9 Must-Try Mexican Restaurants in Jacksonville (2024)

For more than a decade, Casa Leon has offered top-notch Mexican cuisine. The restaurant’s owner, hailing from La Piedad, Michoacán, Mexico, shares treasured family recipes. While the menu features a variety of street tacos, the highlight is the carne asada fries. These loaded fries are topped with grilled steak, cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole. Ideal for sharing, the generous portion serves two as an entree or a group as an appetizer.

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Diners in Duval seeking Baja-style cuisine should visit Estrella Cocina on the seventh floor of the Vystar Tower in Downtown Jacksonville. This spot is popular for happy hour, held Wednesday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The restaurant is renowned for its tequila and mezcal-based drinks, particularly the hibiscus margarita, which combines sweet and sour flavors from hibiscus syrup and lime juice. For a bite to eat, the shrimp co*cktail features locally caught shrimp in a spicy tomato broth with cucumbers, avocado, and red onions.

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Located just off Atlantic Boulevard, Ole Mexican Restaurant is a family-owned spot known for its exceptional weekly specials. Diners can enjoy $2 tacos on Thursdays, while Fridays and Saturdays feature all-you-can-eat tacos for $12. The menu offers a variety of Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes, including fajita salads, California burritos packed with a choice of meat and all the fixings, and crispy flautas. For dessert, options include flan with caramel and decadent cheesecake chimichangas, where cheesecake is wrapped in a crispy tortilla.

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Taqueria Cinco stands out in the Five Points neighborhood for its consistently good Mexican street food. Tacos served on corn tortillas feature toppings such as braised beef with avocado salsa and grilled cactus with summer squash. The menu includes tostadas piled high with meat or veggies, refried beans, cilantro, and avocado salsa. A must-try is the esquites, a Mexican street corn cup loaded with mayo, cotija cheese, hot sauce, and Tajin spice.

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Oaxaca Club highlights cuisine from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, renowned for its mole and mezcal. The menu features a variety of seafood dishes, from raw ceviche with octopus, shrimp, and fish to fried fish tacos made with masa-fried cobia. While dinner is popular, brunch offers some of the restaurant’s most unique dishes, including horchata-flavored French toast and chilaquiles topped with chorizo, eggs, queso fresco, and spicy crema.

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Mexican favorite Anejo, originally opened in Ponte Vedra, now boasts five locations around town and two more in other Florida cities. A standout dish is the churrasco steak with chimichurri, served with sweet plantains, rice, and beans. The herbaceous chimichurri perfectly complements the savory steak. Another highlight of the menu is the cochinita pibil, a slow-roasted pork dish with citrus and spices, available as a plate with rice and beans or as a taco filling.

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Known for its antojitos, or little cravings, this Mexican menu at Las Tapatias Restaurant Y Tienda features elote corn and loaded chicharron topped with sour cream, lettuce, avocado, tomatoes, and onions. Pair these snacks with a michelada, a Mexican co*cktail combining beer, lime, spices, and hot sauce. For a more filling option or to share, try the molcajete, a lava rock bowl filled with grilled meats and veggies in a savory and slightly spicy sauce.

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Located in a quiet strip mall on Beach Boulevard, Mi Casa serves street-style tacos simply topped with cilantro, onion, and a zesty tomatillo sauce. Another excellent option is the sopes, fried masa discs loaded with refried beans, red sauce, and a choice of protein like chicken, steak, chorizo, or beef tongue. The restaurant also operates a sister food truck, Mi Casa La Casa Del Tamal, specializing in tamales and tortas, the traditional Mexican sandwich.

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Casa Maria Tequila Bar & Grill, with two locations in town, boasts some of the best Tex-Mex and Mexican food in town. The menu features tacos topped with cilantro and onions, as well as carnitas street tacos loaded with pork, cilantro, and salsa. The restaurant is also known for its margaritas, available in flavors such as spicy cucumber watermelon, jalapeno, and traditional lime.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

For more than a decade, Casa Leon has offered top-notch Mexican cuisine. The restaurant’s owner, hailing from La Piedad, Michoacán, Mexico, shares treasured family recipes. While the menu features a variety of street tacos, the highlight is the carne asada fries. These loaded fries are topped with grilled steak, cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole. Ideal for sharing, the generous portion serves two as an entree or a group as an appetizer.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Diners in Duval seeking Baja-style cuisine should visit Estrella Cocina on the seventh floor of the Vystar Tower in Downtown Jacksonville. This spot is popular for happy hour, held Wednesday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The restaurant is renowned for its tequila and mezcal-based drinks, particularly the hibiscus margarita, which combines sweet and sour flavors from hibiscus syrup and lime juice. For a bite to eat, the shrimp co*cktail features locally caught shrimp in a spicy tomato broth with cucumbers, avocado, and red onions.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Located just off Atlantic Boulevard, Ole Mexican Restaurant is a family-owned spot known for its exceptional weekly specials. Diners can enjoy $2 tacos on Thursdays, while Fridays and Saturdays feature all-you-can-eat tacos for $12. The menu offers a variety of Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes, including fajita salads, California burritos packed with a choice of meat and all the fixings, and crispy flautas. For dessert, options include flan with caramel and decadent cheesecake chimichangas, where cheesecake is wrapped in a crispy tortilla.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Taqueria Cinco stands out in the Five Points neighborhood for its consistently good Mexican street food. Tacos served on corn tortillas feature toppings such as braised beef with avocado salsa and grilled cactus with summer squash. The menu includes tostadas piled high with meat or veggies, refried beans, cilantro, and avocado salsa. A must-try is the esquites, a Mexican street corn cup loaded with mayo, cotija cheese, hot sauce, and Tajin spice.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Oaxaca Club highlights cuisine from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, renowned for its mole and mezcal. The menu features a variety of seafood dishes, from raw ceviche with octopus, shrimp, and fish to fried fish tacos made with masa-fried cobia. While dinner is popular, brunch offers some of the restaurant’s most unique dishes, including horchata-flavored French toast and chilaquiles topped with chorizo, eggs, queso fresco, and spicy crema.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Mexican favorite Anejo, originally opened in Ponte Vedra, now boasts five locations around town and two more in other Florida cities. A standout dish is the churrasco steak with chimichurri, served with sweet plantains, rice, and beans. The herbaceous chimichurri perfectly complements the savory steak. Another highlight of the menu is the cochinita pibil, a slow-roasted pork dish with citrus and spices, available as a plate with rice and beans or as a taco filling.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Known for its antojitos, or little cravings, this Mexican menu at Las Tapatias Restaurant Y Tienda features elote corn and loaded chicharron topped with sour cream, lettuce, avocado, tomatoes, and onions. Pair these snacks with a michelada, a Mexican co*cktail combining beer, lime, spices, and hot sauce. For a more filling option or to share, try the molcajete, a lava rock bowl filled with grilled meats and veggies in a savory and slightly spicy sauce.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Located in a quiet strip mall on Beach Boulevard, Mi Casa serves street-style tacos simply topped with cilantro, onion, and a zesty tomatillo sauce. Another excellent option is the sopes, fried masa discs loaded with refried beans, red sauce, and a choice of protein like chicken, steak, chorizo, or beef tongue. The restaurant also operates a sister food truck, Mi Casa La Casa Del Tamal, specializing in tamales and tortas, the traditional Mexican sandwich.

• Open in Google Maps

Casa Maria Tequila Bar & Grill, with two locations in town, boasts some of the best Tex-Mex and Mexican food in town. The menu features tacos topped with cilantro and onions, as well as carnitas street tacos loaded with pork, cilantro, and salsa. The restaurant is also known for its margaritas, available in flavors such as spicy cucumber watermelon, jalapeno, and traditional lime.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

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