For Cinco De Mayo, Some Of Best Mexican Food Is In Metro Atlanta

DECATUR, GA — With Cinco de Mayo coming up Saturday, May 5, those fast-food chains aren't going to satisfy your yen for authentic Mexican food. The celebration of the Mexican Army's unlikely victory over the French Empire in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, deserves the best — and you'll find it in Tucson.

The regional cuisines of Mexico are tantalizingly diverse, and some have taken on the influences of America to make them distinctive, according to Thrillist, which put together a list of the best 31 Mexican restaurants in America.

Whether your preference is for upscale burritos — again, forget everything you read on a fast-food menu board — a seafood dish or something marinated with a spicy Mexican adobo paste or sauce, you're sure to find some gastronomic jewels at these restaurants.

In metro Atlanta, Taqueria del Sol made the elite list.

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Since opening in 2000, the restaurant has been named "Best American Restaurant" by Bon Apetit magazine for its simple but diverse menu. In addition to its original location on Howell Mill Road, Taqueria del Sol now has locations on Cheshire Bridge Road and in Decatur, Chamblee and Athens.

Thrillist calls the Atlanta-born spot "the restaurant that virtually invented Southern U.S.-Mexican food." The list cites co-owner/chef Eddie Hernandez's fried chicken and sloppy joe tacos, as well as his blue cornmeal-battered fried fish and jalapeno-infused meatloaf.

"The demand for Taqueria del Sol’s pioneering culinary hybridization continues: locations can be found across the northern reaches of Atlanta and in Nashville, with what we can only hope are more to come," the listing continues.

About Taqueria del Sol

Locations: 1200-B Howell Mill Rd., Atlanta; 359 W. Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur; 2165 Cheshire Bridge Rd., Atlanta; 5001 Peachtree Blvd., Suite 910, Chamblee; 334 Prince Ave., Athens

Hours: Vary from location to location. See website.

Phone: (404) 352-5811 (Howell Mill)

Reservations: No

Here are all of the 31 restaurants cited by Thrillist:
Avila's Mexican Food, El Paso, Texas
Barrio Cafe, Phoenix, Arizona
BS Taqueria/Broken Spanish, Los Angeles, California
Cala, San Francisco, California
Cantina La Viente, Miami, Florida
Carnitas Uruapan, Chicago, Illinois
Casa Enrique, Long Island City, New York
Coni'Seafood, Inglewood, California
Cosme, New York, New York
Del Fuego Taqueria, New Orleans, Louisiana
El Atoradero, Brooklyn, New York
El Charro Cafe, Tucson, Arizona
El Chingon, Denver, Colorado
El Naranjo, Austin, Texas
Galaxy Taco, La Jolla, California
Ki'Mexico, Shreveport, Louisiana
La Choza, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Maicel's Tortas Y Tacos, Memphis, Tennessee
Mezcalerio Oaxafa, Seattle, Washington
Mezcalero, Washington, D.C.
Mi Lindo Oaxaca, Dallas, Texas
Nopalito, San Francisco, California
Pollo Norte, Portland, Oregon
Ray's Drive Inn, San Antonio, Texas
Revolver Taco Lounge/Purepecha Room, Dallas, Texas
Taco Maria, Costa Mesa, California
Taqueria Del Sol, Atlanta, Georgia
Topolobampo, Chicago, Illinois
Vera's Backyard Bar-B-Que, Brownsville, Texas
Xochi, Houston, Texas
Zacatecas, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Photo courtesy Taqueria del Sol