“There has never been a better time for Mexican food in the United States.”
Valle in Oceanside, California
With that opening, the New York Times presented a list of 41 Mexican restaurants that its team of reporters, editors and photographers uncovered in the nationwide search for a roster of restaurants that would best tell “the expansive story about Mexican cooking in America today.”
What they found was “a mosaic of great places to eat, from food trucks to corner restaurants to tasting-menu counters” serving everything from housemade, heirloom corn tamales, tostadas, sopes and tortillas at Alebrije (an “unassuming restaurant on the second floor of an East Nashville strip mall” that “is one of the Southeast’s best taquerías”) to the “butterflied whole snapper painted with verde and roja salsas, airy tetelas stuffed with carrot tinga, luscious sikil pak pumpkin seed salsa” at Vecino in Midtown Detroit.
This list includes Valle, the restaurant of Mexican chef Roberto Alcocer, located in Oceanside, California, which has a Michelin star. Alcocer was a semifinalist for the 2025 James Beard Award in the Best Chef—California category.
“Waking up to the news that Valle was featured in the New York Times article undoubtedly made my day; given that Mexican cuisine is one of the most widely replicated in the United States—with more than 80,000 Mexican restaurants currently in operation—being part of such a short list fills us with pride and drives us to continue giving our best to our guests,” Alcocer says.
el Restaurante Articles About the Listed Restaurants
el Restaurante has covered many of the restaurants and chefs on the impressive list:
- We’ve written about Chef Alcocer of Valle in Oceanside, California three times: About The Guest Chef Experience; about Rosca de Reyes; and, most recently, about the Two Chapters in Alcocer’s Narrative.
- We interviewed Chef Hugo Ortega of Hugo’s in Houston about The Magic of Mole;
- We featured information about how Chef Diana Davila is Elevating Elotes at Mi Tocaya Antojeria in Chicago;
- We described The New Take on Tlayudas Chef Gustavo Romero is taking at Nixta in Minneapolis;
- We celebrated when Chef Val Cantú's Californios was awarded Three MICHELIN Stars, making history as the first Mexican restaurant in the world to earn the accolade. Californios is in San Francisco.
But there were so many establishments that we’ve somehow missed. You can discover all of them here…and we’ll be exploring more about many of them in upcoming issues of el Restaurante.
Speaking of winning restaurants, el Restaurante is searching for the best independent Mexican/Latin restaurants in the country, through the 2026 Independent Mexican/Latin Restaurant of the Year program, sponsored by Mineragua. Top prize is $5,000 a custom video! Click here for details.