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My favorite Mexican restaurants in Salt Lake City

While there are countless Mexican restaurants up and down the Wasatch front, a select few offer something extra special. The following is my own pick of the very best Mexican restaurants in Salt Lake City and the surrounding areas. I’ll start by covering the restaurants I’ve personally been to in recent times, and love! After that, some other picks that are popular with locals in town. The list has something for everyone. From refined fine dining through to drive-thrus and the best spots for authentic tacos and street eats.

Katrina's Mexican Restaurant & Cantina - chile Colorado
Katrina’s Mexican Restaurant & Cantina – Chile Colorado (Gastronomic SLC)

Katrina’s Mexican Restaurant

Neighborhood: Millcreek
Address: 3041 E 3300 S, Millcreek, UT 84109

Katrina’s opened in 2022, adding another great Mexican eatery to the Millcreek neighborhood. The menu at this local independent is also a little different to others around town as well – case in point – the pictured Chile Colorado above. You’ll also find a quartet of house made moles (available in a variety of dishes) as well as shareable dishes like molcajete.

Guisados Home Style Mexican Cooking - barbacoa de res
Guisados Home Style Mexican Cooking – barbacoa de res (Gastronomic SLC)

Guisados Home Style Mexican Cooking

Neighborhood: Taylorsville
Address: 2654 W 4700 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84129

This Taylorsville mom and pop is home to nearly a dozen different taco options – as well a variety of heartier dishes. My favorite dish right now from Guisados is their barbacoa de res pictured above. The finished plate features luscious tenderly beef, the type that shreds with a simple prod from the fork. It’s bears all the unmistakeable notes beef that’s been carefully slow roasted for hour upon hour.

Real Taqueria - cactus salad (Gastronomic SLC)
Real Taqueria – cactus salad (Gastronomic SLC)

Real Taqueria

Neighborhood: Holladay
Address: 1869 E Murray Holladay Rd, Holladay, UT 84117

Over in Holladay, the Valdez family craft a menu of authentic Mexican cuisine. Proteins are extensive with al pastor, asada, barbacoa, carnitas, lengua, pollo asada, veggies and nopalitos. Speaking of cactus you can snag a hearty salad, pictured above, paired with some equally excellent house made tortilla chips – making for a texture masterpiece. Bonus points for those in a rush: real have a handy drive-thru option too.

Chunga's - tacos
Chunga’s – tacos (Gastronomic SLC)

Chunga’s

Neighborhood: North Salt Lake / West Valley City
Address: 180 S 900 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84104
Address: 1895 S Redwood Rd, Salt Lake City, UT 84104

Regulars come back time and again, and often for one item in particular: al pastor. Chunga’s luscious rotisserie roasted and seasoned pork is available in a range of dishes – burritos, tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas – even nachos. Chunga’s is open six days a week, at 11 p.m. on the weekends, for whenever those al pastor cravings hit.

Tacos Garay – family pack (Gastronomic SLC)

Tacos Garay

Neighborhood: Granary District
Address: 909 300 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84101

This mom and pop spot in SLC offers one of the most wallet friendly deals in town. Tacos Garay family packs come with a pound of meat, 10 tortilla, beans, rice, salsa and toppings – the whole thing coming in happily under $25. Bonus points: one of the best breweries in town is mere seconds away…

De Los Muertos Mexican Restaurant - burrito close up
De Los Muertos Mexican Restaurant – burrito close up (Gastronomic SLC)

De Los Muertos

Neighborhood: Sugar House
Address: 1215 Wilmington Ave, Salt Lake City, UT 84106

Nestled in the heart of Sugar House, the restaurant lies adjacent to the Spitz, who own and operate this fast casual Mexican spot. It’s a kiosk ordering, and seat yourself type of place, which means you can get in and out of here as fast as you like. Highlights for me include the chicken mole burrito, and the eye catching patio outside – it’s THE spot for al fresco margaritas in the Summer months.

Those above are some of my own personal favorites. The following names are also routinely offered up as some of the best in the city, and are also worth exploring:

La Casa Del Tamal

Located inside WVC’s Azteca Indoor Bazaar is this family Mexican eatery with a menu that has me blushing and sweating at the same time. Barbacoa de Borrego (aka barbacoa lamb), al pastor fries, chicharron prensado (pressed pig skin) gorditas – just a trio of options from an extensive menu. I think I want to live here.

Santo Taco

Santo Tacos in the Rose Park area of SLC takes authentic stere-style tacos – indoors. Inside the modern and hip space you can enjoy your tacos rain or shine. You’ll find everything from carne asada through al pastor, not to mention more exotic selections such as tripe, tongue and cactus.

La Frontera

With multiple locations across the Wasatch Front, La Frontera has been making Utahns happy for decades. The concept is simple: the menu is huge, the prices are low, the service is quick. Stop by any La Frontera and you’re sure to find pretty much any dish you want. And if you can’t decide, yep, there’s plenty of combo options too.

Julia’s Mexican Food

A hidden gem. Authentic tastes of Michoacan and Zacatecas. Absolutely amazing and authentic; just a few of the ways Julia’s is described by locals who wax lyrical over this hole in the wall spot. Make sure you hit the ATM before you drop by, Julia’s is a cash only operation.

Chile-Tepin

This downtown SLC restaurant is one of the most popular downtown dinner spots. The menu is packed with favorites but also has a range of more adventuresome dishes such as mole, molcajetes and a parrillada platter of meats for two.


Outside of SLC here are some of my other favorite spots for fabulous Mexican cuisine:

Dos Olas - pollo tinga tacos
Dos Olas – pollo tinga tacos (Gastronomic SLC)

Dos Olas – Park City

Located at the Pendry Park City (Canyons) is this fabulous Mexican spot. Chef Carlos Segura taps treasured family recipes from his Mexican City youth, to create a menu thats equal parts fun and delicious. The picture tinga tacos are a particularly speciality, cooked with chipotle and topped with corn, onions, crema and onion. Two come to an order, double wrapped in delicate corn tortilla.

Maybe also check out

Maybe we can tempt you to something else delicious while you’re here? Check out these other detailed guides, some of the most popular pages on our website:

Who did we miss?

If you think we’re missing a really great addition to this list, please email us at stuart@gastronomicslc.com – we’d love to hear from you. Let us know who you think should be on this list and why. If you have a really great picture of one of more dishes, please send that too! We’re always excited to check our more businesses!

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12 thoughts on “My favorite Mexican restaurants in Salt Lake City”

  1. We did a work lunch at Taqueria 27 and those taco’s were very delicious. We also had some of the guacamole, and that was also very good. I would definitely go back there.

  2. Anywhere I can get green chili and a crispy chili rellano? I’m a Denver transplant, and I’m having trouble finding anything similar. I believe it is closer to New Mexican than Tex-Mex.

  3. Phil is right – T27 is donezo. They used to be great but I’ve had bad experience after bad experience and I”ll never go back. I even sat down with Todd and explained what was happening and it just got worse. They should have stuck with one location and figured out their service issues.

  4. El Asadero on N. Temple is a great mom and pop restaurant. Just down the street from Red Iguana and Julias, I have eaten at both. Julias albondigas soup is terrific but El Asadero definitely should be on this list.

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