An authentic Mexican deli serving cult tamales. Try the handmade parcels in-store or take home the ingredients to make them yourself. There are few places in town making these dishes, and this one's the best.

Rosa Cienfuegos makes some of Sydney's best Mexican food. At this colourful and casual all-day Mexican eatery and deli, she's serving home-style dishes: huevos divorciados, tacos, garnachas and more. Plus, there are hard-to-find Mexican pantry goods to buy.

Visit for mezcal imported from Indigenous communities in Mexico and dishes from the Yucatan Peninsula – including cricket-laced guacamole, potato gratin with guajillo chillies, and octopus tacos.

A crisp share menu and hundreds of tequila options. And the guacamole gets made right at your table.

A Mexican street food cafe in Newtown serving not-so-traditional sopes: thick round tortillas loaded with toppings such as vegan hibiscus al pastor and spanner crab tinga. The homely little courtyard feels like a slice of Mexico on King Street.

A bright Barangaroo taqueria doing mezcal and tequila cocktails, plus stellar tacos and share plates marrying Mexican flavours and cooking techniques with Australian produce.

This Mexican diner's menu is entirely plant-based, and it's all the better for it. If you're a veg-lover and a fan of Mexican flavours, this is the spot for you. When your tortilla's loaded with pastor-style mushrooms, pico de gallo and pineapple; you won't even notice the meat's gone.

At this Mexican restaurant (from the former owners of Barrio Chino), there's a particular emphasis on seafood. Pink scallop tostadas, raw prawns sliced like sashimi and de-boned snapper have all starred in the past.

This rustic little bolthole, hidden in a Manly back alley, is one of the seaside suburb's most popular and enduring eateries. We can see why. The laid-back atmosphere belies just how seriously this team take their food.

A moody Mexican laneway diner in an old CBD printing shop. The upstairs restaurant serves tacos al pastor, a one-kilogram Wagyu rib eye and a sweet potato dessert. Downstairs there's a bar with more than 200 mezcals and tequilas.

Late-night Mexican and beats from Barrio Chino. Come here for tacos, tequila and lots of dancing.

Souther California-style Mexican is its own unique beast, separate to authentic Mexican, Tex-Mex, and even San Francisco-style. It's all about light flavours, a bit of borrowing from Asian cultures and a little bit of American fast-food knowhow. SoCal nails it.

You won't find any sugar skulls or sombreros here. This eatery and mezcal bar is inspired by the coastal state of the same name and the executive chef's heritage, flour tortillas are preferred – and they're used to make Wagyu burritos.

This Merivale bar is home to the tacos secreto – a sort of lucky dip for tacos, where the filling is a surprise until it reaches to your table. Secreto or not, each taco is around $7. We recommend the DIY platters, which are better value for money (and more fun). Try fillings such as baked eggplant and soy-chilli bean sauce or sirloin steak and chimichurri.

Traditional Mexican food and not-so-traditional Margaritas. (Ingredients in the one-litre Margarita jugs, for example, include Blue Curaçao, apple sour and melon).

A bright and cheerful Mexican eatery serving creative takes on the classics.

Looking at it, El Topo seems more like a sit-down affair where the food takes focus. But with over forty different tequilas – expertly deployed across an array of great cocktails – you can’t judge this book by its cover. It’s utterly unique, and delicious. Good times await.

A food truck and Chippendale taqueria by taco devotee Toby Wilson. No matter where you find him, Wilson serves a pared-back menu of the kinds of handheld tacos you'd find on the side of the road in Mexico, including the king of them all: tacos al pastor.

Mexico’s vibrant coastline informs every part of this colourful, multi-part bar and eatery. Dishes – such as Vegemite-glazed cauliflower al pastor – harness native Australian and Asian flavours, while cocktails put a Mexican twist on the classics.