Tampa Bay Times14%
15 places to get Mexican food around Tampa Bay 35%
By Evan Rodriguez16%
7/20/2026, 3:00:00 PM
Topics: Mexican Cuisine, Local Restaurants
BS Summary: This article contains 31 faulty reasoning types, including Halo Effect, Attempt to Sell a Product or Service, and Overconfidence Bias, with Biased Writer Voice as the most egregious example at 35% saturation with 732 hits. Analysis detected 3,312 faulty-reasoning hits from 2,089 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 43.1% and a BS Rank of 35% (12,434 of 19,025 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 65.40% of the article peer group.
When we think of Mexican food stateside, California and Texas typically ring out.
But don’t sleep on Tampa Bay’s Mexican food.
The area has a wealth of delicious fare inspired by cooks from the Mexican states of Sonora all the way down to Chiapas.
The cuisine of Mexico is vast.
It ranges from Veracruzana-style whole cooked fish to Lebanese- and vaquero-inspired roasted and grilled meats to Caribbean-style-barbecued beef and goat.
Dishes range from tacos on sturdy handmade corn tortillas, to platters with grilled vegetables, to gooey, cheesy machete quesadillas.
Handmade tortillas are an important element at many of the places on this menu — a tortilla hecho a mano is typically an indicator of a quality Mexican food establishment.
This list is not exhaustive, so please give us a shout and let us know where we should get our next Mexican food fix.
Casita Taqueria
This St.
Petersburg taqueria is owned by an American couple who fell in love with Mexican food, especially the taquerias of Southern California.
They’re making traditional Mexican-style tacos here, with corn tortillas made in-house and a menu that offers a seasonal fish taco, barbacoa (braised and shredded beef) and three vegetarian options: verduras (vegetables), tempeh and Brussels sprout.
The menu also includes guacamole, flautas with Oaxacan cheese and a meat of your choice, and tortas on locally made sandwich rolls.
Beer, margaritas and sangria are available.
Tacos cost $2.50-$4.98.
2701 Fourth St.
N., 2663 Central Ave., 2991 66th St.
N., all in St.
Petersburg. casitatacos.com .
Chicken & Taco Loco
Hailing from Zacatecas, Mexico the owners have a food truck and a restaurant, both located in Brandon.
Chicken & Taco Loco serves legit Tex-Mex.
The couple owned a tortilleria in Dallas, Texas, for a spell and still make corn tortillas by hand and also offer regional fare reminiscent of their Sierra Madre homeland.
Look for menudo, huaraches and fajita plates.
The brick-and-mortar was supposed to close after Cinco de Mayo, but they are still open through mid-summer with limited hours.
The food truck and restaurant are two different situations, the latter hosting a full bar, but you can get out of either for under $20 and be more than satiated.
The food truck is located at 535 E.
Brandon Blvd., Brandon.
813-654-3788.
The grill is at 716 W.
Lumsden Road, Brandon.
813-654-3799.
Chile Verde
Inspired by food from Monterrey and Zacatecas, Mexico, this old St.
Petersburg gas station has been converted into a taqueria.
Doubled up on the tacos, their small, soft corn tortillas are delivered fresh every morning from Tortilleria La Rancherita in Bradenton.
With a cooler wall of Mexican beers, Jarritos and other drinks, this restaurant still feels like a convenience store, in all the good ways.
Micheladas in giant foam cups next to half-full sweating caguamas of Modelo Especial and bowls of menudo dot the tables at lunchtime.
Most Mexican street tacos will set you back $2 on Tuesdays; otherwise they are $3.49.
2801 22nd Ave.
N. and 4801 34th St.
S., St.
Petersburg. chiliverde34.com
Happy Jalapeno Food Market
Happy Jalapeno is an open-air market and restaurant, a gem located in a Brandon food truck park.
The food is inspired by the cooking of Michoacan, Mexico.
The dry erase menu board offers agua chile, tacos and food plates such as chicken mole, for which the owner imports ingredients from Mexico.
The proprietor sources her tortillas locally, and tacos are served with griddled onions and cool cucumber and radish on the side.
The market offers a menagerie of agua frescas, desserts, fruit bowls and smoothies to quell the summer heat.
Two tacos and a can of Coca-Cola will run you about $10.
3410 S.
Kings Ave., Brandon. happyjalapenomarket.com
El Huarache Veloz
Named after the Mexico City masa dish shaped like a sandal, the small restaurant is big on CDMX flavor.
In 2022, our food and dining critic Helen Freund listed the spot’s huarache con carne asada as one of the best dishes she ate that year.
“The specialty at this Pinellas Park Mexican restaurant is the huarache with carne asada, made with a masa dough folded around smashed black beans and fried until golden and crispy,” she said.
“Thick strips of grilled steak, scallions, nopales (prickly pear cactus), queso fresco, cilantro and a red salsa are piled on top — a delightful combination of flavors, texture and lots of spice.”
The dish will run you about $20 after tax and the tacos are around $4, served with onions and cilantro.
7100 49th St.
N., Pinellas Park.
727-525-6028.
Jimmy’s Tacos
The East Los Angeles-born taco trailer with food influences from Aguascalientes and Puebla, Mexico, has outposts in St.
Petersburg and Ybor City.
Both locations’ menus are the same and pretty close to what the trailer in L.A. was serving almost 40 years ago: fillings like carne asada and birria wrapped in handmade corn tortillas.
Jimmy’s has added vegan options such as soy chorizo and al pastor tofu, taco bowls and a whole menu of birria items including birria egg rolls, fries and bao buns.
The St.
Petersburg location has a full bar.
Beer and wine are offered at the Ybor City spot.
Tacos run about $4 and are topped with cilantro, onion and guacamole, which is a pleasant addition and a nod to those Southern Californian roots.
1604 N. 17th St., Tampa; 2534 Central Ave., St.
Petersburg. jimmystacosfl.com .
Mexico Lindo Supermarket
Mexico Lindo is one of Pinellas County’s oldest Hispanic-owned markets and lunch counters.
The market’s founder hails from Zacatecas and opened Mexico Lindo in the early 1990s.
The spot has been around long enough that cuts like oxtail, beef tripe and tongue were considered exotic when it served them decades ago, said a 2000 Tampa Bay Times article.
Housing a carniceria and taqueria under the same roof makes for a winning combination in producing fresh and vibrant Mexican food.
Carnitas, pollo or al pastor tacos won’t set you back more than $2 or so a piece , and come topped with diced onion and cilantro.
6050 Park Blvd.
Unit 1, Pinellas Park.
727-548-8721.
La Mini Supermarket & Deli
This quaint taqueria and tiny grocery store tucked away in the corner of an old shopping center on West Waters Avenue is a standout.
La Mini serves thick, pillowy handmade corn tortillas, a fiery red salsa (it is quite spicy) and a rich goat birria.
The carnitas had a little texture on the griddled side, with a deep rich pork flavor.
La Mini’s taqueras will bring you eight ounces of salsa with only two tacos.
If you were to drown your tacos in even a quarter of the fiery stuff , you’d have to drink all the near-frozen bottled Squirt in the cooler.
Two tacos and a bottled soda will run you around $10.
1000 W.
Waters Ave.
No.
1, Tampa.
813-936-7879.
Pollos el Carboncito
Pollo asado al carbon (charcoal grilled chicken) can be sublime, the citrusy smoky smell of chargrilling chicken wafting from a nearby hood vent or grill.
Freund came across Pollos Carboncito on her way back from Orlando last year.
We’ll let the food and dining critic take it from here: “The highlight, without a doubt, was the perfectly grilled, smoky chicken.
Diners can order a whole bird ($23) or half ($15), both of which arrive flanked by a whole smorgasbord of sides, including frijoles charros (also known as charro beans or cowboy beans), arroz rojo (Mexican-style red rice), a grilled onion half and warm tortillas.”
A creamy spicy salsa verde and a fiery red and orange salsa roja are available.
Take note: You can typically split, with one other person, a whole chicken at spots like this for a filling meal, or even a half chicken for a lighter meal.
Ranchero Tacos
Before my partner and I moved to Tampa, we searched for tacos with our soon-to-be Seminole Heights home as the center point.
Ranchero Tacos in South Seminole Heights was the closest spot to us on the map, and the first taco I ate in Tampa Bay.
It still remains one of the best.
In the style of Guerrero, Mexico Ranchero Tacos has fresh handmade corn tortillas cranked out to order.
The meats like lengua ($6.55), carnitas ($3.89) and carne asada ($4.45) are treated with care and the tacos are topped with diced onions and cilantro with lime and a green and red salsa on the side.
You are going to pay a little bit more for a taco at Ranchero, but they are larger and heftier than your average taco.
Flautas, tortas and quesadillas round out the menu.
4901 N.
Florida Ave., Tampa.
813-495-2635. rancherotacos.com .
Rocky’s Tacos
Look for the bright red truck on West Hillsborough Avenue across from ABC Pizza House.
Rocky’s food is also in the style of Guerrero, tacos and plates hefty with generous portions.
He doubles up on the fresh corn tortillas, and the tacos require them.
Rocky’s is not shy with the grilled onions.
They come draped across tripa (cow intestine), campechana (Mexican sausage with steak) and chicharron (pork skin) tacos served with a side of crisp radishes, lime, green and red salsa.
Jamaica (hibiscus) and pina (pineapple) agua fresca and horchata are available.
Tacos will run you just under $5 a piece.
1201 W.
Hillsborough Ave., Tampa.
813-374-5324.
Tacos Las Californias
Tacos Las Californias has a food truck on North Armenia Avenue and a brick-and-mortar on Memorial Highway, both located in Tampa.
The food truck is tucked behind Red Internacional Bar, and it’s serving up self-dubbed “Calimex.”
There’s a California burrito indicative of their namesake, with crispy fries, meat, fiesta cheese, crema and avocado salsa ($10.50).
The street tacos are served on small, good corn tortillas with fresh and grilled onions and fresh cilantro ($2.85).
Tacos Las Californias is synonymous with quesabirria tacos , the Tiajuanan and Southern Californian specialty.
7007 N.
Armenia Ave., Tampa. tacoslascalifornias.com .
Tacos Chiapas
Chiapas is the most southern state in Mexico, but you only need to drive to Brandon to score one of the food truck’s delicious machetes ($10).
The large masa tortilla is served hot and griddled, singed just the right shade of brown and stuffed with gooey melty white cheese and filled with your choice of meat.
The carnitas at the truck are perfectly crispy on one side and add a nice texture to the machete.
Red and green salsa are available and the dish comes with a small salad of shredded lettuce, diced tomato and cotija (salty, crumbly cow’s milk cheese) topped with crema.
109 N.
Kings Ave., Brandon.
813-796-1035.
TacoSon
TacoSon (the Son being an homage to the owner’s Sonoran heritage ) occupies a former Long John Silvers just south of Temple Terrace, and has been around for more than a decade.
Northern Mexican cooking is romantic, the style of cooking that often finds its way into the kitchens of solid Tex-Mex joints.
Look for the Sonoran-style hot dog with mayo and mustard, tomatoes, white onions and hot sauce ($10.50); bistec ranchero on Fridays with grilled steak, onions, peppers and tomatoes (around $15); and a bevy of carnes to go into tacos, burritos and quesadillas.
7521 N. 56th St., Tampa. tacosonmexicangrill.com
Xtreme Tacos
This Seminole Heights community hub and mainstay offers homemade corn tortillas and tacos with a more California-style ingredient profile, topped with cabbage, cheese and guacamole.
Xtreme Tacos offers proteins like carnitas en chile verde, grilled pork belly and fried grouper.
The fried grouper taco is an excellent version with a crispy beer tempura batter and soft, flavorful chunky grouper encased in a homemade tortilla.
Xtreme Tacos really does the Baja-style taco justice, a style that is often imitated and often fumbled.
Individual tacos run $3.75-$4.50.
The menu is rounded out with burritos, nachos and fries and an extensive vegan menu with fillings like fried Sriracha cauliflower, seitan barbacoa, beans and potatoes.
Mexican and local craft beer and sangria is available.
5609 N.
Nebraska Ave., Tampa. xtremetacos.com .
We’d love to know where you go for Mexican food.
Tell us in the comments.
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