Winnipeg’s top authentic tacos for 2026

Our sometimes annual top taco guide is always one of our most-read pieces, so now’s the time for an update.

We’ve once again consulted with our main man from Morelia, Mexico, Alberto Velasco-Acosta (opens in new window)* to ensure we have all the authentic options below (no chains, as always).

From Mexico with masa

La Taqueria Mexican Street Tacos – 1863 Ness Avenue, plus a food truck too
This St. James spot opened in summer 2021 serving meticulously crafted, authentic Mexican cuisine including pozole and their signature Yucatan-style cochinita pibil tacos. These pork tacos will take you straight to Mexico, with an earthy spice that’s countered by some crunch and zing courtesy of red onion, pineapple and just the right amount of habanero (if you want to kick it up, the house-made hot sauce will make you sweat, while each taco also comes with salsa verde and a classic tomato-based salsa). This past week we went all out here, and you don’t want to miss the mushroom al pastor tacos (vegan) — the guajillo and ancho chilli-based sauce clings to the mushrooms like a paste, while the mushrooms have a delightful chewy texture, while on Wednesdays you have to try the tinga tacos topped with a mild, crumbled queso fresco. These tacos are also quite large, so the three tacos you get for $14-$19 will fill you up.

La Taqueria’s food is by Cristhel Pipper, a former teacher who came to Winnipeg from Córdoba, Veracruz, in 2019 after being prompted by her daughter who had moved here as student. Once in Winnipeg, Cristhel started dating Lyle Jackman, a resident of Sunny St. James who is a fun character to chat with (Cristhel’s daughter proved to be the matchmaker after getting her mom start a Tinder account; if you ask Cristhel or Lyle, surely they’ll tell you the rather adorable story about how Lyle showcased Manitoba for her on the ultimate second-date day). Anyway, the two are married and run the shop together, and you can feel the love in the cooking. Throughout summer, you can also find their food truck using Instagram (opens in new window).

La Taqueria is open Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

BMC Market – 722 Osborne Street & 1113 Henderson Highway
BMC is still the best bang for your buck in the city, with most tacos being just $5.99-9.99 for three! Like Alberto, chef/owners Rigoberto and Betty Calderon-Villasenor moved to Winnipeg from Morelia, Michoacán, and the recipes here mainly come from (or are influenced by) Betty’s grandma. Betty and her crew make the tortillas from scratch to order, hand-forming the masa mix (which has a bit of regular flour for binder) and pressing to create a vessel that is slightly thicker than some of the store bought options that you can get from companies like locals La Cocina.

On top of all the standard tacos that come with choice of salsas, chopped raw onion and cilantro, there’s a selection of sides (all just $3.99!) including a lovely carrot and raisin salad. My seven-year-old is obsessed with her refried beans and quesadillas, which are also hand-formed into an oval shape before being grilled and stuffed with cheese. BMC is licensed and there’s a number of grocery items like hot sauces too.

It is probably our most covered spot on this website, as it was one of the first features (opens in new window) I did for The Grub back in 2015, while I also interviewed Betty back in my CBC Radio days.

Here’s the website (opens in new window) for hours and more.

Sargent Taco – 698 Sargent Avenue
Chef/owner Carlos Bosque moved to Winnipeg in 2005 from Mexico City. During that time, he’d been checking out the Mexican food scene here and concluded that no one was doing tacos the way they do in his home city. So, he eventually opened up Sargent Taco in late 2017 and has created a devoted local following ever since. The menu has all the classics, from al pastor (they usually do the full spit on the weekends) to chicken mole, nopal (cactus) and carnitas, along with a nice selection of antojitos (“little cravings”).

My particular jam is the huitlacoche tacos with rajas and grilled queso fresco, as that funky, umami-rich corn fungus is a rare find in Winnipeg and the grilled queso fresco — available on most of Bosque’s tacos — takes it all to another level with its chewy texture and crispy saltiness. The salsas all rock too.

There’s only a few tables, and it’s not the sort of spot to get in and out quickly from as the kitchen takes time to ensure an excellent experience.

Sargent Taco Shop is open Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more info, head to Instagram (opens in new window).

JC’s Tacos and More – 187 Henderson Highway
Chef/owners Marvin and Mayra Dubon are from El Salvador and Monterrey, Mexico respectively, the latter of which is celebrated for its burritos which you can find on JC’s menu — including massive “El Señor” burritos for sharing that you could seriously do arm curls with to get a good pump. They opened back in May 2010 and on top of tacos, chef Marvin’s Salvadorian dishes like pupusas — his curdito is aces — shouldn’t be missed.

Alberto’s pick are the enchiladas, which too are massive, while I’m all about their tostadas featuring fried La Cocina (opens in new window) tortillas stacked with your choice of slow-braised meats, sour cream, salsa and shredded lettuce. There’s also a selection of products for sale on site and chef Marvin does a fabulous job with supporting local producers on his huge plates of food (hence, the slightly higher prices).

JC’s Tacos and More is open Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Here’s the website (opens in new window).

Representing Latin and South America

Fire & Spice Taqueria – 66 Donald Street
Co-owner and founder Rodrigo “The Chilean Sensation” Herrera has been on the Winnipeg restaurant scene for nearly two decades in various positions. Since August 2021 he runs what he describes as, “one of Winnipeg’s best-kept secrets” from a tiny shop that’s located right before the Midtown Bridge on Donald Street. Herrera’s business developed out of the pandemic when he started perfecting pork shoulder and turning it into tacos that sold fast over Facebook. After a few weeks, someone approached him to invest, and given Herrera already had a business plan and a bachelor of commerce in economics, Fire & Spice was an inevitability.

“We make our own masa and we brought in a machine called the Tortilla Masters — we’re one of only three restaurants in Canada to have it — and it facilitates us to make 800 tortillas per hour,” said Herrera. “We’re a from-scratch kitchen, so if we can’t make it, we don’t sell it.”

His signature 10-spice blend, that Herrera jokes is his take on all-dressed chips, is sprinkled throughout the menu, including seasoning the tortillas before they hit the grill. It gives everything this lovely smoky sweetness via cumin and an assortment of peppers. A must on the taco front is his al pastor, which is a spin on the classic pork tacos that usually are cut from a spit after spinning with pineapple on top marinating the meat.

“What I do is bake the pork shoulder in bricks, and then I cut them in layers before I crisp just one side on the grill,” said Herrera. “So, it’s kind of a different way to do the same thing. It’s reverse engineered without compromising on the quality, aesthetics and mouth-feel.” And it truly is, as Fire & Spices’ al pastor tacos really slap; the meat has those crispy edges you crave on one side, then a fatty juicy layer on the other. They are topped with a classic pineapple and jalapeño salsa and red onion. The beef birria tacos are the most popular, with the house-made tortillas becoming a wonderfully crisp-yet-cheesy vessel that you dunk in the provided consommé. Once local corn season hits, you have to get the corn ribs, and celiacs will love how almost the whole menu (aside from the churros and key lime cheesecake) are gluten-free.

Open Monday to Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Herrera strictly uses Instagram (opens in new window) and delivery apps, while there are just two tables to eat-in.

Berto’s Taqueria – 2100 Main Street
Berto’s comes courtesy of Peruvian chef Roberto Cano Rodriguez, a graduate of the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology culinary arts program whose full story you can find here (opens in new window) in The Free Press by David Sanderson. It began as a pop-up out of Tommy’s Pizzeria, where Cano Rodriguez was also a chef, and he’s since created a loyal following of fans after numerous pop-ups and events across the city’s breweries.

Now located at 2100 Main St. (across the street from Kildonan Park) in a shared space with Baba Kays Ukrainian Cafe (they operate in the morning, Berto’s at night), you can sit and enjoy a selection of tacos that includes Cano Rodriguez’s Taco Week (opens in new window)-winning (2024) suadero tacos, birria tacos, al pastor (both pork and mushroom) and chorizo tacos, with three coming in between $14-$16. The award-winning suadero are the star here, featuring slow-braised brisket confit that’s been crisped up on a flat top to showcase how the Maillard reaction (opens in new window) makes beef that much better in a corn tortilla. You can also get hefty 14″ flour tortilla burritos and a couple classic sides.

Open Tuesdays to Saturday, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Mercadito Latino – 224 Osborne Street
Owned by Salvadorians Sonia and now-retired Julian Lemus, this gem of a space is celebrated for its pupusas, tortilla soup — and of course, Salvadorian-style tacos using gluten-free corn tortillas. The shop carries a large number of products from Latin America and the menu includes a number of cassava/yucca dishes that come on large platters topped with curtido and your choice of meat. The tostadas are pretty great too, providing plenty of texture, acidity and flavour in every bite. Located in the Latinos Market Canada on Osborne St.

Open Sunday to Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday to Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Find out more on Facebook (opens in new window).

More tacos at a glance

Both Hargrave Street Marke (opens in new window)t and The Forks Market (opens in new window) offer a world of flavours via their food kiosks, so you know you’ll find quality tacos too.

At Hargrave, Academy Hospitality’s The Good Fight Taco (opens in new window) specializes in small, vibrant tacos topped with everything from crispy shrimp or cerveza-battered cod, to a really nice vegetarian taco with sweet potato, romaine, radicchio, avocado, rajas and Manchego. The star though is the al pastor, as the pork is prepared authentically — right on the spit with the pineapple on top and a flat top below to make it extra crispy once the meat is shaved.

At The Forks, Habanero Sombrero (opens in new window) successfully transitioned from years of operating as one of the city’s original new school food trucks, to a kiosk that won both the 2021 and 2022 Taco Week (opens in new window). Its 100 per cent gluten-free menu has all the classics — from fried fish, to barbacoa, carnitas, tinga and mushroom, with tacos running two for $11.90 or three for $17.85.

For even more fusion-style tacos, including more birria options and bannock tacos, check out Carter Chen’s 2021 guide here (opens in new window).