Top 10 Most Famous Mexican Restaurants In The US
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| The Most Famous Mexican Restaurants In The US |
| Table of Contents |
Mexican food is a popular international cuisine that combines basic ingredients such as corn masa, beans, and meat with a wide variety of multi-ingredient sauces, garnishes, and slaws.
Mexican food is a delicious blend of tangy, spicy, sweet, and savory flavors that has grown into a multibillion-dollar chain restaurant industry in the United States.
Most Mexican chain restaurants in the U.S. deem themselves Tex-Mex cuisine as they fuse Mexican flavors with more American ingredients like cheddar cheese, hard-shelled tacos, and flour tortillas, not to mention a major reduction of heat and spice levels typical in authentic Mexican salsas.
Whether you're a purist or a Tex-Mex fan, you can find a Mexican restaurant to suit your tastes no matter where you live in the United States by visiting one of the best Mexican chain restaurants listed below.
Top 10 Most Famous Mexican Restaurants In The US
1. Chipotle
Year founded: 1993
Headquarters: Newport Beach, California
States with a location: 43
Specialty Dish: Carnitas Burrito
The aroma of fresh ingredients greets you as you enter Chipotle. The first thing you notice is the line where you can add all of your favorite toppings to your burrito or burrito bowl. Chipotle has something for everyone.
The restaurant's cleanliness and brightness are the next things you'll notice. You can see the fresh ingredients being prepared for your meal in the open kitchen. When you order your meal, you will see a team member prepare it fresh in front of you.
Chipotle is one of the best Mexican restaurants because it deviates from the fast food stereotype. The food is fresh and healthy, and the restaurant is clean and bright.
| What are some of the most popular Mexican dishes? Burritos, tacos, and enchiladas are popular dishes in Mexican restaurants in the United States (although burritos are not very common in Mexico and are typically only eaten in specific areas in northern Mexico). There are numerous other popular traditional Mexican dishes, such as mole, sopes, carnitas, and tostadas. |
2. Taco Bueno
Taco Bueno has approximately 150 locations in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Taco Bueno first opened its doors in 1967 in Abilene, Texas, more than 50 years ago.
Taco Bueno's menu covers all of the Mexican fast-food staples, including tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, and salads.
Taco Bueno also offers six different types of combo meals, allowing you to pair your favorite menu items with a drink of your choice.
3. Torchy’s Tacos
Specialty Dish: Trashy Torchy’s Tacos
Cuisine: Tex-Mex
Torchy's Tacos has over 90 locations across the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Torchy's Tacos was founded in Austin, Texas, by taco enthusiast Mike Rypka.
Rypka used to ride his red Vespa around town with a taco food trailer.
His tacos were so popular that he was able to open more than 90 Torchy's Tacos locations!
Torchy's menu is built around tacos.
Torchy's tacos come in a variety of flavors, including blackened salmon, smoked beef brisket, jalapeno cheddar sausage, fried avocados, and even Beyond Beef.
4. Taco Bell
Founded: 1962
Taco Bell is the world's largest Mexican fast-food chain, known for its low prices, late-night hours, and extravagant twists on classics such as tacos, burritos, and quesadillas.
There are over 7,000 Taco Bell locations in the United States, so you're probably not far from one.
Taco Bell was founded in 1962 by Glen Bell.
Bell ran Bell's Drive-In and Taco Tia, a Mexican fast-food restaurant in San Bernardino, California, before opening the first Taco Bell in Downey, California.
5. Fuzzy’s Taco Shop
Year founded: 2003
Headquarters: Fort Worth, Texas
States with a location: 17
Fuzzy's Taco Shop first opened its doors in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2003.
Fuzzy has always been known for his Baja tacos and chips and queso.
Fuzzy's menu includes a variety of Baja tacos in tantalizing flavors like tempura shrimp, shredded brisket, spicy pork, grilled Mahi, and fried avocado.
They also sell three varieties of chips with queso: plain, beef, and chorizo.
In addition to their signature tacos, chips, and queso, Fuzzy's menu includes burritos, bowls, nachos, quesadillas, salads, and breakfast.
| Is Mexican food always spicy? A common misconception about Mexican food is that it is generally very spicy... However, this could not be further from the truth. While fresh and dried chiles are used in many salsas, sauces, and meat braises in Mexican cuisine, they usually provide complex flavor rather than spice or "heat." The level of spice in Mexican food is frequently determined by personal preference, and many Mexicans enjoy spice. When making Mexican food with chile, feel free to remove the pith and seeds of the chile, which contain the majority of the heat. To keep your food mild, you can omit the chile entirely. |
6. On the Border
This full-service chain was inspired by both Mexico and Texas for its menu, which features handmade tortillas, tacos, fajitas, and flavorful grilled proteins, as well as a variety of fun margaritas for the over-21 crowd.
According to Restaurant Business Magazine, the 40-year-old restaurant chain struggled with sales from 2006 to 2021 as a result of cost-cutting measures that reportedly harmed food quality. Last year, however, the company made a major comeback thanks to a complete menu overhaul and investments in technology that improved the guest experience (including a brand-new website and digital waitlist).
There is no shortage of customers who rave about the food and the service these days.
7. Baja Fresh
Over 150 Baja Fresh locations can be found in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Baja Fresh was founded in 1990. They have always made an effort to use fresh, unprocessed ingredients.
Because of this commitment to freshness, Baja Fresh restaurants lack freezers, microwaves, and can openers.
Tacos, burritos, and salads are among the traditional Tex-Mex dishes on the Baja Fresh menu.
8. Qdoba Mexican Eats
Qdoba has over 750 locations in 44 states and the District of Columbia.
The first Qdoba restaurant, Zuma Fresh Mexican Grill, opened in Denver, Colorado, in 1995.
In 1997, Zuma Fresh was renamed Z-Teca, and Qdoba was introduced in 1999.
Popular Mexican dishes on the Qdoba menu include burritos, bowls, quesadillas, and tacos.
Qdoba, on the other hand, offers numerous customizable options, including the ability to build your own burrito, bowl, loaded quesadilla, nachos, salad, or taco plate.
Qdoba offers a wide range of proteins, from classic ground beef or pulled pork to Impossible Meat and Cholula Hot and Sweet Chicken.
9. Moe's Southwest Grill
Year founded: 2000
Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia
States with a location: 37
In addition to cute and catchy publicity campaigns and menu item descriptions, Moe's takes pride in using fresh ingredients and humanely raised, steroid-free, high-quality meat products.
With dishes like the Homewrecker Burrito and the Funk Meister tacos, eating at Moe's is both healthy and entertaining.
They also have many vegan options that use tofu as a protein rather than the traditional rice and bean combination.
The stack is a unique menu item that appears to be a Mexican calzone with a soft grilled tortilla encasing a corn-chip shell stuffed with meat, gooey cheese, sour cream, black beans, tomatoes, and cilantro.
10. Chuy's
Micheal Young and John Zapp founded Chuy's in 1982 in Austin, Texas.Chuy's is our list's most inventive and quirky Tex-Mex chain, staying true to its hometown motto of "Keep Austin Weird."
Elvis and other retro memorabilia, as well as traditional Mexican decorations and brightly colored vinyl booths and chairs from the 1950s, adorn these restaurants.
Enchiladas, fajitas, chile Rellenos, quesadillas, burritos, and bottomless baskets of chips, salsa, and their famous creamy jalapeno dip are among the menu items.
One of the most popular menu items is the Chimichanga, a deep-fried burrito with a perfectly crunchy outer layer covered in your choice of creamy queso or creamy jalapeno sauce.
Conclusion
You've come to the right place if you're craving Mexican food. Our list of Mexican chain restaurants offers a wide variety of tasty tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, enchiladas, fajitas, and more.
Furthermore, these restaurants have locations throughout the United States, so no matter where you are, you will be able to find a Mexican restaurant that will satisfy your craving.
What are you waiting for? Head to those restaurants to enjoy the best Mexican food!
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