Ready For The 4 Best Tacos in Playa del Carmen?
In Playa del Carmen you can find great Mexican food, you just need to know where to look! Here are our 4 best tacos in Playa del Carmen.
When it comes to Mexico, one of the first things everybody thinks of is their world-famous, mouth-watering food.
Although Playa del Carmen is a very international city known for its amazing beaches, touristic chill vibes, and a beautiful tropical lifestyle, you are still blessed with some great Mexican food and restaurant options.
If you are willing to go just a little bit further beyond the main tourist areas, you will discover a fantastic wide variety of traditional Mexican food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
As an avid lover of tacos myself, I was determined to find some great places to satisfy my appetite. So from day 1 of our three-month stay in Playa, I was quick to explore the many different surrounding traditional Mexican taco restaurants.
You Can’t Miss The 4 Best Tacos In Playa del Carmen
Here are our top 4 best tacos in Playa del Carmen. I have included a couple of ‘hidden gems” as well as some of the more popular Mexican restaurants in town.
All of them are amazing and serve a variety of different traditional tacos.
1. For Birria Tacos: Birria Tacos y Consome (Birria de la 30)
As the name suggests this little hidden gem serves amazing and very tasty traditional birria tacos and consome.
A lil’ disclaimer: Although not my #1 favorite, it is Ashley’s favorite and because it’s a hidden gem this had to take the number #1 spot for the 4 best tacos in Playa del Carmen.
It is a smaller local place, with somewhat tight seating, serving incredible authentic Mexican food.
The staff are very friendly and you will need a little bit of Spanish to get you by. This place is known by locals as the best birria tacos in Playa del Carmen.
What to order:
You must get the birria tacos which are traditionally fried on a BBQ and stuffed with slow-cooked, melt-in-your-mouth-style beef.
Add a nice bowl of authentic consome to your order and get the real experience.
They will also provide a huge variety of salsas and condiments to truly bring that genuine Mexican flavor. We found that 6 tacos and the bowl of consome were more than enough for both of us.
Price:
Birria Tacos y Consome is not expensive at all, offering great value for their yummy food. The total bill + tip cost us less than 200 MXN, about $10 USD.
Location:
Located about 10 minutes walk from the main Centro area of Playa del Carmen, you will find this smaller store close to the corner of 30 Avenida and Calle 38.
Restaurant Address: https://goo.gl/maps/FeZsMcSPFLHHyk4G7
When to Visit:
Because of the size of the restaurant, it’s best to plan your visit when there are fewer people. We recommend that you come for dinner and visit during weekdays before 7 pm. This should see you get a table comfortably.
2. For Sirloin/Beef Tacos: Don Sirloin
Our go-to place whenever we needed good-tasting, quality Mexican food is….
…Don Sirloin!
They have 3 restaurants located throughout the Centro area with our clear favorite and the main restaurant located on Constituyentes 25. A true staple for anyone coming to Playa as one of the best tacos in town.
Don Sirloin has a good-sized menu offering excellent Mexican food. You can satisfy your hunger with tacos, tortas, burritos, fajitas, quesadillas, and more.
They also offer a great range of bebidas (drinks), both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
The restaurant itself is fairly large and used to catering to both small and large groups. You will also find a great mix of both locals and tourists alike whether it’s for lunch or dinner.
What to order:
My favorite on the menu was the al pastor (pork) and arrachera (beef) tacos. The sirloin tacos were also very good.
I loved to add queso (cheese) and preferred the maiz (corn) tortilla with my tacos.
All the tacos are served with optional flavor-packed salsa, cilantro, and pico de gallo to add on top. If you are looking for something other than tacos try their range of burritos which were also very yummy.
For drinks, their frozen margarita was a standout for us, maybe our favorite margarita in Playa del Carmen. You will have to ask for it specifically because it isn’t on the menu.
They also sometimes have on-tap cold local beer which is worth trying if you are a beer person.
Lastly, if you are looking for an entrada (starter), definitely try their guacamole. It was honestly my favorite in town.
Price:
Although not as cheap as the other 2 places above, Don Sirloin still offers incredible value, especially for the quality of food and the restaurant itself.
Tacos are $16-33 MXN peso each depending on the type of fillings you order.
The guacamole was $70 MXN and the frozen margaritas were only $60 MXN. Beer ranges from $35-50 MXN per bottle, depending on which brand you choose.
We ate at Don Sirloin regularly and our average bill including drinks was about $350 MXN ($17.50 USD)
Location:
The Don Sirloin main restaurant is located on Constituyentes 25, opposite Mega shopping center. Our friend said the location on 30th is the best one and the one of the 10th wasn’t great.
Don Sirloin Address: https://goo.gl/maps/brN7bTVh7Tt9Lp1V7
When to Visit:
Despite what it says on Google, we found Don Sirloin was open from about 12 pm to 11 pm each day. If you are going for lunch you will likely find a seat anytime.
If you’re heading there for dinner get in before 7 pm as this place often has a small line out the front after that.
3. For Al Pastor Tacos: El Fogon
Another one of our go-to places whenever we had Mexican food cravings, El Fogon has nice food and offers a large menu to choose from. No matter what mood you are in, you will always find something to fill that spot here.
The menu consists of all the Mexican favorites and more, offering lots of different fillings and toppings.
They have a large restaurant with comfortable seating which fills up quickly with both locals and tourists at lunch and dinner.
El Fogon also has a few locations around Centro with our favorite and the biggest one just up the road from Don Sirloin on Constituyentes 25.
What to order:
With such a large menu you will have to go to El Fogon multiple times to taste their specialties.
You can’t go wrong with any of the tacos, particularly the al pastor taco. Like Don Sirloin, all the tacos are served with optional salsa, cilantro, and pico de gallo to add on top.
The tortas at El Fogon were also major favorites of ours. They have these incredible fluffy buns, filled with a range of delicious choices making for truly amazing Mexican sandwiches.
But my absolute favorite food here (and maybe in all of Playa) was the Los Quesos Fundidos with al pastor. You get a bowl of spit-grilled pork topped with amazing melted Oaxaca cheese and served with 4 warm tacos. You then make each taco on your own and I can not overstate how amazing these taste!
If you are looking for drinks, try their house special, fittingly called the El Fogon. It’s a sweet alcoholic drink that tastes like a rainbow (and looks like one too!).
If you are really feeling thirsty and in the mood for fresh juice, this is the place to be. Choose from their large selection of juices which are served in huge cups!
Price:
Tacos are $17-30 MXN each depending on the type of fillings you order.
Most of the other meals range from $60-120 MXN with juices about $25-35 MXN which is amazing value when you see the size of them.
We also ate at El Fogon regularly and our average bill including drinks was about $270 MXN ($14 USD)
Location:
The El Fogom main restaurant is located on Constituyentes 25, directly opposite Mega shopping center, just up the road from Don Sirloin.
El Fogo Address: https://goo.gl/maps/6TMyBKKvXjjgmjt7A
When to Visit:
El Fogo is open from about 1 pm to 11 pm each day. If you are going for lunch you will need to arrive as soon as it opens as it does get busy.
If you are heading there for dinner, get in before 6.30 pm as the waiting line for El Fogo can get very long with wait times up to 30 minutes.
4. For Cochinita Pibil Tacos: La Cochi Loka
If 5th Avenue has worn you out and you need some simple, yet delicious Mexican food, walk a block back just before 10th avenue and get something from La Cochi Loka.
As a slightly hidden gem, offering a small menu, this awesome little Mexican outlet will satisfy your taste buds with delicious food at a very good price. This is more of a grab and stand kind of a place with very limited seating.
What to order:
La Cochi Loka is known for its unique conchita taco so that is definitely worth trying first. We also had the pork and chicken tacos which were full of flavor.
ALERT FOR VEGOS: If you’re a vegetarian, La Cochi Loka makes a very yummy veggie taco which was extremely well-liked by our vegetarian friends.
If you still have some room left, try the guacamole as we enjoyed it here as well.
Price:
Tacos are $18-20 MXN each and the guacamole was 70 MXN. The 2 of us were filled up for about $150 MXN ($7.50 USD) total, making La Cochi Loka very good value.
Location:
Located between 5th Avenue and 10th Avenue, on Calle 10, if you are in the Centro area you need to come and check it out.
La Cochi Loka Address: https://goo.gl/maps/NxRrvg1DwtFFT7oMA
When to Visit:
As mentioned before, La Cochi Loka is a small place and there is a fairly steady stream of hungry customers all day. This means come anytime you are hungry and just don’t expect to get a seat.
Planning A Trip To Playa del Carmen?
Accommodation
Looking for a wonderful place to stay in Playa del Carmen?
We stayed in this modern 1 bedroom apartment and you can have a peek at the place on this post. We go very details think – costs, amenities, facilities and location. Plus how you can snag one for yourself!
Travel Insurance
We don’t go anywhere without having insurance sorted. It’s just smart traveling BUT…
We also don’t like to pay a hefty price tag so we went with Safety Wing. A total no-brainer choice for us at only $40 per month per person for our peace of mind. You can check out what they cover here.
If you don’t mind paying more, World Nomads is a great travel insurance option too.
Don’t forget to check out our complete digital nomad travel insurance guide.
Transport Around Playa del Carmen
We loved biking around Playa del Carmen with the breeze in our hair and all the palm trees all around. Use the app BiciPlaya to get started.
You can also rent a car if you want to be a more independent travel, we love to use rentalcars.com to book.
Need A Little Spanish?
Knowing a little Spanish will go a long way in Playa del Carmen. I used Duolingo to get the basics down.
The 4 Best Tacos In Playa del Carmen That You Must-Try
Despite being a tourist town, Playa del Carmen has a great range of tacos restaurants around.
There are plenty of great options around and these 4 tacos in Playa del Carmen truly deliver authentic Mexican flavors and dishes that we love.
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We want to hear from you…
What taco spots do you love in Playa del Carmen?
Comment below and share with us so we can try it next time we visit Playa del Carmen!
