Koko Lists
Start a new list
Log in
Sign up
← New random battle
Koko Battle
Tap your pick.
Taqueria Cancún
Taqueria Cancún first opened in 1991 on Market Street near 6th, founded by Gerardo Rico and Pedro Grande, who had worked together at El Farolito before deciding to open their own taqueria. From that original location, the pair expanded to additional Mission District storefronts, building Cancún into one of the neighborhood's other genuinely well-regarded taco counters rather than just a copycat of the shop where they'd learned the trade. The tacos follow the classic Mission street-taco format closely — small corn tortillas, quickly cooked meats, a straightforward build without excess garnish — the kind of no-frills execution that lets the quality of the meat and the griddle work carry the whole dish. Cancún's version has earned its own loyal following distinct from El Farolito's, evidence that the Mission has room for more than one taqueria built on a very similar format when the execution is genuinely good. That Rico and Grande's careers both trace back to time spent at El Farolito before striking out on their own says something about how much of San Francisco's taco scene has grown out of a fairly small, tightly connected community of Mission taquerias — competitors who trained under, or alongside, each other before building their own separate reputations. Cancún has stayed a genuine neighborhood counter rather than expanding into a citywide brand the way some of its Mission contemporaries have, a scale that's kept the format consistent across its handful of locations rather than diluting it. For a San Francisco taco list, Taqueria Cancún is the essential "trained at the best, built their own" entry — classic corn tortilla street tacos from two former El Farolito cooks who turned that training into their own respected Mission institution.
VS
Tacolicious
Tacolicious began in 2009 as a stand at the Thursday Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, founded by food writer Sara Deseran and her husband Joe Hargrave, whose childhood trips to Baja California and a later formative visit to Mexico City together shaped the couple's approach to Mexican food. What started as a weekly farmers-market stand grew into a full sit-down restaurant in the Marina, a considerably more polished format than the street-taco and taqueria-counter tradition that defines most of the rest of this list. That polish is deliberate: Tacolicious serves tacos in a full-service dining room with a genuine cocktail and tequila program, positioning itself closer to a destination Mexican restaurant than a quick counter order. The tortillas and fillings draw on the same regional Mexican traditions the founders encountered on their travels, but the format — a sit-down meal with table service — is a meaningful departure from the walk-up, eat-standing style of most Mission taquerias. Deseran's background as a food writer shows up in the restaurant's approach to menu development and storytelling; Tacolicious has published its own cookbook built around the restaurant's recipes, extending the brand well past its physical locations. From that original farmers-market stand, the concept has grown into five locations across the Bay Area, a rare kind of growth for a business that started with a folding table and a propane grill. That arc — market stand to full restaurant group with its own cookbook, in roughly fifteen years — makes Tacolicious a genuinely different kind of taco business than the multi-generational taquerias elsewhere on this list, and it gives San Francisco's taco scene a more composed, sit-down alternative to the counter-service tradition. For a San Francisco taco list, Tacolicious is the essential "market stand to restaurant group" entry — a full-service, cocktail-forward taco restaurant built by a food writer and her husband from a single farmers-market table.
Next battle
Full comparison
About Taqueria Cancún
About Tacolicious
Popular Battles
1984 vs. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
1 votes
Friends vs. Curb Your Enthusiasm
1 votes
Ideogram vs. Sora
1 votes
Navy Pier vs. Bishop Museum
1 votes
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree vs. Skittles
1 votes
George Carlin vs. Oprah Winfrey
1 votes
