Carnitas tacos at Tehuitzingo Deli and Grocery

Photo: Roxana Marroquin

Sunset Park, Brooklyn

On a recent Saturday afternoon in this largely Latino neighborhood, families crowded around the tight tables at Tacos Matamoros (45-08 Fifth Ave between 45th and 46th Sts, 718-871-7627). Pint-size tacos come stuffed with juicy pork, beef and chicken, and few cost more than $1 each (tortillas with chorizo or tongue clock in at a whopping $1.50). A few blocks south is Ricos Tacos (505 51st St at Fifth Ave, 718-633-4816), where some of the best tacos in the city hide behind a grimy front window. Tiny al pastor (pork cooked on a rotisserie, gyros-style) and chunky cecina (grilled, salty beef) varieties are wrapped in two tortillas for $1 apiece. At El Palenque (57-09 Fifth Ave at 57th St, 718-567-8508), the jukebox is deafening, but the distraction is tempered by delicate offerings from the kitchen. Some of our favorite examples of moles, tamales and chilaquiles outside of Oaxaca can be found here. Try the enchiladas mole, chunks of juicy chicken breast wrapped in a fragile tortilla and generously doused with dense chocolate sauce.

Midtown

If the quintessential Mexican food is the taco, look no further than Tehuitzingo Deli and Grocery (695 Tenth Ave between 47th and 48th Sts, 212-397-5956) for tortilla-bound perfection. The tiny Mexican deli and bodega, where English is rarely spoken, offers up juicy carnitas (pork seasoned with garlic, thyme and oregano and cooked in lard) and garlicky, lime-marinated beef tacos. Down the street, the specialty at Tulcingo Del Valle (665 Tenth Ave between 46th and 47th Sts, 212-262-5510) is the sauces—including several moles using tomatoes, assorted chiles, chocolate and almonds—made by the Puebla-born owners. Also not to be missed are the pork spare ribs in a tomatillo-and-pumpkin-seed concoction. Across town, a dank food court is home to Pampano Taqueria (805 Third Ave between 49th and 50th Sts, 212-751-5257), maker of the city’s best chicken taco and cooling aqua fresca. The tacos are pricier at $2.75 each, but the top-notch ingredients—crispy cilantro, sharp onions, chunky guacamole and superb cuts of meat (chicken breast and hanger steak)—are worth it.

Woodside, Jackson Heights and Corona, Queens

Along the 7 train is a tight encampment of ethnic food emporiums that range from Thai and Bangladeshi to Pakistani…and now Mexican. Tamal (41-46 54th St at Roosevelt Ave, Woodside; 718-533-0011), which joined the strip last March, offers authentic eats along with a gringo-pleasing two-for-one margarita happy hour on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 3pm to 7pm. You can order the sizzling fajitas, but your best bet is to go for the crunchy bistec and al pastor tacos, and chicken taquitos atop puréed black beans. For a break from tortillas, head down Roosevelt Avenue to Taqueria Coatzingo (76-05 Roosevelt Ave at 76th St, Jackson Heights; 718-424-1977). The shrimp cocktail, served Mexico City–style in a tall ice-cream-sundae glass with chunks of jumbo shrimp and avocado in a sea of salsa, is outstanding. La Espiga Bakery (42-13 102nd St at 42nd Ave, Corona; 718-779-7898) in nearby Corona has richly flavored tacos that you may want to skip in favor of the quesadillas filled with earthy huitlacoche and pumpkin flowers.

Spanish Harlem

What was once the realm of cuchifritos (Puerto Rican soul food, like fried pork skins) is quickly becoming the land of tacos and freshly grilled corn. One of the best spots for them is El Paso Taqueria (1642 Lexington Ave at 104th St, 212-831-9831). The guacamole is not to be missed. Other specialties, are the hearty Mexican-style breakfasts—chorizo and eggs, cactus and eggs—with sweet beans and rice. Farther uptown is old standard La Hacienda (219 E 116th St between Second and Third Aves, 212-987-1617). Here, you can watch Spanish soap operas on a big-screen television while enjoying falling-off-the-bone chicken legs smothered in a nutty mole. Across the street, lines form at lunchtime for fresh tacos at Taco Mix (234 E 116th St between First and Second Aves, 212-831-8147). The menu consists of scribblings on a poster board behind the grill, where barbecued pork, beef and chicken are cooked to order. Squeeze fresh lime over the soft bundles and enjoy them on the street. The adventurous can try the specialty: pig-ear filling.

Fish Tacos

The traditional Baja-style fish taco consists of a fried, succulent white fish wrapped in two soft tortillas with a sprinkling of crunchy cabbage and lime wedges on the side. At Bonita (338 Bedford Ave between South 2nd and South 3rd Sts, Williamsburg, Brooklyn; 718-384-9500; 243 DeKalb Ave at Vanderbilt St, Fort Greene, Brooklyn; 718-622-5300), fried tilapia topped with a mound of cabbage and chipotle mayonnaise is cradled by two homemade corn tortillas. Mercadito (179 Ave B at 11th St, 212-529-6490; 100 Seventh Ave South at Grove St, 212-647-0830) serves four mini tacos that incorporate a fresh fish of the day. Recently, this equated to beer-battered mahi mahi drizzled with chive-habanero aioli. Finally, go to cramped, darkly lit Florencia 13 (185 Sullivan St between Bleecker and Houston Sts, 212-677-6830) to enjoy Santa Catalina fish tacos—lightly breaded tilapia in tortillas—with a near-perfect margarita.