Diners are lining up in Tucson, Arizona, this month for what is billed as a once-in-a-lifetime chance: eating tacos from the world’s only Michelin-starred taqueria, El Califa de León of Mexico City.
The legendary taco stand, awarded a Michelin star in 2024 that it retained in 2025, last week launched a 12-day pop-up across from the University of Arizona campus.
The event, a collaboration with Arizona-based travel app GrinGO and a local restaurant, is scheduled to run through Sunday, Sept. 14.
Located in Mexico City’s San Rafael neighborhood since 1968, El Califa de León is the only taqueria (or taco stand) to ever receive a coveted star from Michelin.
The tiny, stand-up eatery — which offers only four types of tacos, each with thinly sliced meat and salsa on house-made tortillas — is known for its “gaonera” taco, thin slices of beef filet cooked to order with just lime and salt.
“For 56 years, El Califa de León in Mexico City has been considered a coveted taqueria and best kept local secret,” GrinGO founder Brian Krupski said in a statement. “We’re excited to bring the taste of Mexico City back to Arizona.”
This is not El Califa’s first U.S. stop.
Chef and owner Mario Hernández Alonso did a three-day tour of Phoenix in April, followed by a 13-day pop-up in Tempe (home of Arizona State University) in June. Each drew big crowds.
And last October, El Califa de León offered tacos during a one-night pop-up at a Manhattan location of Tacombi, a restaurant chain founded in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, and now primarily based in New York. For two weeks afterward, the tacos were available at all Tacombi locations in New York and five other states.
(For that particular collaboration, Tacombi provided its Vista Hermosa brand tortillas and the meat was supplied by Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors. But the tacos offered were El Califa’s standbys: beef filet, steak, beef rib and pork loin.)
All of these temporary opportunities have fueled talk of a permanent U.S. expansion, with Mexico News Daily reporting in June that Hernández is exploring a Manhattan location.
According to the Mexican newspaper El Economista, the name of the restaurant will be Auténtica de San Cosme, a tribute to the CDMX location on Ribera de San Cosme Avenue. Though there is no location yet, a website is live at Autenticatacos.com.
“The Michelin award has allowed us to grow and make presentations in different places, including the United States,” Hernández said, all the while clarifying that the original El Califa de León is not moving or closing down.
“Receiving the Michelin star has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” he added. “But beyond the recognition, it comes with a profound responsibility: to honor and elevate one of the most iconic treasures of Mexico — a taco made with true craftsmanship, heart and respect for tradition.”
With reports from Informa BTL, Tucson.com and Directo al Paladar
