menu effortlessly hops from ceviches to tlacoyos to carnitas to a Oaxacan mixed-meat grill-up. Many of the antojitos, reinvented by chef Marc Meyer, are whipped up in an open kitchen smack dab in the middle of the open-sided restaurant.

If you are dying to see what happens to Mexican food in an effete clubstaurant setting, Ixta is your place. There’s a cocktail lounge in front, of course, and a beguiling dining room through curtains behind that. The menu is at least partially focused on Oaxacan food, as seen in dishes such as enchiladas with two moles, and even the birria tacos are distinguished, with a dipping broth you’ll want to drink as a soup at this expensive place.