Rethink Your Usual Order

While Mexican cuisine is celebrated for its vibrant flavors and rich culinary heritage, not every dish on a typical restaurant menu deserves your attention. Many offerings compromise both authenticity and health. If you’re aiming to enjoy the bold, satisfying tastes of Mexico in the best ways, it’s time to rethink your choices. Before we give you our suggestions, let’s expose 10 dishes to avoid at restaurants.

1. Combo Plates

Ordering a combination of enchiladas, tacos, refried beans, and rice all on one plate might seem convenient. However, these meals are usually overloaded with sodium and saturated fats, averaging over 1,400 calories per serving. Hence, they are among the least balanced options in Mexican restaurants.

2. Nachos With Processed Toppings

Most restaurants serve nachos with chips soaked in cheese sauce, sour cream, and salty meats. Here’s a dish that often contains over 1,200 calories and offers very little nutritional value. Nachos can actually be enjoyable when made with fresh ingredients.

3. Chimichangas

Chimichangas are not considered a traditional Mexican food. They are primarily found in Americanized Tex-Mex menus, where they’re often deep-fried from pre-assembled batches. This makes them greasy and more about a crunchy texture than fresh ingredient quality. Sometimes, they may be high in fats.

4. Cheese Dips

Many restaurants serve white queso dips made from shelf-stable processed cheese blends that lack any actual connection to regional Mexican cuisine. While they may taste comforting, they're commonly packed with artificial thickeners and emulsifiers. They offer little nutritional benefit compared to authentic salsas or fresh guacamole.

5. Hard Shell Tacos

What’s often marketed as a classic taco is typically a factory-fried hard shell that doesn’t reflect traditional Mexican cooking. It usually comes filled with heavily seasoned ground beef and pre-shredded cheese. The result is more of a mass-produced snack than a representation of fresh food.

6. Voluminous Burritos

Burritos served at many fast-casual Mexican spots focus more on size than substance. A single burrito can exceed 1,600 calories, especially when loaded with cheese, sour cream, meat, and rice. Despite their popularity, these large portions often provide limited nutritional value.

7. Sizzling Fajitas

The proteins of sizzling fajitas are commonly pre-marinated in sauces containing added sugars and paired with bell peppers that have been pre-cooked and held in warmers. The final result is less about freshness and real substance and more about recycled flavors and theatrical presentation.

8. Margaritas

Restaurant margaritas often rely on premixed jugs that contain artificial lime flavor and chemical preservatives. Besides reducing the drink’s quality, this also causes sugar levels to exceed 30 grams per glass, according to USDA estimates.

9. Fried Ice Cream

Fried ice cream isn't a staple in Mexican households. What’s served at restaurants is usually a ball of standard vanilla ice cream coated in cereal or batter, refrozen, and flash-fried. This makes it more about commercial texture tricks.

10. Taco Salads

Not only are most taco salads built inside fried tortilla bowls, but they are also filled with seasoned ground beef, shredded cheese, sour cream, and creamy dressing. It’s normal for the resulting meal to surpass 1,000 calories and rival fast food burgers in fat content.

Those are some of the dishes to skip when in Mexican restaurants. Now, let’s focus on the better options.

1. Pozole

It's a hominy-based soup traditionally made with pork or chicken and simmered for hours with garlic and dried chiles. Expect a depth of flavor built on real ingredients rather than shortcuts. Roots in pre-Columbian cuisine contribute to its nutritional balance.

2. Tacos Al Pastor

With this Mexico City favorite, you enjoy a lighter, citrus-accented taco that relies on authentic spices and traditional preparation instead of processed fillings. It is prepared by shaving seasoned pork off a rotating grill and serving it in small corn tortillas with pineapple and cilantro.

3. Sopa De Lima

Sopa de Lima is a citrus-forward chicken soup. Roasted tomatoes and the distinct local lime of the Yucatán Peninsula are used to make it. Besides being both light and satisfying, it offers a refreshing alternative to heavy appetizers while providing vitamin C and lean protein.

4. Tlayudas

Here’s a large, toasted corn tortilla topped with black bean paste, fresh cheese, avocado, cabbage, and sometimes chorizo or tasajo beef. Because it’s typically grilled rather than fried, it retains flavor and crunch without adding unnecessary oil or sodium. Plus, it showcases authentic Oaxacan street food culture.

5. Cochinita Pibil

This dish is made by slow-cooking pork in banana leaves with achiote paste and sour orange juice. Cochinita pibil reflects Mayan techniques still used in the Yucatán today. Its preparation yields deeply marinated meat without requiring added fat.

6. Chiles En Nogada

Although it’s typically reserved for special occasions in Puebla, its combination of flavors still offers a refined alternative to cheese-smothered entrees. Chiles en Nogada consists of poblano peppers stuffed with a mixture of ground meat and fruit, topped with pomegranate seeds and a walnut cream sauce.

7. Tamales

Made from masa (corn dough), steamed in banana or corn husks, and filled with ingredients like chicken in green sauce or pork with mole, tamales are labor-intensive. Often reserved for holidays and far from fast food, they're also portion-controlled and gluten-free by nature.

8. Caldo De Res

Here's a beef and vegetable soup typical of central Mexico. It’s simmered with corn, carrots, cabbage, and bone-in beef shank for hours to create a nutrient-rich broth. Unlike many restaurant soups, it avoids cream or thickeners while delivering satisfying substance.

9. Fresh And Acid-Cured Ceviche

Mexican ceviche uses lime juice to cure raw fish or shrimp, combined with diced tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, and cilantro. Because it's served cold and without oil, it's a naturally low-fat, high-protein dish. It aligns with both regional authenticity and modern dietary preferences.

10. Enchiladas Verdes With Tomatillo Sauce

These enchiladas are made using soft corn tortillas filled with shredded chicken or vegetables. They are covered in a bright, tangy tomatillo and green chili sauce rather than heavy cream or cheese and are often baked or lightly fried. You enjoy a meal rich in flavor.