15 Traditional Mexican Foods and Drinks To Try on Your Next Trip

Editor's note: Travel to Sinaloa is not recommended due to serious safety risks in this area. Please follow your government's guidance and travel advisories.

You think Mexico, you probably think tacos. And you think tacos, you probably think tacos al pastor. Made of marinated pork—which is typically roasted street-side on a spinning spit—before being served in a corn (or flour) tortilla and topped with diced onion, cilantro, and a chunk of pineapple, tacos al pastor are the perfect pocket-friendly food. Although they originated in the state of Puebla, when Lebanese immigrants introduced lamb shawarma to Mexico, these tacos are now mostly associated with the capital.

Insider tip: Tacos are arguably Mexico’s most iconic dish and each region has its own specialty take on these street food favorites. Don’t skip Sinaloa’s seafood-based tacos gobernador or Mexico City’s melt-in-the-mouth suadero (beef brisket).

Arguably one of Mexico’s most complex and well-known dishes, mole is a type of heavily spiced sauce—typically containing some combination of fruit, nuts, and chilis—that comes in several iterations. Oaxaca has the widest variety of moles, from the classic mole negro to manchamantel (tablecloth-stainer) and amarillo; however, you won’t want to skip Puebla’s sweeter mole poblano, either. Sample mole on a street food tour of Oaxaca or have a go at making it yourself.

Wildly impractical and incredibly messy, don’t wear white when you sample a torta ahogada. Literally translating to “drowned sandwich,” spicy tomato sauce–doused tortas ahogadas are a hangover-busting staple of the Jalisco food scene, especially in Guadalajara. Consisting of a crisp birote (baguette-like roll) filled with crispy carnitas (deep-fried pork) and pickled red onion, they’re a must-try when visiting La Perla Tapatía.

Editor's note: Travel to Michoacán is not recommended due to serious safety risks in this area. Please follow your government's guidance and travel advisories.

Speaking of carnitas, we can’t overlook the place where these delicious taco, tamale, and torta fillings originated: Michoacán. Although you’ll find carnitas across Mexico, the tender-on-the-inside, crispy-on-the-outside morsels of pork simmered slowly in a pot of lard are symbolic of Michoacán—and it’s worth the trip to try them.

Served in a type of a sesame seed–topped bread roll called a cemita (from which the dish gets its name), cemitas are enormous sandwiches consisting of a thin, breaded pork or beef cutlet; stringy quesillo (cheese); sliced avocado, onions, and chipotle; as well as the distinctive Mexican herb, pápalo. Most every Puebla food tour will feature a cemita or two, if you’re itching to try one.

Insider tip: Other popular Mexican sandwiches include the guacamaya from León, Guanajuato; the tamale-filled guajolotas and potato-and-chorizo pambazos of Mexico City; and the meat, cheese, and veggie–stuffed tortas found countrywide.

Regios—as people from Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo León, are known—have a reputation for being all about that carne asada life. But going beyond the backyard barbecues, there’s another dish for which this northern border state is recognized countrywide: cabrito (roasted kid goat). Typically enjoyed al pastor, that’s to say impaled and roasted on a spit, cabrito can be enjoyed alone, in tacos, and more.

Editor's note: Travel to Michoacán and Guerrero is not recommended due to serious safety risks in this area. Please follow your government's guidance and travel advisories.

Although pozole is enjoyed countrywide, year-round—especially on Independence Day, just like chiles en nogada—this dish has roots in the Mesoamerican Nahua cultures of Central Mexico. A hearty soup made with hominy and meat (pork or chicken, usually), pozole is most often served with sliced lettuce, crema, radishes, onion, and lime. Other popular Mexican soups include mole de olla, menudo (tripe), sopa azteca (with strips of toasted tortilla), and sopa de lima.

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Burritos as many people know and love them are typically associated with border cities and wider Tex-Mex cuisine, but the northern state of Sonora has its own (giant) take on the tightly rolled American Southwest staple. The burro percherón—which is particularly popular in Hermosillo—takes a tortilla sobaquera (huge flour tortilla) and fills it with meat, cheese, avocado, tomato, and sour cream, before wrapping tightly and serving.

Chances are, if you’re familiar with Mexican cuisine, you’ve probably heard of chilaquiles. A breakfast favorite across the country, chilaquiles have seemingly endless variations. Top your totopos (fried tortillas cut into triangles) with red or green sauce, then choose your toppings. Classic additions include fried eggs, shredded chicken, and refried beans, as well as sour cream, sliced red onion, queso fresco, and avocado.

In Mexico, barbacoa is both a dish and form of cooking which involves roasting agave leaf–wrapped lamb (or goat) in a hole in the ground until flavorsome and tender. While several regions of Mexico have their own take on this dish, the state of Hidalgo is widely-considered the home of the best barbacoa. Enjoy in a warm corn tortilla alongside the typical taco toppings: salsa, onion, and cilantro.

Insider tip: If you like barbacoa, don’t skip birria (slow-roasted and seasoned beef or lamb) in Jalisco; cochinita pibil (achiote-marinated pork roasted in a banana leaf) in Yucatán; or machaca (dried, spiced beef or pork) in the north of Mexico.

One of the most popular street food snacks across Mexico, the humble elote (corn-on-the-cob) is a must-try, wherever you are. Order it boiled or roasted and have the vendor coat it in a generous swipe of sour cream or mayonnaise (Mexico City favors mayonnaise; other states lean more towards sour cream), before choosing just which level of chili powder you want to add—spicy or very spicy. Alternatively, order esquites instead of elote, and enjoy your corn served in a cup instead of on the cob.

Editor's note: Travel to Sinaloa is not recommended due to serious safety risks in this area. Please follow your government's guidance and travel advisories.

Traditionally made of raw shrimp doused in lime juice, chili, salt, and cilantro, and served with onion and cucumber atop a crisp tostada, aguachile is a product of the Sinaloan coastline. Nowadays, you’ll find all sorts of aguachile variations across the country, including aguachiles made from shellfish, fish, or even vegan alternatives. However, the best ones? Eaten on the beach along Mexico’s Pacific coast with an ice-cold beer in hand.

Few things say Mexico more than a shot of tequila, but for the really good stuff you need to travel straight to the source: Tequila, Jalisco. There, you’ll find a bunch of tequila distilleries—including José Cuervo—which you can tour before sipping (not shooting) their top-notch spirits made from 100 percent blue agave. And skip the salt and lime.

Insider tip: Tequila isn’t the only agave-based beverage you can sample in Mexico. Head to Oaxaca, Puebla, or seven other states for smoky mezcal; hit up Nayarit for raicilla; or go north to Sonora for bacanora. And don’t forget corn-based pox and Desert Spoon–derived sotol.

A large toasted tortilla serves as the base for crispy, crunchy tlayudas, a Oaxacan foodie favorite. Often served street side on large open-air grills, tlayudas come topped with beans or mole sauce, lettuce, stringy quesillo cheese, avocado, your protein of choice, and sauce. Tasajo (dried beef), cecina (dried, spiced pork), chapulines (grasshoppers), and chorizo are popular protein options.

Crunchy crepes rolled tightly around a sweet-savory filling, marquesitas are one Mexican snack you might not know but won’t forget in a hurry. Although the classic Yucatán marquesita combo is Nutella and grated queso de bola (Edam cheese)—trust us, it’s delicious—you can also opt for jams, jellies, condensed milk, cream cheese, and cajeta (a caramel sauce made of goat’s milk).

Insider tip: Other popular Mexican desserts include the incredibly (some might say overly) moist tres leches cake; creamy flans and jericallas; and basically any fruit generously doused in sticky sauce and spicy chili salt. And did you know that chocolate also originated in Mexico?