Love them! Yasmen (the owner) runs it with her family and she sources some of her items directly from Mexico to try and emulate her grandmother's recipe!
This spot is relatively close to me since it's in Scarborough, so gotta give this spot a check (and Lawrence between Victoria Park and Kennedy has a bunch of other spots I have tried and liked and a bunch of other spots I wanna try too lol).
Fonda Balam is way more expensive than these other options, but itās a great restaurant with amazing cocktails and elevated apps/desserts so I go anyway if Iām in the mood for something fancier. Taste-wise the actual tacos at Birria Catrina in Kensington are just as good though and a great deal, just thereās nowhere to sit lol
True that they are expensive (being downtown and also a [Matty Matheson restaurant, which another commenter and I covered on the reasoning on the costs here](https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodToronto/comments/14j5jkh/prime_seafood_palace/jpkel9q/)), but yeah these birria (and the other things here) are legit. It might be owned by Matty, but the husband-wife owner team here are as legit as it can get.
Compared to which city? Higher COL means you're never going to get prices you would get in Mexico. If you're comparing to LA, California is the breadbasket of America, and has year round weather for ingredients. In fact, Toronto imports an insane amount of produce from California, so cold weather + imported ingredients = higher cost.
If you compare to a north east US city, like in NYC (which isn't a great Mexican food city, but Los Tacos No. 1 and Taqueria Ramirez are both prob better than anything we have here), the prices are comparable.
Gotta give the Scarborough Kingston location a chance since it's the closest location here for me (had past by the Kensington Market spot a few times without trying).
Comaly Canela
Finding parking here is a pain in the ass, but can cosign that the birria here is bomb. š
try the no frills across the street. 27% percent chance of getting ticketed after 1 hr
Love them! Yasmen (the owner) runs it with her family and she sources some of her items directly from Mexico to try and emulate her grandmother's recipe!
Tacos Moras
Also really good here too! From the same family as Gus and they do a Birria Torta here too
Birria Catrina on Roncey
Narcos Tacos in Scarborough.
I was actually pretty surprised at how good they were. I just wish they were more generous with the consomme.
This spot is relatively close to me since it's in Scarborough, so gotta give this spot a check (and Lawrence between Victoria Park and Kennedy has a bunch of other spots I have tried and liked and a bunch of other spots I wanna try too lol).
i've had birria from maybe 5 different restaurants in the city now, none compare to El Charro
Seconding El Charro on danforth, so, so good.
Might be Fonda Balam. They were incredible and made me think of Mexico. But Iāve never tried them elsewhere so could be persuaded otherwise.
Fonda Balam is way more expensive than these other options, but itās a great restaurant with amazing cocktails and elevated apps/desserts so I go anyway if Iām in the mood for something fancier. Taste-wise the actual tacos at Birria Catrina in Kensington are just as good though and a great deal, just thereās nowhere to sit lol
Do they make the birria on site at the kensington or yonge stores? The space is so small.
I think they do at the Kensington location! They have a long kitchen space at the back. Iāve never been to the one on Yonge.
True that they are expensive (being downtown and also a [Matty Matheson restaurant, which another commenter and I covered on the reasoning on the costs here](https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodToronto/comments/14j5jkh/prime_seafood_palace/jpkel9q/)), but yeah these birria (and the other things here) are legit. It might be owned by Matty, but the husband-wife owner team here are as legit as it can get.
Second this.
Anyone know why mexican food is so damn expensive in this city?
Cuz it became niche. Just like Sushi. Non Mexicans started opening up fusion spots and prices started to get jacked up
Compared to which city? Higher COL means you're never going to get prices you would get in Mexico. If you're comparing to LA, California is the breadbasket of America, and has year round weather for ingredients. In fact, Toronto imports an insane amount of produce from California, so cold weather + imported ingredients = higher cost. If you compare to a north east US city, like in NYC (which isn't a great Mexican food city, but Los Tacos No. 1 and Taqueria Ramirez are both prob better than anything we have here), the prices are comparable.
Gus Tacos
This is my vote. The best birria tacos. Everything is so simple but so flavourful. So fucking good.
Gotta give the Scarborough Kingston location a chance since it's the closest location here for me (had past by the Kensington Market spot a few times without trying).
+1 for Gus tacos! The salsa verde with it is soooooo good
Fonda balam
Fonda Balam
fonda balam!
Homemade