Methodology

To identify the best Mexican restaurant in every state, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the top-rated restaurants nationwide in the Mexican category on Yelp. To be considered, restaurants needed to be in or near a city with a population of at least 100,000 people. In states with few or no cities of this size, restaurants in smaller cities were also considered.

Chains with more than a few units, food trucks, take-out places without seating, pan-Latino or Central American establishments, and restaurants specializing in Korean-Mexican and other hybrid cuisines were eliminated from the list, as were Mexican markets unless they had in-store restaurants.