Pork on a vertical spit with a pineapple on top — a Lebanese method, a Mexican result, and the best thing to eat in the city.
Al pastor is the emblematic taco of Mexico City and it exists because of Lebanese migration.
From the 1890s and particularly after the First World War, Lebanese and Syrian families settled in Mexico, chiefly in Puebla and Mexico City, bringing shawarma — spiced lamb stacked on a vertical spit and shaved off as it cooks.
Mexican-born descendants adapted it: pork instead of lamb, a marinade of dried chillies and achiote giving the red colour, and corn tortillas instead of pita. The pineapple on top of the spit, whose juice runs down the meat, is the finishing touch and the visual signature.
The Arabic version survives too — tacos árabes in Puebla, served on a wheat flatbread, closer to the original.
Al pastor means “shepherd style”, a reference to the lamb it started as.
How it is ordered
The trompo — the spinning cone of meat — is carved with a long knife directly onto the tortilla, and the taquero flicks a slice of pineapple off the top with the same motion. Watching it done well is part of it.
You are asked con todo? — onion, coriander and salsa. Say yes.
Tacos are small. Three to five is a normal order for one person. They come on two tortillas stacked, which is deliberate and stops them tearing.
Limes and salsas are on the counter. The green is usually tomatillo and the red usually chile de árbol, and which is hotter varies by stall — try a little first.
You pay at the end, and the count is remembered rather than written down.
Where
El Huequito in the Centro claims to have originated it in 1959 and is still going.
El Vilsito in Narvarte is a mechanic’s garage by day and a taquería by night — the ramps and tool racks are still there. It is the one most often named as the best in the city.
Los Cocuyos in the Centro, tiny, open until very late, and Michelin-listed.
El Tizoncito in Condesa also claims the invention. Orinoco for a modern chain done well.
Any stall with a queue of local people after ten at night is right.
Eating at a stall
Stand at the counter. Do not sit down unless there are stools. Do not take a photograph of the taquero without a nod.
Hygiene is generally fine at a busy stall — high turnover is the safety mechanism. Be more careful with anything sitting in a warm tray than with meat coming off the spit in front of you.
The rest of the taco canon
Suadero — slow-cooked beef. Carnitas — confit pork, best on Sundays. Barbacoa — pit-cooked lamb, a weekend breakfast. Cabeza — beef head, in several named cuts. Canasta — basket tacos, steamed and sold from a bicycle in the morning.
More Food & Drink
Mercado de San Juan
The city's gourmet market, where chefs buy and where you can eat crocodile, ant larvae and very good cheese at the same counter.
Pulquerías and Cantinas
A fermented agave drink that predates the conquest, and the century-old bars where the city still drinks it.