Tiny taco stand in Mexico City earns a Michelin star (2024)

Flanked by a discount pharmacy and a clothing store flogging knock-off Nikes in a working-class neighbourhood, El Califa de León taco stand has long been a favourite of Mexico City residents.

There are no reservations, cash is paid upfront and plates come inside plastic bags to save on the washing up, yet this unassuming hole-in-the-wall now ranks alongside London’s Ritz hotel after receiving a Michelin star.

El Califa de León is the first Mexican taco stand to receive the award — an extraordinary achievement for a venue which measures less than 10ft side to side.

“Ours was the first changarro to offer tacos with prime cuts of meat,” said the manager, José Luis Rodríguez, using the Mexican slang for an informal eatery — a “monkey hangout”. He added: “It’s only now that we’re receiving the recognition.”

Before the 11am opening time, a 70-strong queue snakes around the block, with customers desperate to get one of the four items on the menu. All, of course, are tacos, and the meat comes from around a cow’s rib, loin or foreshank. The tacos range in price from 53 Mexican pesos to 82 Mexican pesos, about £2.50 to £4, a far cry from the expensive offerings at other Michelin-endorsed venues.

Some of the regulars, however, fear the impact of newfound fame on their favourite eatery. “It’s a historic place,” said Alejandro Fontanot, who now has to wrestle through the queue to his own front door just down the street. “We hope that the prices won’t go through the roof.”

Those prices are already higher than average in Mexico City, where customers usually expect to pay between 30 and 40 pesos. But customers queuing up do not seem to mind, attracted by the aromas drifting from the stand. The scent of guajillo chillis, green tomatoes and onions sizzles off the grill, prep for the most important part of any Mexican dish: the salsa.

“A taco is not complete without the salsa,” said Alfonso Martinez, a local. “People will travel across the entire city if the salsa is good.”

Many of the customers have come from much further afield. Paquita Garcia is from Tabasco state, 500 miles away. “It makes us very proud [the Michelin star] and we have to support these businesses,” she said. “Mexican tacos are famous all across the world.”

El Califa de León was founded in 1968 by Juan Hernández González, a cattle rancher from the north of the country. The stand claims to have invented the Gaonera taco, consisting of thinly sliced beef fillet marinated in salt and lime: a Mexico City classic to rival the Tacos al Pastor.

“A taco is made up of three parts,” the taquero [taco maker] Jacinto Ávila, who works furiously at the ferociously hot grill from opening time until 2am, said. “The tortilla, the filling and the salsa. Our clients come back again and again because we have always concentrated on doing all three right.”

Beside him his companion wrestles fresh corn dough through her tortilla press: the handmade version of the national staple is a rarity in modern Mexico.

“We have generations of clients who have been coming since the Sixties,” Rodríguez said, standing behind his cash till from the Eighties. “It’s great that we’re becoming more popular, but a taco is a taco and the way we make them isn’t going to change.”

For a tiny taquería such as this one to be awarded a Michelin star represents a significant accomplishment. To be recognised, restaurants “must demonstrate attention to detail and consistent dishes of high quality”, according to Michelin.

“It’s extremely difficult to earn a Michelin star; it requires a lot of work”, said Simon Bordenave, a tourist from Biarritz. “And in France we don’t know about Mexican food, so that makes it tough for a taco place to get in the guide.”

Staring at the lack of a sign and the cramped stand, Bordenave joked: “Honestly, I’m a bit surprised. You would walk past this place and not look twice.”