Taqueria Cancún

2288 Mission St, San Francisco, CA

Last updated 9/12/2026

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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.

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