“There has never been a better time for Mexican food in the United States,” the New York Times wrote in its recent roundup of 41 of America’s “greatest Mexican restaurants.”
That’s undeniably true in Portland, where heartfelt cooking, regional specialties and culinary excellence can be found everywhere from temporary pop-ups to rooftop margarita bars to tasting-menu restaurants.
So no one should be shocked that the Rose City grabbed two spots on the Gray Lady’s big guide. The only real surprise was that Portland only got two.
Without taking anything away from the Times’ worthy selections, it would be easy to come up with a dozen alternates, from the relocated Lilia to pop-up Machetes to the old-school Nuestra Cocina and the new-and-improved Tope to Ancestro, Güero, Astral, Tito’s Taquitos, Mole Mole and plenty of other great taco carts as well.
Here are the local restaurants that made the Times’ list of America’s greatest:
Ki’ikibáa: Manny Lopez and Suny Parra Castillo’s lovely Yucatecan restaurant on Northeast 82nd Avenue was our Restaurant of the Year in 2023 and has occupied some prime real estate on the Times’ guide to Portland’s best restaurants ever since. The New York-based newspaper correctly recommends focusing on regional specialties, from the best-in-class panuchos cradling citrus-soaked cochinita pibil to the relleno negro, with its thick slices of egg-stuffed pork sausage bathing in a savory broth as dark as squid ink. 3244 N.E. 82nd Ave.
Mis Tacones: At this colorful restaurant “full of Chicano iconography in a rainbow of pastels,” partners Polo Bañuelos and Carlos Reynosa serve vegan takes on “down-home East L.A. Chicano food in line with their vegan lifestyle in the Pacific Northwest,” the Times wrote. Though Mis Tacones started as a personal project from two homesick Angelenos, the restaurant has gone on to national acclaim, including being named the best vegan Mexican restaurant in the country two years in a row. 1670 N.E. Killingsworth St.
Dining and Cooking