Rankings tell you where to go. These tell you what you are eating when you get there — the techniques, the vocabulary, and the standards we hold shops to.
Al pastor, explained
Lebanese shawarma to Pueblan taco to the trompo in the front window — and how to tell real spit-roasted pork from a pan imitation.
TechniqueBirria and quesabirria
A two-hundred-year-old Jalisco stew and the newer Tijuana taco you dip in it. They are not the same order.
FundamentalsTortillas and masa
Nixtamalization, molinos, corn versus flour without the snobbery, and why Kansas City is unusually good at this.
StandardsHow to judge a taco
The 100-point rubric behind our rankings, published so you can argue with it. Four minutes, one taco.
ReferenceThe taco glossary
Suadero, buche, lengua, huaraches, escabeche, trompos. Read any menu board and order the thing you actually want.
NeighborhoodSouthwest Boulevard & the Westside
Kansas City's taco corridor, why it is there, and how to walk the whole stretch in one afternoon.
Start here if you are new
Read the glossary so the menu board stops being a wall of unfamiliar words, then how to judge a taco so you know what you are looking for. After that, tortillas and masa is the one that changes how you eat — most people have never consciously tasted the difference between a fresh tortilla and a bagged one, and once you do it is difficult to go back.
What is coming
Guides in preparation: carnitas and the confit method; a KCK and Argentine district neighborhood guide; salsa styles and what to match them with; a breakfast taco guide; and a plain-language guide to ordering offal cuts without being intimidated by them.
If there is something you keep wanting explained, tell us — reader questions are where most of these came from.