This unassuming strip mall spot serves several platters that promise days worth of leftovers. The Sinaloa platter comes with a chicken tamale, a chicken enchilada, and a cheese-stuffed chile relleno, all complemented by pinto beans, Mexican rice, sour cream, and pico de gallo. Don’t skip dessert, especially the dense and decadent homemade tres leches cake topped with whipped cream. — M.R.

Taqueria is in the title, but this strip mall spot, tucked just inside the Beltway in Adelphi, Maryland, offers a full-on fonda experience. A small dining room with tables covered in green-and-white checkered cloth is the stage for a midnight-black mole Poblano that’s captured the attention of critics for years. Simpler pleasures like rich, creamy refried beans stand out, too. Proprietors Bernardo and Clara Vargas also own Panaderia El Mexicano, the bakery in the same lot. — Gabe Hiatt

David Perez and Carolina McCandless, the owners of this tidy cocina in Takoma Park, first met while working together at an organic vegetarian Mexican restaurant in San Francisco, so it stands to reason they put a a premium on ingredients. Perez leads the kitchen, grinding masa from heirloom Mexican corn and braising slightly sweet carnitas with Negra Modelo and oranges. Crunchy pepitas add a pleasantly surprising crunch to quesadillas that can be ordered with vegan cashew cheese. Weekend brunch brings an opportunity to sample masa waffles served sweet, with fruit, mezcal mascarpone, and maple syrup, or savory, with smoked ham, Oaxacan cheese, queso fresco, and jalapeno vinaigrette. Order for takeout or on a patio via QR code. — G.H.

The pictographic menu at La Placita boasts 20 different tacos, offering specialties and off-cuts such as cecina (salty dried beef), oreja (pig ear), and trompa — labeled in English as pig lip but technically part of the snout — that’s braised until it yields a rich texture not all that different from the fat cap of a ribeye steak. Even late in the afternoon on a weekday, there’s a line for the ordering counter at the expansive taqueria that appears to be the epicenter of the “Little Mexico” along Edmonston Road in Hyattsville. Visit La Flor de Puebla bakery next-door for a slice of tres leches cake. — G.H.

DC Corazon looks like it came out of a Lite Brite box. Owner Josefina Darui painted the facade fuscia, splashed the dining room walls with canary yellow and deep ocean blue, and commissioned cocktails in other neon-glow colors. The mole, by contrast, is chocolate-tinged red but just as memorable. Order it on chicken leg or a plate of “mole mignon” with shrimp and a side of soft blue corn tortillas. Customers will also find one of the more intriguing vegetarian tacos around town: jamaica (hibiscus flowers) sauteed in achiote paste for al pastor preparation. — G.H.

When he debuted Anafre in November 2019, months before the pandemic hit D.C., Alfredo Solis separated it from his other D.C. restaurants with a focus on coastal dishes like Yucatan shrimp tostadas, fried oyster tacos, and vuelve a la vida, a spicy Sinaloan-style seafood cocktail brimming with crab, shrimp, octopus, and oysters. Those three remain, but the chef has adapted by adding a pizza oven to fire off chile relleno pies and a section of sandwiches such as a grilled steak jibarito with caramelized onions and cilantro jalapeno aioli. — G.H.

The carryout window with the hot pink facade on U Street NW can barely contain everything chef Teresa Padilla, who grew up in the interior state of Tlaxcala, is excited to cook. Now that she has her own place, the longtime pastry chef in José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup imports hubcap-sized tortillas from Oaxaca to make tlayudas covered in pieces of beef tenderloin, chorizo, nopales, gooey strands of cheese, refried beans, and avocado. There are all sorts of tacos, but also bowls of equites (street corn salad) deglazed in a fiery pan, individual containers of chocoflan, and chamoy-tinged go-cups of frozen mangonada smoothies. — G.H.

This sleek, upscale restaurant with a Southern Mexican focus prides itself on being “authentic, not traditional,” so it’s not the place to go for tacos by the dozen. It is, however, a happy hour and brunch favorite. This prime people-watching spot is ideal for sipping on classic margaritas (here made with tequila blanco, triple sec, lime juice and “nogave”) while snacking on small plates like tostada con carne apache (wagyu beef crudo, pickled radish, salsa macha). Chefs Rob Aikens and Ben Tenner rely on Yesenia Neri Díaz, who grew up in the state of Guerrero, to lead masa production for tortillas made from heirloom Mexican corn. She’s a partner in the restaurant group’s new twin ventures, a taqueria and dressed-up cocina in La Cosecha market. — M.R.

José Andrés’s airy Mexican restaurant, located in Penn Quarter since 2007, is a high-end option downtown for made-to-order guacamole, antojitos (small plates) with a solid range of vegetables, and tacos like a Yucatán-style cochinita pibil (pit-cooked pig). Head chef Omar Rodriguez’s menu name-drops purveyors like Rancho Gordo beans and Anson Mills rice. Oyamel led the way for D.C. restaurants to grind their own Mexican heirloom corn. — G.H.

Ambitious, D.C.-based Knead Hospitality + Design brought New York chef Roberto Santibañez to town to serve as culinary director for this huge, artfully appointed waterfront restaurant with a prime position in the buzzy (and consistently pricey) Wharf development. By adding blue cheese, grapes, and smoked almonds to a guacamole perked up with pasilla chiles, customers can try one of the more interesting variations of the avocado dish for $17. Creamy, cheesy enchiladas Suizas are a hearty option, and are there are plenty of ways to enjoy seafood by the Potomac, notably an entree of butterflied, roasted branzino painted in red and green adobo. — G.H.

Vegetarians will appreciate the tacos filled with green beans, zucchini, squash, and tofu at this Falls Church restaurant. The braised, well-seasoned carnitas are available in a taco, burrito, or on a “tacoz sub” (a toasted roll). Culinary director Teddy Koumarianos is part Greek, so there’s a “Greek taco” served on a 7-inch pita with tzatziki sauce and the protein of your choice. — M.R.