Small thick masa rounds fried in a shallow pan of lard, then dressed straight from the heat with red or green salsa, shredded meat and raw onion. Eaten four or five at a time, standing up.
Where to eat it: 5 restaurants across 1 city.
Chalupas are the everyday street plate of Puebla and the fastest thing on any antojitos counter. The masa rounds are pressed a little thicker than a tortilla, dropped into hot lard and dressed in the pan rather than after, which is what separates a Puebla chalupa from the versions sold elsewhere in Mexico. Vendors work the comal behind El Parian and along 5 Norte, and the order is always plural: five for a few pesos is the standard portion. Antojitos Las Gueras on 5 Norte and La Casa del Mendrugo on 4 Sur both cook them to order rather than holding them warm.
Tip from the editors. Dress them in the pan, not on the plate. The ten seconds the salsa spends on the hot masa is the difference between a chalupa and a soggy tostada.
Antojitos Las Gueras works the comal on 5 Norte in Puebla, turning out chalupas in red and green salsa for a mostly local lunchtime crowd every day.
Order: Chalupas, red and green, straight off the comal on 5 Norte.
Tip: Chalupas are fried to order here rather than held warm, so give the counter a few minutes at busy times.
La Ververa cooks chalupas, memelas and mole poblano at neighbourhood prices in Arboledas de Guadalupe, Puebla, on Saturdays and Sundays only.
Why locals love it: A residential-street kitchen in Arboledas de Guadalupe serving chalupas at 35 pesos and mole poblano at 89, weekends only.
Tip: Open Saturday and Sunday only and closed by six, so this works as a weekend lunch detour rather than a weekday one.
La Casa del Mendrugo cooks mole poblano and pipian verde inside a former Jesuit college on 4 Sur in Puebla, with a museum and a jazz room attached.
Tip: The mole here runs about 190 pesos and the ticket includes the museum, which is a rare pairing in the Centro Historico.
Antojitos Tomy on 5 Poniente is where Puebla eats cemita poblana, chanclas and chalupas at one counter, from nine in the morning until nine at night.
Order: Cemita poblana, chanclas and chalupas ordered as one round.
Tip: The cemita poblana here is genuinely large, so order one between two before adding the chalupas.
Comal looks straight at Puebla cathedral from 16 de Septiembre, cooking blue-corn chilaquiles, chanclas, pelonas and mole poblano from breakfast to midnight.
Try: Chanclas and mole poblano
Tip: The kitchen runs to midnight seven days a week, which is unusual for a Centro dining room of this quality.
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