The best tacos and Mexican food in Des Moines

Des Moines has a deep, genuinely good Mexican scene, if you know where to look. The best of it lives on the east and south sides and along the taqueria corridors, with a couple of standout modern rooms downtown. Here's the map, from the institution everyone starts with to the trucks worth chasing.

The institution: Tasty Tacos

Tasty Tacos has been a Des Moines rite of passage since 1961. The signature is the puffy homemade flour-shell taco, unlike anything you'll get elsewhere, and the original east-side spot on East Grand is the one to visit, though you'll find locations across the metro. If you only have one Mexican meal in Des Moines, this is the local answer.

The best birria

Birria, slow-braised beef with a rich dipping consommé, took over the city, and Tacos La Familia is widely credited as the metro's birria pioneer. Get the tacos ahogados, drowned in consommé. For a south-side version, the quesatacos at La Baja Cocina Mexicana (on SE 6th, find them on Facebook) have a cult following, and up north, Flame the Taqueria in Johnston and Ankeny does a strong birria and al pastor.

Authentic taquerias

This is the heart of it. Faustinos near Beaverdale opened in 2023 and became a foodie favorite fast, order the "Vampiros" and the more adventurous cuts. El Michoacano on the northwest side has around fifteen fillings, including a genuinely good vegan nopal option. And the truck-and-stand tier is where the real ones go: Taqueria Los Pinos (a truck in the El Palomino lot on the E 14th corridor) and Tacos Degollado (a stand at 19th and University) both do carne asada and al pastor street tacos for a couple bucks each. Trucks keep their own hours, so check Facebook before you drive.

Sit-down favorites

For a table and a full plate, Los Laureles on East Grand has run a family kitchen for 25-plus years (their seafood cocktails are a sleeper). La Hacienda anchors the SE 14th corridor, and Fiesta, with locations around the metro, is the reliable big-margarita, combo-plate option for a group.

The modern rooms

Two spots take Mexican somewhere more ambitious. Bar Nico downtown grinds heirloom-corn tortillas in house every day and runs an entirely gluten-free kitchen, wild boar and pork-belly carnitas, Gulf shrimp, and inventive cocktails. And Malo, in a converted Art Deco firehouse, does sixteen kinds of taco (the beer-battered cod is the move) and some of the best margaritas in town.

The quick cheat sheet

• First-timer / the institution: Tasty Tacos (puffy shell)
• Birria: Tacos La Familia, La Baja, Flame
• Al pastor & carne asada trucks: Los Pinos, Tacos Degollado
• New-school taqueria: Faustinos, El Michoacano
• Sit-down + margaritas: Los Laureles, La Hacienda, Fiesta, Malo
• Upscale / date night: Bar Nico, Malo

Want the whole table? This is part of our guide to the best restaurants in Des Moines, and if you're in a pizza mood instead, here's the best pizza in town.

We track new spots as they open and email the best ones every week. Get the list, one email, no noise.