The Best Mexico City Taco Tour for Celiacs
Taking a Mexico City taco tour was one of the best things we did anywhere in Mexico!
As someone who has to eat gluten free due to celiac disease, I did a lot of research on not only the best Mexico City taco tours, but also the ones that could accommodate dietary restrictions.
Below is a review based on my personal experience with the taco tour we ultimately chose, and whether I think it’s worth it or not.
Note: Our taco tour was provided complimentary in exchange for this review. I reached out to the company myself, after doing independent research on what taco tour we wanted to take. Like always, you can rest assured that I only share my brutally honest opinions here on Endless Distances!
Why Take a Taco Tour in Mexico City?
Tacos are the heart and soul of the foodie scene in Mexico City – particularly tacos al pastor (a mouth-watering, sweet-and-tangy combination of pork and pineapple).
Of course, you don’t need to go on a tour to eat tacos in Mexico City. What a tour offers, though, is so much deeper than eating on tacos on your own.
A local guide helps you skip the tourist traps and takes you to the best, under-the-radar, historically-significant taquerias. They order their favorites for you, and give history lessons and hilarious storytelling all at the same time.
If you are a foodie or just love immersive travel experiences where you explore and connect with locals, then I highly recommend doing a taco tour while you’re in Mexico City!
The Best Mexico City Taco Tour: Eat Mexico
We chose the company Eat Mexico and their Chilango Tacos 101 tour for our Mexico City taco tour.
For me, what sets Eat Mexico apart is their amazing local Mexico City guides. They are all bilingual, and notably have a degree in gastronomy or work experience in local kitchens. Truly, they’re experts.
Another thing that drew me to Eat Mexico is that it is Mexican woman-owned. I really appreciate that it is owned and guided by true locals of Mexico City, so you know that you’re giving back to the community.
Chilango Tacos 101 Tour
“Chilangos” refers to natives of Mexico City. As such, this tour focuses on the tacos that Mexico City is known for.
This is a 3-4 hour walking tour through the Roma and Condesa neighborhoods. Along the way, you get to eat these types of tacos:
- Guisados
- Campechanos
- Carnitas
- Tacos al pastor (from the taqueria that claims to have invented it)
- Cochinita pibil
- And more!
I will share more about our experience below.
If you book a taco tour with Eat Mexico off my recommendation here, please tell them Sarah from Endless Distances says hi!
Gluten Free Taco Tour in Mexico City: How Safe is it for Celiacs?
Now, if you are reading this review because you can’t eat gluten like me, you are probably wondering how well Eat Mexico did at accommodating my gluten free diet.
I have to say I was very impressed. I messaged with Eat Mexico before our tour, and they specifically recommended the Chilango Tacos 101 tour because it would be the most gluten free friendly of their tour offerings.
They were familiar with celiac disease and assured me that they could find me safe, gluten free tacos without cross contact. Hmm… sounds too good to be true?
On the day of our tour, Dan and I showed up to the meeting spot and met our guide, Adrian. He already knew that I was gluten free, and rattled off “no shared grills with gluten; no shared fryers; no Maggi, consommé, salsa ingles, or marinades on meats…”
Basically, he took the words out of my mouth! I think my jaw literally dropped.
It turns out, as a professionally trained chef, Adrian has first-hand knowledge of the ins and outs of cross contact in working kitchens.
Adrian’s knowledge of celiac disease immediately put me at ease and really set the tone for an incredible (and safe) tour.
I will share more about our Mexico City taco tour below, including how Adrian helped accommodate my gluten free diet throughout.
(Saying that, this tour is NOT just for people with food allergies/intolerances. Dan is very much a gluten-eater and he also loved this taco tour).
RELATED | The Best Mexico City Cooking Class for Celiacs
Eat Mexico City Taco Tour Review: My Experience as a Celiac
Below, I’m taking your stop-by-stop through our taco tour of Mexico City. Don’t worry, I’m not giving away any fun secrets or location names. Hopefully, this just gets your mouth watering!
Stop 0: Meeting our Guide and Tour Group
Each Chilango Tacos 101 tour meets at Sixties Bar (here on Google Maps). Around 1pm, we showed up to meet our guide, Adrian, and fellow guests!
Adrian is a professionally trained chef, who lived around the world for 11 years including the Middle East, Guam, and Melbourne (where he worked at a 3-Michelin starred restaurant and helped launch a Mexican restaurant). Now, his home base is back in Mexico City!
I found Adrian extremely funny, intelligent, educated, and passionate about the how and why of food.
He told us he has gained 40 lbs over seven years of this tour guiding job… a direct quote is “I’m weak and can’t stop eating tacos because I have no self control.” HA! A man after my own food-obsessed heart!
I’m sure all of Eat Mexico’s tour guides are great, but if I was to go back and do this tour again I’d definitely request one of Adrian’s tours (especially as a gluten free person).
Stop 1: Tacos Al Pastor
Our first stop was a taco restaurant for the famed Mexico City tacos al pastor.
Adrian told us he used to eat here for something casual while he was in culinary school and wanted a break from all the French food!
The restaurant stays open until 3am, and has a spit of 150 kg of pork that they get through in one day.
Dan and I each got a lime agua fresca, and sat at a red table upstairs with Adrian and our six fellow tour-goers.
While we devoured the delicious tacos al pastor with pineapple and salsas, Adrian gave us a very funny and engaging lesson on tacos al pastor (what he calls the best culinary achievement of CDMX in the 20th century).
Stop 2: Historic Taqueria
Our next stop was a historic taqueria. It originally opened way back in 1939 as a tortilleria, and started selling tacos in 1947.
What set this place apart is that they make their own tortillas in-house, so they are super fresh.
Adrian gave us a few recommendations here, and I ended up ordering the taco de guisado (chicharron prensado/pressed fried pork skin, with beef steak and a mouth-tingling morita sauce) and a green mole taco (pork, tomatoes, and house-made green mole with pumpkin seeds).
I also ordered a paloma cocktail – when in Mexico City!
This is a CDMX classic of grapefruit soda mixed with tequila, lime juice, and a salt rim. It’s a must-try when in Mexico City and pairs great with tacos.
Stop 3: Tortillas!
Our third stop was a nearby tortilleria, which as you can probably guess is a local shop where they make corn tortillas from scratch! This specific tortilleria processes over one ton of corn in a single day.
(This stop was a pretty strategic choice by Adrian, because it gave us all some time to digest after devouring tacos at our first two stops!)
While we were observing the tortilla-makers at work, Adrian gave us an extremely interesting lesson in the geopolitics of corn (did you know there’s a current corn crisis in Mexico?).
Before we left, we got to try “salt tacos” – AKA super fresh corn tortillas wrapped up with a pinch of salt. YUM.
I know I’m biased as a gluten free person, but corn tortillas are where it’s at. None of this flour tortilla nonsense, please!
Stop 4: All Things Pork Tacos… Emphasis on “All”
Next, we walked to stop four. As Adrian warned us, this was the most adventurous stop.
This particular taqueria was a carnitas restaurant, specializing in all things pork.
And by “all things,” I really, really, really want to emphasize all.
Here, Adrian gave us the option to try a sesadilla. What’s that, you ask? A pork BRAIN quesadilla.
Don’t worry, you didn’t have to eat the sesadilla. Adrian ordered us a handful of platters of different types of pork tacos/quesadillas.
Some were a lot more classic (macizo – the white parts of the pork), some were a bit edgier (surtida – completely mixed pork parts). Some were just bizarre (sesadilla – the pork brain).
Look, I took one for the team and yes, I tried the brain. It was a little spicy, crispy, and honestly tasted like ground beef texture. For me, it was a lot more palatable than the surtida.
I’d encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and try it!
Stop 5: Market + Mayan Pulled Pork Tacos
Our second to last stop was the famous Medellin Market, and a colorful taqueria within it.
First, Adrian led us through the market, introducing us to some stall owners and telling stories along the way.
Then, we all grabbed plastic tables at a taqueria that specializes in cochinita pibil tacos. Adrian translated this to us as “Mayan pulled pork.”
And, that’s pretty much what it tasted like! Smoky, sweet, meaty, and spicy. It also came with pickled red onions that added even more of a zing.
If you’re gluten free like me, then note that Adrian ordered my tacos without mayonnaise because the mayo is processed on the same equipment as soy sauce.
I thought the taco was still delicious without the mayo and was so thankful that he knew about small things like that!
Stop 6: Seafood Tacos
Our final stop of this Mexico City taco tour was for seafood tacos. We sat down at some tables outside in the sun, and Adrian went in and ordered for us.
Unfortunately, this was the least gluten free-friendly stop.
After discussions with the chefs, Adrian warned me that nothing from the fryer or grills would be safe as it’s all shared with gluten. The salsas also weren’t safe because they had gluten-containing broth in them.
Never fear! Adrian was able to get me a specially-prepared order that was essentially a shrimp and cheese taco/quesadilla. I preferred the tacos at our other stops, but it was okay because I was absolutely stuffed at this point, anyway!
After leisurely eating our tacos and chatting away with our fellow tour-goers who we’d gotten to know over the past three hours, it was eventually time to leave.
What a wonderful day! Dan and I gave Adrian hugs goodbye (and got a photo together, of course) and thanked him for his remarkable tour guiding skills – as well as his hard work keeping me safe from gluten contamination.
How to Book
If you want to book the exact same Chilango Tacos 101 tour that we did, then you can do so here, directly on Eat Mexico’s website.
The taco tour is all-you-can-eat, and drinks (alcoholic and non) are included, so I would encourage you to arrive hungry.
Cost
The Mexico City taco tour costs $109 USD / $1,960 MXN for adults and $45 USD / $807 MXN for children 8-13 years old (children 7 and under are free).
Be sure to also bring a tip for your guide (10-15% is encouraged, and well deserved). Generous tips for the street food vendors are included in the tour price.
This is competitive with other companies’ tour prices, and in my opinion definitely worth the cost. Beyond a huge amount of food, you’re also getting a (frequently hilarious) history lesson, and supporting the local community to boot.
Final Thoughts on our Gluten Free Mexico City Taco Tour
Eat Mexico offers other street food tours in Mexico City as well! These include:
- Navarte at Night: Tacos, Chelas, & Mezcal
- Journey Through La Merced (groups of 4 maximum, for safety)
- Gourmet San Juan Market & Street Food
- Xochimilco Food Tour & Boat Ride
- Mexico City Street Food: A Beginner’s Guide
- Mexican Food Cooking Class
- Santa Maria La Ribera
- Family Friendly Streets & Sweets
- Day of the Dead at Mercado Jamaica (seasonal)
I can only provide my thoughts on the Chilango Tacos 101 tour which, if you read my post above, you can tell that I loved.
Regarding the gluten free diet, Eat Mexico told me Chilango Tacos 101 is the most appropriate for gluten free folks, but they do their best to be gluten free on the other tours but may have to miss a few stops. Definitely discuss any dietary concerns with them before booking!
There you have it… my Mexico City taco tour review. I highly recommend doing this tour even if you’ve only got a couple days in Mexico City. You won’t regret it, I promise!
If you book a taco tour with Eat Mexico off my recommendation here, please tell them Sarah from Endless Distances says hi!
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Note: Again, our taco tour was provided complimentary in exchange for this review. I reached out to Eat Mexico myself, after doing independent research on what tour we wanted to take. Like always, you can rest assured that I share my brutally honest opinions here on Endless Distances!
