There are plenty of ways to enjoy tacos and just as many places offering them to eager customers. However, if you’re looking for the absolute best taco in the country, you may need to head to Nevada.
That’s the takeaway of Yelp’s recent Top 100 US Taco Spots 2023 rating, which named Aroma Latin American Cocina, in Henderson, Nev., as the spot serving the very best tacos in America. The popular business-rating platform considered a long list of taco shops all over the country and ranked them by review volume and customer feedback.
In response to winning the top honor, the Aroma Latin American Cocina team posted an Instagram message, telling followers, “#1 in @yelp ‘s 100 taco spots in the US!!! Thank you yelp for this recognition [of] the hard work of our team!!!! To all our [customers] that made this possible, we are forever thankful to you!!!”
As for what makes its tacos so special, chef and co-owner Steve Kestler, who is originally from Guatemala, explained that he melds dishes from various Latin American cultures. “That’s who I am. I’m a Hispanic who has been eating this food for 40 years. It runs in my veins.”
Beyond that, Kestler, who has only been running his restaurant for 18 months, noted, “We’re not your average taco shop. If you can prepare my taco at home, then it’s not going on the menu.”
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That’s perhaps one of the reasons why three tacos on Aroma Latin American Cocina’s menu are considered to be the very best around. That includes the Pork Belly Taco, the Carne Asada, and the Fried Avocado. It takes over 30 hours to prepare the pork belly for the first option, which includes leaving the meat in a marinade with no less than 15 ingredients before it spends another 8 hours being slow-braised. Kestler admitted, “It’s a labor of love.”
The same can surely be said for the carne asada. Made with a specific cut of meat known as Brazilian picanha, it’s given a medium-rare sear before being sliced into perfect sections and splashed with Maldon sea salt and lime juice. It’s then placed inside a tortilla along with guacamole and queso fresco.
The final taco, the Fried Avocado, delivers on the name with two slices of fried avocado placed in a tortilla with refried beans, pico de gallo, and queso fresco, not to mention a delicious sauce that added to the bottom of each avocado piece.
Although there’s no doubt that Aroma Latin American Cocina’s tacos are delicious, they’re also a little pricey. While they tend to go for up to $7 each, Kestler said “At the beginning, it was hard for people to understand our [costs].” However, he added, “They eat one taco and they get it. They understand what we do.”
Indeed, fans of the restaurant not only understand, but they love the food from Aroma Latin American Cocina. One Yelp reviewer wrote, “If I could give 100 stars, I would! Found this place watching a [social media video that said] ‘Best pork belly tacos in Vegas,’ and they weren’t lying! … Will 100% be back and cannot recommend this amazing restaurant enough.”
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Desirée O
Desirée O is a freelance writer who covers lifestyle, food, and nutrition news among other topics. Read more about Desirée
