Santa Fe, NMTacos

The taco line-up at this Galisteo Street restaurant runs to nine kinds, served four to a plate with red and green salsas or mixed and matched a la carte: barbacoa, pollo asado, carne asada, calabacitas and al pastor with pineapple among them. LiAnn and Raul Morales opened it in 2016 in the former El Paseo bar, and the kitchen also cooks the Morales family's mole from Aguascalientes. Order the calabacitas and the al pastor.

Tacos at this courtyard restaurant off Palace Avenue come on soft blue corn tortillas with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion, and they are eaten with a fork, since they arrive smothered in chile like the rest of the plate. Order the enchilada and taco plate, a rolled blue corn enchilada with cheese and onion beside a soft blue corn taco, and take the red chile, which the restaurant also sells by the jar.

The rooftop cantina above Coyote Cafe on Water Street began as the cafe's overflow bar, and tacos sit at the center of its menu. The kitchen blisters tomatoes by the pound for the fire-roasted salsa on the steak tacos, while the best-selling fish tacos get a bright tropical salsa of pineapple, red onion, cilantro, jalapeño and mint. Order the al pastor tacos, the owner's own pick, with extra pineapple.

Berenice Medina and her father, Luis, have run this taco truck since 2005, now parked on Early Street, and in 2023 the pair were James Beard semifinalists for Best Chef: Southwest. The best-selling carnitas cook overnight for a balance of fat and salt, and the al pastor mixes sweet, salty and spicy. Order the al pastor alongside the carnitas.