If you're hunting for a Mexican restaurant in New Rochelle, the good news is you're spoiled f0d f0d this city has family taquerias that have been going since the early '80s, Pueblan and Jalisco kitchens tucked along Union Ave, and a whole surrounding cast of Peruvian, Salvadoran, Colombian and Venezuelan spots that share the same blocks. This page is a walk through the ones locals actually eat at, grouped by the kind of night you're having rather than dumped in one long list. Last updated September 2026.
A note before we start: New Rochelle's Mexican food is concentrated in two corridors f0d f0d Main Street through downtown and up into the Union Avenue neighbourhood, and North Avenue heading north past the train station. Learn those two spines and you can eat well for a year.
This is the heart of it. If someone asks where to find real, unfussy Mexican food in New Rochelle, this is the answer.
Restaurant Tecalitlan (123 Union Ave) is a family Jalisco-style kitchen and one of the most consistently well-reviewed Mexican restaurants in the city. Good for a proper sit-down meal when you want regional cooking rather than a taco in a paper tray.
Esquina Mexicana (214 Union Ave) is the kind of place that earns a 4.7 without a website or any fuss at all f0d f0d word of mouth does the whole job. Worth a stop if you're already in the neighbourhood and want to eat where the reviews are quietly excellent.
PALETERIA LA MEXICANA (111 Union Ave) is your after-dinner move, or your entire reason for driving over on a hot afternoon. Paletas and Mexican ice cream, and a genuinely happy place to bring kids.
Right on the same stretch, Sabrosura Peruana (231 Union Ave) isn't Mexican f0d f0d it's Peruvian, with a seafood focus f0d f0d but it's part of what makes this corridor worth exploring. If your table can't agree, this is the compromise nobody complains about.
Main Street is where New Rochelle's Mexican restaurants have been putting in decades, and it shows.
Little Mexican Cafe (581 Main St) has been family-owned since 1990 and its tacos al pastor have been noted in the New York Times. There's a full bar. This is the one to bring an out-of-town friend to when you want to prove a point about New Rochelle.
The Mexican Corner Restaurant (497 Main St) does tacos, tamales, burritos and quesadillas without reinventing anything, and does them well enough to sit at 4.6. Reliable weekday dinner, reliable takeout.
Margarita's Cocina Mexicana (229 Main St) is a small cocina doing home-style dishes f0d f0d the sort of narrow, warm room where the food tastes like someone's actually cooking it to order rather than assembling it.
La Herradura (563 Main St) leans a little Tex-Mex and is known locally for its Mexican pizza, which is exactly the dish you order when you've brought teenagers along and everyone needs to be happy at once.
Fresh Taco (673 Main St) is the budget pick f0d f0d casual Mexican and Tex-Mex built for takeout and delivery. Good for a Tuesday when cooking is not happening.
Las Palmas Restaurant (7 Church St) sits just off the downtown core and is an easy, unpretentious stop if you're already parked nearby.
Pura Vida (615 Main St) rounds out the block f0d f0d worth a look if you're walking Main and want something lighter.
The Taco Project (596 North Ave) is the highest-rated Mexican restaurant in New Rochelle at 4.8, and it earns it f0d f0d a modern taqueria built around tacos and margaritas. This is your date-night-that-isn't-stuffy pick, and the one to book if you've got a group who all want something different.
Tlaquepaque Restaurant (347 North Ave) matches it at 4.8, with traditional Mexican cooking and a full cantina bar. If you want to sit at the bar with a drink and eat properly at the same time, come here.
Mister Taco (619 North Ave) deserves real respect: it's New Rochelle's original Mexican restaurant, family-run since 1981. Cheap, fast, and part of the city's actual history f0d f0d go for the tacos and don't overthink it.
Estrellita Poblana (134 North Ave) is the Pueblan-style option, which means a different regional accent to everything above f0d f0d worth seeking out precisely because it isn't the same food as the Jalisco kitchens.
Westchester Taco Grill (712 North Ave) is further up the avenue and a solid, quick stop if you're driving north anyway.
La Hacienda (77 Centre Ave) sits just off this stretch with a restaurant-and-bar setup f0d f0d another decent option when the North Ave favourites are packed.
Some of the best meals near a Mexican restaurant in New Rochelle aren't strictly Mexican at all.
Salsa Y Brasa (10 Maple Ave) blends Mexican and Peruvian and is known for ceviche and rotisserie chicken f0d f0d the single best answer to "I want tacos, they want chicken."
Santa Cruz Restaurant (6 Memorial Hwy) is Latin-Mexican near the waterfront at 4.7, and the location makes it a natural pre- or post-walk dinner.
Ava Ava Restaurant, Bar & Lounge (13-15 Division St) is the priciest here and the only one that doubles as a nightlife venue f0d f0d Latin-Caribbean fusion, cocktails, and a room that keeps going after dinner.
And if you're exploring the wider Latin food scene downtown: Colombian House (585 Main St) for bandeja paisa and arepas, Arepa Mania (572 North Ave) for Venezuelan arepas and empanadas, La Esquina Salvadorena (529 Main St) for pupusas, Olibar Peruvian Cuisine (583 Main St) from longtime Lima restaurateurs, La Brisa Marina (601 Main St) for Peruvian seafood, El Sabor De Mi Tierra (324 Huguenot St) for Central American home cooking, and Rinconcito Dominicano Luncheonette for Dominican plates.
Alicia's Bakery (498 Main St) is the Latin bakery for breads and pastries on the way to work. Bakery and Deli Tikal (640 Main St) covers the Central American side, bakery and deli in one. And El Sabor Latino (391 Main St) does mofongo and breakfast if you want a Dominican start to the day.
There's also a Taco Bell at 329 Main St. You know what it is, and with everything above within a few blocks, you probably don't need it.
For what's on in New Rochelle this week f0d f0d markets, live music, family things, all of it free to browse f0d f0d head to happslocal.com. Sign up while you're there and we'll send the free weekly digest straight to your inbox, so you stop finding out about the good stuff the day after.
Get the free New Rochelle weekly digest →