When I travel I generally prefer to avoid the big commercial places as much as possible. My food radar tells me if you want to find the best tacos in Playa del Carmen then you need to walk the streets and find the places the locals eat at. To find the most authentic local cuisine you have to get off the tourist streets and hit some of the side streets, back alleys or adjoining neighborhoods. If you’ve followed the Dog and Dragon Adventures Instagram you’ll know I’ve had a lot of tacos in Playa del Carmen. It is honestly difficult to sort them into a ranking because they are all so good. How about I just give you some options on where to go and tell you what I liked about each place? You can explore all these places and so many more, because the options are seemingly endless.
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La Cochi-Loka
One of my favorite taco stops without a doubt was La Cochi-Loka. It is located only one block off of Quinta Avenida on Calle 10 Nte. You order on the street, but there is both outdoor seating and shady seating inside. The indoor seating area is located within Hotel La Rana Cansada and is a shared space with Bar Ranita who make a nice margarita. The tacos at La Cochi-Loka are consistently excellent, no frills, and very reasonably priced. The cochinita pibil tacos are a slow roasted, marinated pork that just melts in your mouth and leaves you with a smile. There are several toppings to adorn your tacos with from marinated onions to salsas of varying degrees of heat. Makes me want to go back just writing about them. There is often a line because the food is so good.
El Fogon
Another awesome taqueria in Playa del Carmen is El Fogon. There are two locations on 30 Avenida Nte., one at Calle 6 Nte. Bis. and one a few blocks north at Av. Constituyentes. Both locations have plenty of seating. They are generally pretty busy, but I was always able to get a table right away. The service is excellent, with a camarero helping you almost immediately. They have a lot of menu options, but my choice was always the al pastor tacos. They bring you sides of cucumbers, limes, radishes, nopales, and three different salsas. The salsa roja had just enough kick to heat me up every time. You won’t regret making a trek off 5th avenue over to El Fogon.
El Ranchito de la 10
Speaking of hot salsa, El Ranchito de la 10 really cranked up the spice level with their chile de arbol hot sauce. Just a little dab will do ya! It was excellent and made me go back for more. El Ranchito de la 10 is located on 10 Avenida Nte. across the street from the 3D Museum of Wonders. They have a lot of menu items outside of tacos. I was able to have both al pastor and cochinita pibil tacos. Also of note to me, this was one of the only restaurants I went to in Playa del Carmen where they brought out chips and salsa. Great people and great food. Emphatic yes for anyone considering this place.
Ay Taco!
Ay Taco! was a true taco stand setup under a roof with covered seating. Located on Calle 8 Nte. and 20 Avenida Nte., Ay Taco! provides fast, friendly service while cranking out a variety of delicious tacos. They bring you out a spread of salsas and fresh limes straight from the fridge as well. The go to for me of course was the al pastor which had lots of pineapple. In the states I typically eat flour tortillas almost exclusively. I decided I would try both corn and flour having eaten only corn tortillas everywhere else. I realized I was easily converted to corn in Mexico. The flour tortillas were yummy, but just seemed out of place for some reason. Check out Ay Taco!. You won’t leave disappointed.
El Chuleton
When you google great tacos in Playa del Carmen you inevitably get great reviews for El Chuleton. El Chuleton is located at 20 Avenida Nte. and Avenida Constituyentes. While El Chuleton gets rave reviews for their tacos they also have a lot of other options including a fantastic guacamole, soups, and sandwiches. The staff are attentive and polite. There is also a comfortable shady patio. The tacos are served with multiple fixings and salsas. Both the carne asada and al pastor tacos were excellent. I really appreciated the double layer corn tortilla, because sometimes they get a little soggy and start to crumble. Well executed presentation and flavors at El Chuleton.
Best Tacos in Playa del Carmen?
It is almost impossible to place all these phenomenal tacos in some sort of order. They are all great. The service was great. The atmosphere was great. The flavors and presentation were great. I think it comes down to personal taste and perspective. For me, I love the places that have a special hot, hot, hot sauce or an environment that makes me feel comfortable. I kept going back to El Fogon, El Ranchito de la 10, and La Cochi-Locka for those reasons. They were my top three in no particular order. You will find that there are so many great tacos in Playa del Carmen that it’s hard to miss. Hope you enjoyed the run-down of the best tacos in Playa del Carmen and I hope you have a chance to try some of these places yourself. They are so good that just talking about them and reliving them makes me need to go for tacos. Peace!
