The top 25 Mexican restaurants in Toronto by neighbourhood

Mexican restaurants in Toronto deal in more than just tacos, satisfying cravings for everything from citrusy ceviches to hearty Mexican comfort foods like rich guisados (stews). Really, you'll find the whole enchilada on menus across town from traditional homestyle favourites, picante street foods and even some fancy, upscale fare.

Here are my picks for the top Mexican restaurants in Toronto by neighbourhood.

THE ANNEX
The especialIdads de la casa at Playa Cabana include spicy mole enmoladas, carne asada and huevos rancheros, though its certainly not lacking in the taco department either.

BALDWIN VILLAGE
Flautas de carne, tostadas de tinga, chilaquiles, and enchiladas are all on the menu at Reforma. Must-haves include the octopus tostada with chorizo mayo, and the flan de chocolate to finish.

BAYVIEW & LEASIDE
Start with a piping hot bowl of pozole before moving on the sizzling fajitas and caliente calamari at Mexico Lindo

BEACHES
Xola is home to five different types of gaucamole ranging from traditional to eccentric with mix-ins like smoked salmon or goat cheese. Also on the menu, taquitos, quesadillas, and tacos.

BLOOR WEST VILLAGE
Mad Mexican is a taco house and market where the menu covers everything from ensaladas and caldos to tortas and tacos. Try the chile relleno featuring poblano peppers stuffed with a medley of vegetables in chipotle sauce.

BLOORCOURT
Mexican style bar foods are the specialty at Kitch where the menu boasts a variety of nachos, tacos, and fusion foods like pico pizza.

CORKTOWN
Authentic, homestyle Mexican cooking is what Cocina Economica does best. The bar menu majors in mezcal while highlights from the kitchen include slow roasted meats sold by the pound for family style feasting along with rice, beans and fresh tortillas.

DISTILLERY DISTRICT
El Catrin is Mexican food gone fancy. The massive restaurant serves up an ample selection of both tequila cocktails and tacos, but the highlights for me are the ceviches, and the guacamole with chicharon.

EGLINTON WEST
Start with mini duck carnita tacos, queso fundido, or the ceviche of the day at Frida before moving on to entradas like the braised lamb barbacoa or spicy camarones a la diabla.

ETOBICOKE
Huevos Gourmet is a brunch joint on Lake Shore Boulevard West where the menu draws on French and Mexican influences. Huevos rancheros, molettes (Mexican toast), and breakfast burritos are among the most popular picks.

HIGH PARK
Mom and pop restaurant, Aztec's Mine dishes out hearty homestyle Mexican cooking including rice and bean combos, all-day huevos rancheros, and tortilla-focused favourites like tacos de fritanga featuring chorizo marinated in beer and tequila.

JUNCTION
Split a pitcher of paloma cocktails at Playa Cabana Cantina before trying to eat as many of the menu's 10 tacos as humanly possible. Don't know where to start? Go for the pulpo taco featuring chipotle grilled octopus, Spanish chorizo and pico.

KENSINGTON MARKET
There's no shortage of tacos in this neighbourhood, but Pancho Y Emiliano can be counted on for more hearty fare as well. The chicken chilaquiles with salsa verde is just one example, but do your best to save room for churros too.

KING WEST
Los Colibris is an upscale cocina Mexicana where the menu bills a multitude of ceviches, whole fish preparations, and hearty plates of tesmole rojo de cerdo, pork confit in pasilla ancho sauce with masa dumplings and epazote.

LIBERTY VILLAGE
Maizal Quesadilla Cafe takes pride in making tortillas from scratch that are unmatched on most other menus. With such a strong foundation it's almost impossible to go wrong whether ordering Tacos Dorados (fried potato tacos), or Sopes featuring thick tortillas topped with black beans, pickled onions, lettuce and crema.

NORTH YORK
Satisfy cravings for black bean soup, enchiladas, and platters of cochinita pibil north of Lawrence at La Mexicana.

PARKDALE
Tacos and cans of Tecate are match made in heaven at Grand Electric. Settle in for a sampling of tortillas topped with things like beef cheek, chorizo with queso, pork belly, and spicy arbol chicken.

RIVERSIDE
La Carnita on Queen East turns out plates of signature tacos including the pollo frito (fried chicken) and carnita confit pork, along with daily specials like insanely good crispy oxtail tacos.

SCARBOROUGH
North of Mexico is the place to go for tacos topped with seared lobster meat, burritos stuffed with rib eye, and tostadas loaded with black tiger shrimp.

ST. CLAIR WEST
Authentic Mexican cuisine is exactly where Tenoch excels. The Comida Mexicana offers up the usual array of tacos, tortas, and quesadillas, as well as, hard-to-find specialties like pambazo, a sausage and potato filled bun dipped in red sauce.

WEST QUEEN WEST
Fonda Lola is a casual Mexican bistro that showcases small plates like papas al chipotle, panela poppers, and tacos topped with things like prawns sautéed with garlic and guajillo, grilled octopus, and cochinita pibil.

YONGE & DUNDAS
The thing to get at Tacos 101 is the destination for al pastor tacos. The takeout counter on Dundas marinates the meat for these pork tacos overnight and then slow cooks them on a vertical spit. The result is juicy, caramelized bits of shaved pork that land on tortillas and are garnished with pineapple, cilantro, onions and salsa.

YONGE & EGLINTON
Chacho's Fine Mexican Dining is a lively restaurant decked out in vibrant colours. The menu boasts nine different tacos, six types of burritos, and an array of traditional favourites including parrilla grilled meats.

YONGE & LAWRENCE
Milagro is a cantina you can count on for brunch, lunch, and dinner. Standouts on the menu include the raw tuna tostadas, octopus ceviche, and adobado burritos packed with seared ribeye and bacon.

YONGE & WELLESLEY
Como En Casa might look like any ol' fast food counter from the outside, but inside the menu is full of homey comfort foods and seemingly every order is fortified with sides of rice, beans, and salad.

Thanks to Just Eat for sponsoring this post.

Lead photo of Cocina Economica

by Liora Ipsum via blogTO