The Family-Owned Taqueria With The Best Tacos In All Of California, According To Yelp

There are a lot of taco joints in California. Not only that, but there are a lot of really good taco joints there. With its proximity to Mexico, the Golden State has the highest population of people identifying as Hispanic or Latino in the United States. Naturally, Mexican food is plentiful. Choosing the absolute best taco in California sounds like an impossible task, but leave it to Yelp to figure it out. To find Yelp's top 100 taco spots of 2025, the crowdsourced review site tallied up positive hits on the taquerias listed on its site and discovered that Birrieria Familia Castro not only has the best tacos in the state but also ranked the highest overall in the country.

Birrieria Familia Castro is an unassuming, family-owned restaurant located in North Hollywood, about four miles north of Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles. Gema and José Castro opened the business with their son, Anthony, and the food they create has been earning rave reviews from customers since its start.

As you can gather from the name, the restaurant serves up delicious birria tacos made with fresh, carefully selected ingredients — a recipe passed down from Anthony's great-grandmother. "We pride ourselves when it comes to our birria, from the time it's being made to after all is done. We remove all the extra fat from it so you just get the clear tenderness from the meat," Anthony shared (via Los Angeles Daily News).

While birria can be made with different meats, it's a beef birria recipe that Birrieria Familia Castro specializes in — and you can enjoy the Castro family's signature dish in multiple ways. The eatery creates not only conventional tacos with the slow-cooked meat (served on corn tortillas with onions and cilantro) but also quesatacos, which are griddled crunchy tacos oozing with melted cheese. In addition, the Castros make birria vampiros, a regional Mexican food from Sinaloa that includes a crisp, open-faced tortilla and a costra of crispy, browned, melted cheese. You can also try mulitas, which are like a two-tortilla quesadilla that's filled with birria, sandwich-style. Order birria as the main dish next to beans, rice, and warm tortillas, or get an unbelievable pile of loaded birria fries.

If you visit for the tacos due to Yelp's recommendation, you're certainly not limited to birria. The restaurant also offers carne asada, pollo, chorizo, carnitas, and even fried mashed potato tacos, which are vegetarian-friendly. All of them are served on handmade tortillas, to boot. The menu also includes menudo, breakfast items, and tortas.