Verified in 2 cities.
Tacos al pastor are thin slices of chile-marinated pork shaved off a vertical spit, the trompo, onto small corn tortillas with pineapple, onion and coriander; in Mexico we have verified places to eat it in Cancún and Mexico City.
Tacos al pastor are thin slices of chile-marinated pork shaved off a vertical spit, the trompo, onto small corn tortillas with pineapple, onion and coriander.
Al pastor descends from the shawarma that Lebanese immigrants brought to Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By the 1920s pork had mostly replaced lamb, and the Mexican-born children of those immigrants opened their own restaurants; later, in Mexico City, cooks began marinating the meat in adobo of dried chiles and serving it on corn tortillas, which became the al pastor taco, popular by the 1960s. It is cooked on a vertical spit, the trompo, and topped with pineapple. In Cancún it is the taquería standard: Los Parejas sold pastor at 35 pesos a taco in January 2026, and Tacos Rigo and Los Chachalacos serve it late.
Where to eat in Cancún:
Where to eat Tacos al pastor in Cancún: the editor picks
Adobo-marinated pork shaved off a vertical trompo, served on a small corn tortilla with a sliver of pineapple, raw onion, fresh cilantro and a wedge of lime.
Lebanese-Mexican immigrants brought the Levantine shawarma technique to Mexico City in the 1920s to 1940s, replacing lamb with pork marinated in adobo of guajillo, achiote and pineapple juice. The trompo stack and the pineapple finish became the signature in the late 1930s; El Tizoncito on Tamaulipas (1966) claims to have invented the modern small-tortilla version. El Huequito (1959) was an even earlier operation on Ayuntamiento. The 2024 Michelin Guide recognised El Califa de Leon on Ribera de San Cosme as the world's first taqueria to earn a Michelin star.
Where to eat in Mexico City:
Where to eat Tacos al pastor in Mexico City: the editor picks
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