What: This specialty from Michoacán—in which pork meat and organs are slow-cooked together until soft; seasoned; fried up in its own juices and lard; and then chopped into taco meat, resulting in a heavenly mix of melt-in-your-mouth meat, fat, and crispy fried pieces—is much loved in Mexico City (and beyond, of course). Pork lovers, this is it.
Where: We found excellent carnitas at Carnitas El Kioskito (corner of Calles López and Delicias, map), in el Centro down the street from the Mercado San Juan de los Arcos de Belen.
When: Weekdays, 9am-7pm; weekends, 9am-6pm
Order: Un taco de carnitas (9p), served with onion, cilantro, and lime as per usual. You can order it “maciza” if you want white-meat only (without extra fat or organ parts); we thought that was delicious, but others will tell you it’s blasphemous to order anything but “surtida”—the whole pig and nothing but the pig.
Alternatively: In the Tlalpan borough, the raucous, 2,000-seat-plus Restaurante Arroyo (Insurgentes Sur 4300, map) is celebrated for its carnitas (as well as its barbacoa), as is regional-Mexican-food specialist El Bajío (multiple locations including Av. Cuitlahuac 2709, Col. Azcapotzalco, map), which sells it by the quarter-kilo, with tortillas. Closer to el Centro, try the other El Kioskito (Sonora 6, map), in Roma Norte—it doesn’t appear to be related to the one we visited, but is likewise known for excellent carnitas. And while we haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing it, it’d be worth checking into the rumored-to-be-amazing Saturday-only carnitas from a pork butcher inside Roma Sur’s Mercado de Medellín (map).
