Pork marinated with cumin, thyme, oregano and garlic, stacked on a vertical spit, carved thin and folded into warm pan arabe with a chipotle-based salsa. Puebla's own invention.
Where to eat it: 7 restaurants across 1 city.
Lebanese and Syrian migrants reached Puebla in the 1920s and 1930s and brought the vertical spit with them. Tacos Arabes Bagdad on 2 Poniente dates its recipe to 1933, and the first Oriental counter on 16 de Septiembre claims the same year. Both served spit-roast pork wrapped in flatbread rather than a corn tortilla, seasoned with Levantine spices rather than achiote. That idea travelled to Mexico City, swapped the bread for a tortilla and the spices for a red chile marinade, and became the taco al pastor. In Puebla the original is still the default, and Los Camellos in Azcarate took a 2026 Michelin Bib Gourmand for its version.
Common allergens: Gluten
Tip from the editors. Do not add pineapple or achiote. That is the al pastor variation from Mexico City, and it turns this into a different taco entirely.
Tacos Arabes Bagdad has folded spit-roast pork into pan arabe in Puebla since 1933 and has worked the 2 Poniente counter since 1945, one of two claimants.
Try: Tacos árabes
Tip: Ask for them con queso, and note the 2 Poniente branch is the original rather than the Mayorazgo or Humboldt ones.
Tacos Beyrut opens only in the evening on 5 Poniente in Puebla, carving pork off the vertical spit into warm pan arabe for around 24 pesos a taco.
Try: Tacos árabes
Tip: Evenings only, closed Sundays, and the spit tends to be at its best in the first hour after opening at 17:30.
Tacos Tony has served tacos arabes in Puebla since 1942, from a 3 Poniente counter a block off the Zocalo that fills with families on Sunday afternoons.
Order: Tacos arabes with the house salsa, from a spit running since 1942.
Tip: Saturday and Sunday afternoons bring Puebla families in numbers, so go on a weekday if you want a seat straight away.
Taqueria Los Camellos took a 2026 Michelin Bib Gourmand in Puebla for its tacos arabes and camellos, the cheese-filled version, out in Azcarate.
Order: A camello, which is the taco arabe rebuilt with melted cheese.
Tip: A 2026 Michelin Bib Gourmand out in Azcarate, closed on Sundays, and cheap enough that two people eat for under 200 pesos.
Don Pastor works two spits on 16 de Septiembre in Puebla, al pastor and arabe, alongside alambres, cemitas and a queso fundido, running until half eleven.
Try: Tacos al pastor and árabes
Tip: Two spits on 16 de Septiembre, al pastor and arabe side by side, running to half eleven, which covers most post-dinner cravings.
El Taco Poblano on 9 Oriente in Puebla runs one of the cheapest taco arabe deals in the Centro, two tacos for roughly 30 pesos, all day long.
Try: Tacos árabes
Taqueria Katy sells tacos arabes at about 16 pesos each in Barrio de los Remedios, Puebla, which is why the queue starts well before the evening.
Try: Tacos árabes
More cities are in research. Want tacos árabes covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.