Taco Campechano
The mixed-meat taco: two or more proteins chopped together on purpose, classically suadero and chorizo. The name comes from campechano, a Mexican word for a deliberate blend.
Andrew Lekashman
Taco Bell Quesadilla
Taco Bell's quesadilla; creamy jalapeño sauce, cheese, various proteins.
Taco Bell Crunchy Taco
The iconic fast-food hard shell taco; seasoned ground beef, lettuce, cheddar cheese in crispy corn shell.
Taco Bell Burrito Supreme
Taco Bell's loaded burrito; seasoned beef, beans, rice, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes.
Taco Bell 7-Layer Burrito
Vegetarian Taco Bell burrito; beans, rice, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce.
Taco al Pastor
Al pastor is a clock. A cone of adobo-stained pork turns past a flame, only the outer face cooks, and the craft is one cut: the instant the crisped band is shaved off before the heat reaches past it.
Taco al Pastor con Piña
A whole pineapple riding the top of the trompo separates the taco al pastor con piña from plain al pastor: pork shaved off a vertical spit, the fruit roasting and caramelizing beside it.
Taco al Carbón
Taco al carbón is named for its fuel, not its filling: skirt or flank over live charcoal and mesquite, the lacquered smoke-char a flat griddle cannot fake, from the cattle north to the Texas border.
Sushi Burrito
A hand roll scaled to Mission-burrito size, never cut, eaten end-on: the sushi burrito was trademarked before it existed, opened in San Francisco in 2011, and outlived the company that named it.
Surf and Turf Burrito
The surf and turf burrito runs two proteins on two clocks: carne asada charred hard, camarón pulled in two minutes, in one flour tortilla where a Baja seafood counter meets the border asada grill.
Super Burrito
Extra-large burrito with everything; rice, beans, meat, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, salsa.
Street Taco (USA)
On a US menu, "street taco" promises what the kitchen leaves off. The restrained build has a precise American birthplace: a converted ice cream truck on an East Los Angeles curb in 1974.
Steak Quesadilla (USA)
The Tex-Mex steak quesadilla most Americans know is a chain spec sheet: Taco Bell's flour tortilla folded around marinated steak, a three-cheese blend, and Creamy Jalapeño Sauce.
Sope
A thick round of corn masa with its rim pinched upward while still hot, the sope is an open vessel: beans, meat, cheese, crema, and salsa held in place by a wall the cook builds in seconds.
Sope de Tinga
A sope de tinga sets smoky chipotle-braised chicken inside a fried masa wall over a bed of beans, the rim built to hold a sauce that would otherwise flood the plate.
Sope de Chorizo
Thick masa pinched into a rim, crisped in lard, then loaded with rendered Mexican chorizo, beans, and crema. The chorizo behind it traces to corn-fed pigs Cortes moved into the Valle de Toluca around.
Sonoran Hot Dog (Dogos)
The Sonoran dogo: a bacon-wrapped frank on warm pinto beans in a split-top bolillo, loaded with tomato, onion, jalapeño salsa, and striped sauces, a roasted güero pepper alongside.
Soft Taco (USA)
American soft taco; larger flour or corn tortilla with Tex-Mex fillings.
Smothered Green Chile Burrito
A rolled flour tortilla drowned in roasted Hatch green chile and gratinéed cheese, baked until the top browns, then plated and eaten with a fork. Ordered green, red, or Christmas.
Smothered Burrito
Burrito covered in chile sauce (red or green) and cheese, baked.
Sincronizada
Mexico's flour-tortilla take on griddled ham and cheese: two rounds synchronized around the filling, melted flat on the comal, cut into wedges and dressed with salsa and avocado at the table.
Shrimp Taco (USA)
American shrimp taco; grilled or fried shrimp.