Latino-Owned Restaurants to Check Out in Philadelphia

Taking its name from a character in a famous Mexican ballad, this family-run BYO in Philly’s diverse Italian Market focuses on dishes from Mexico City and Puebla. Can’t-miss offerings include tacos (over a dozen options) and enchiladas with mole.

During Queer Eye’s 2019 visit to Philadelphia, the Fab Five memorably assisted Marcos Tlacopilco, owner and monger at Marcos Fish & Crab House, with work on a new restaurant. The result: Alma del Mar, named after Tlacopilco’s wife (and complete with a mural of the Queer Eye team inside). This Italian Market spot offers up a varied menu of Mexican and American dishes, including sweet breakfast options (tres leches pain perdu) and heftier entrees (branzino, pulpo al carbon).

The expansive menu at Amigo’s includes Hispanic cuisine as well as American offerings and, of course, more than a dozen different pizzas.

After five years as a pop up, Amy Rivera Nassar brings her Puerto Rican-style turnovers to a brand-new Fishtown brick-and-mortar. The takeout lunch spot features pastelillos in classic flavors and rotating flavors, rice bowls and specials.

This cozy Italian Market spot is where you can find Venezuelan stuffed maize dough snacks and other fare, like empanadas and patacón (a sandwich using fried plantains instead of bread). The arepas come in over two-dozen varieties, like slow-cooked blackened beef and a vegan version with red onion, fried sweet plantain, black beans and avocado.

The aesthetic may be inspired by Old San Juan, but the all-vegan menu at Bar Bombón is thoroughly modern. Patrons enjoy Latin American food with a twist, along with potent margaritas available by the glass or pitcher.

Along the gloriously gritty South 9th Street Italian Market, the Sandoval family serves spot-on preparations of huitlacoche (corn mushroom) quesadillas and Puerto Vallarta tacos (overflowing with shrimp, crab and other fish) at Blue Corn. Much of the fare is served in signature blue corn tortillas, made with cornmeal from San Mateo Ozolco, in Puebla, Mexico, the owners’ hometown.

Chef Yun Fuentes’ Latin American restaurant and rum bar, Bolo, opened in 2023 and has already earned Fuentes a nomination for Emerging Chef from the James Beard Awards. The menu celebrates Puerto Rican culture, with ceviches, snacks (like oxtail croquettes and pan con queso), pinchos (skewered meats and vegetables), main dishes (such as vaca frita and pernil), and desserts.

Café y Chocolate, in deep South Philly, pairs its hearty, vegetarian-friendly Mexican breakfast/brunch menu (highly recommend for the chilaquiles) with hard-to-find coffees and hot drinks, such as a cajetuccino, a cappuccino with cajeta, Mexican goat’s milk caramel.

Chef Dionicio Jimenez brings his Mexico City heritage to Kensington at the lauded Cantina La Martina. Praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer for its “most thrilling Mexican flavors,” Cantina La Martina and Jimenez both earned James Beard nominations, in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Hip, candlelit and craft-cocktail-laden are all perfect ways to describe this vegan restaurant in the heart of the Gayborhood. Small plates like potato croquettes and artichoke frites feel indulgent without requiring a single animal-based ingredient, and the ambitious cocktail menu is impressive enough to keep even committed carnivores content.

Colombian and Latin American food make up the absolutely massive menu at this North Philly restaurant. The spot is well-known for its crave-worthy Colombian empanadas and authentic Colombian breakfast of refried beans with rice, pork skin, sausage and eggs. Mexican fare like tacos and tortas round out the offerings.

On a quiet corner in Passyunk Square, El Chingon pumps out the city’s best cemitas, a Puebla-style sandwich. Chef Juan Carlos Aparicio brings decades of experience from the city’s best restaurants, like Parc, to this BYO, which the New York Times named as one of the country’s best restaurants in 2023.

Everyone has a favorite neighborhood taco joint, and for many, El Jarocho is it. A humble corner storefront slings memorably flavorful al pastor and nopales-tangled carne asada. Diners eat in to enjoy their signature sour cream-chipotle dipping sauce, which goes great with fresh salsas and tortilla chips.

Pop-up shop turned brick-and-mortar eatery El Merkury specializes in Central American street food. Corn, chocolate, chili and beans go into popular dishes such as maize-based flatbread pupusas, available con carne or vegetarian and vegan, but the show-stoppers are the elaborate churros served in multiple flavors of ice cream and cake.

Lover of fresh kicks and even fresher coffee, owner Louis Quiles found the perfect blend with his new dream spot, Encanto Kicks & Coffee. The vibrant and colorful shop sells sneakers and apparel, as well as imported Puerto Rican coffee and scrumptious pastries. The drink menu also features cappuccinos, matcha, chai and more. Want to kick back and stay a while? Grab a table and play a board game or two.

Half a dozen restaurants comprise chef Jose Garces’ holdings in Philadelphia and nearby Atlantic City, New Jersey, and many specialize in Latin-American flavors. Garces, a James Beard Award winner and Iron Chef star, runs spots like tapas-heavy Amada in Old City and Rittenhouse Square’s beloved burger joint Village Whiskey.

Organic, plant-based ingredients dominate the menu at HipCityVeg, the fast-casual favorite with locations throughout Greater Philadelphia and in Washington, D.C. Founder Nicole Marquis embraces fresh ingredients and sustainable packaging for all-day eats that include sandwiches, salads, smoothies and seasonal vegan milkshakes.

Latin American cuisine satisfies customers in the diner-like atmosphere at Izlas in Kensington. Salmon Chino-Latino (salmon with stir-fried vegetables and rice); Churrasco with chipotle mashed potatoes, spinach, chimichurri and lobster tail; and paella top the list of signature dishes. The restaurant also offers Taco Tuesday specials and frequent DJ nights.

Jezabel Careaga is known for her Argentine empanadas, but she also has a way with tortilla de patatas (potato quiches), ham-and-cheese croissants and desserts, all served at the charming Jezabel’s in West Philly.

Top Chef alum Jennifer Zavala began slinging homemade tamales at pop-up events and shows at Underground Arts before opening her brick-and-mortar Juana Tamale on East Passyunk in 2021. On the menu are meat and vegan tamales (don’t miss the birria and pepperoni pizza), birria ramen, tacos and breakfast options.

Breakfast, lunch, fresh breads and pastries, and a full-service deli make La Caleñita a can’t-miss eatery. This North Philadelphia-based Colombian spot serves heaping plates of rice and beans, steak eggs and arepas, but the bakery treats are the real stars. Try almojában (cheese bread) or trenza (braided bread stuffed with fruit) alongside a fresh juice or Colombian coffee.

Authentic Mexican food awaits in South Philly’s Whitman neighborhood at La Canasta Mexican Food. The spot’s titular tacos de canasta are a solid choice, as is the spicy mango salmon, quesadillas, sopes and more.

Settle in for a modern cantina experience at this West Passyunk Avenue spot from Arturo Lorenzo (Café y Chocolate, La Mula Terca) and Tim Lidiak and Adrienne Salvatore-Markey (Thirsty Soul). Pair tacos, quesadillas and more with a varied bar program that makes use of rare tequilas.

This Port Richmond eatery is named after Colonial Roma, the Mexico City neighborhood with a thriving arts and culture scene. The menu highlights dishes special to Port Richmond — pierogies! — as well as Korean short ribs, lobster risotto and New York strip.

Owned by Angel Jimenez Hernandez and Karina Sanchez Arellano, Newbold’s Los Cuatro Soles (which translates to “the four suns”) has been dishing out authentic Mexican food to customers since 2016. Burritos, huaraches and tacos all get high marks here.

Tamales — masa lovingly wrapped in cornhusks or banana leaves — are a year-round favorite throughout Mexico, Central America and South America. In the South 9th Street Italian Market, bright Mole Poblano does an incredible variation on tamales soaked in their titular sauce.

Nemi’s menu follows the traditional flavors of Mexico complete with house-made tortillas, salsas, guacamole and ceviche. As far as tacos go, there are confit pork shoulder, marinated flank steak, grilled cauliflower and other options for the choosing. A full tequila and mezcal bar adds to the authenticity of this Port Richmond spot.

The food at this North Philadelphia restaurant and lounge is as varied as the entertainment. Dungeness crab legs, buffalo chicken sandwiches, catfish nuggets and wings are on the menu indoors (where music pumps through the indoor bar) and out (around the spacious outdoor area called The Yard).

The kitchen at this Callowhill eatery dishes out soul-stirring Dominican food — and plenty of it. The oxtail, yellow rice, tostones and red snapper earn rave reviews among expats.

Small but mighty, this colorful Society Hill BYOB has customers head to the counter to order Venezuelan street food: amazing arepas, patacónes and house-made lemonades.

This South Street space for interacting via board and role-playing games is aimed at families by day, adults by night. Game-players pair their adventure with mozzarella sticks, meatless burgers and more, plus a lengthy beer list and cocktails with on-brand names like Dragon’s Breath, Butterbeer and Phoenix Feather.

Former Friday Saturday Sunday Chef de Cuisine, Sashia Gabrieli Liriano, has struck out on her own with a new pop-up dinner series called Saviñon. The culinary school grad pays homage to her Dominican family (Saviñon is her abuelo’s surname) and Latino Caribbean food she grew up eating. Expect traditional dishes — pastelon de mariscos, kabocha squash with sancocho broth, bola de yuca and more — presented in fine dining settings like at Sisterly Love Collective “Cookbook & Convos” and Citrine food events.

This Newbold taqueria is inspired by the Mexican taquerias chef Israel Nocelo grew up eating at. Start your day with breakfast tacos and work your way through the rest of the menu, which features asada, al pastor, camaron, pollo adobo, nopal asado, mole and birria tacos. (Check out their Old City sibling shop, Oui, which serves French pastries.)

Scarpetta, the elegant Italian restaurant inside The Rittenhouse Hotel (as well as in many other cities across the country), serves the food executive chef Jorge Espinoza is most passionate about. Instead of dishes from Espinoza’s native Mexico, patrons at Scarpetta find basil gnocchi, tagliatelle, duck and foie gras ravioli, and Mediterranean dishes.

One of the most prominent figures in Philadelphia’s food scene, Cristina Martínez is both an outstanding chef and an outspoken activist. She has racked up numerous national accolades over the years with her Mexican hot spot South Philly Barbacoa. As of 2024, you can find the South Philly Barbacoa pop-up cart on select days inside Martínez’s newest restaurant, Casa México, located in the Italian Market. The full-service Casa México offers more of Martínez’s star-making Mexican food, with a menu featuring dishes like enmoladas chicken and mole with pork, alongside South Philly Barbacoa favorites like lamb barbacoa tacos and quesadillas.

For stellar Honduran-style tamales (fatter and heartier than their Mexican counterparts), Tamalex is way worth the trip. Sweetening the deal: the enchiladas and huaraches, which also rate highly here.

Mexican destination restaurants, date-night Cuban bistros, family-owned Puerto Rican establishments and Pan-Latin culinary innovators are located in all corners of the city, representing Philly’s growing Latino communities. Find meat-filled Brazilian buffets, cheese-stuffed pupusas, plate-filling mofongo and Caribbean pasteles alongside fresh juices, cold cocktails and rich desserts like gourmet churros at restaurants and cafes serving a variety of Latin dishes.

Centered at Fifth Street and Lehigh Avenue in North Philadelphia, El Centro de Oro is a major hub of Latino culture in Philadelphia. Peppered with faux palm trees and “golden” details on the sidewalks, the distinctive block is home to residents from almost every Latin American country, and the food is no different. Here, hungry diners can find authentic tastes of Puerto Rico, Dominican baked goods, fresh Mexican dishes and mouth watering barbecue eats. Check out our guide to some of the best restaurants in the neighborhood.