Best Tacos in Houston: Al Pastor, Barbacoa and Breakfast

The best tacos in Houston come from a city that cooks Mexican food in several accents at once: Tex-Mex plates, al pastor shaved off a spinning trompo, slow-cooked barbacoa and breakfast tacos on flour tortillas made that morning. Houston is enormous, so eat by style, not by neighborhood.

Choose one style per outing and follow it. Start with whatever the cook is making in front of you, and ask what the kitchen does best before you order a third taco.

What are the best tacos in Houston known for?

Ask three Houstonians and you will get three different answers, and that is the point. The city has taquerias that specialize in one thing, trucks that park in the same lot for decades and sit-down restaurants that treat the tortilla as seriously as a bakery treats bread. Corn tortillas dominate the taco stands; flour tortillas lead at breakfast.

The fillings that define the city are al pastor (marinated pork roasted on a vertical spit), barbacoa (slow-cooked beef), carne asada, lengua (beef tongue), chicharron and a long list of egg combinations. A good rule is to try the house specialty first and the lime and salsa second. If a place has a trompo turning in the window, that is where to start.

Where to try tacos al pastor in Houston

A trompo is a vertical roaster stacked with adobo-marinated pork and topped with a pineapple. Look for the spit turning in the window: a taqueria that carves al pastor to order, with crispy edges and a sliver of pineapple on top, is doing it properly. Pair it with shredded barbacoa in a three-taco order, and try a birria taco with a cup of consomé for dipping. Ask what is carved fresh that hour, and check that the spot is open before you go.

When you eat al pastor, watch for the char at the edges and the thin slice of pineapple. The meat should taste of chile and spice, not of sugar. A squeeze of lime and a spoonful of green salsa is the classic finish.

Where do you find Houston breakfast tacos?

Breakfast tacos are a Texas habit, and Houston does them in large numbers. Some barbecue restaurants are better known for barbecue, yet their breakfast tacos are beloved, with fillings that include eggs and potatoes and tortillas fried in beef fat. Taquerias on the east side, around Navigation Boulevard, turn up whenever people argue about the city's best, usually over a bacon taco.

Order breakfast tacos in pairs. A potato and egg taco shows how careful a kitchen is with the basics, and a second taco with a meat filling shows what it does best. Most breakfast spots sell out of their best tortillas by late morning, so go early on weekends.

How to find Houston taco trucks

Houston's taco trucks and stands cluster in parking lots along the big roads, and they work best if you look at what the cook is doing rather than the sign. A trompo, a steaming pot of barbacoa or a flat top covered with tortillas means the kitchen has a specialty. A truck with fifty items and nothing visibly being cooked is a different kind of stop.

Parking is rarely a problem, but seating often is, so plan to eat standing, in your car or on a nearby curb. Cash is a sensible backup, because the occasional truck has a reader that is down. Hours at trucks change with the weather and the day, so look for a recent post before you drive across town.

Where to look for Houston late night tacos

Houston is a late city, and a taco is the usual answer when a night out ends. Some trucks and taquerias stay open past midnight on weekends, and the habit is stronger in neighborhoods with a lot of bars and live music. Hours shift all the time, so do not trust a listing that has not been updated lately.

Choose fillings that hold up. Al pastor, carne asada and chorizo stay good for ten minutes in a foil wrapper; a delicate fish taco does not. Finish with a glass of water and a napkin.

How should you order tacos at a busy window?

Decide before you reach the counter. Say the filling and the tortilla together ("two al pastor on corn, one barbacoa on flour") and ask for the salsa on the side if you want to taste the taco first. Two or three tacos make a light meal; four make a large one.

If the group is big, send one person to order and another to find the table. Most taquerias in Houston run on fast turnover, so a line is usually shorter than it looks. Tip the cook if you have been served well.

What else should you eat in Houston?

Tacos are one thread in a very big food city. The same neighborhoods that serve tacos also serve some of the best Vietnamese food in the country, so see the guide to Vietnamese food in Houston. For a lazier meal, the brunch in Houston guide covers patios and biscuits, and the Montrose restaurants guide is a good walking neighborhood. If barbecue is the plan, read how to rate the best barbecue in Houston. All the city guides are on the US guides page.

A taco is easy to remember and hard to compare. The Mosey app lets you rate each one you eat by dish, so when you want the al pastor you liked best, your own list has the answer.