By Joe Bonadio

Long one of the most beloved cuisines in America, Mexican food is now more popular than ever. Alongside Asian cuisines like Chinese, Thai and Korean, Mexican food has become one of the most well-represented in this country, accounting for roughly 11 percent–or roughly one in nine–of all American restaurants. And as the birthplace of the mighty Mission burrito, naturally San Francisco is no exception to this rule. Barely a week goes by without the announcement of another Mexican concept in this city, and it seems like everybody is getting into the game right now: the Original Joe’s people have been drawing crowds to Elena in West Portal for over a year now; the stylish Equal Parts recently debuted their CDMX-inflected menu in North Beach; and even the team behind Presidio’s celebrated Dalida are due to open their Maria Isabel next month.

But the big story is playing out on a quiet street in the Inner Richmond. In July of 2022, Cantina Los Mayas opened their doors across the street from Cinderella Bakery on Balboa Street. The third restaurant from the group behind rock-solid Taqueria Los Mayas on Clement Street, the Cantina would be an entirely different animal. With an elevated menu of dishes from the Yucatán, complemented by the country’s first completely Mexican wine list, Cantina Los Mayas hit the ground running. Thanks to an early nod from the San Francisco Chronicle, they opened to news cameras in the dining room, a rare blessing when you open without a sign in a sleepy neighborhood.

Cantina Los Mayas has only continued to improve, and since opening they’ve become the most highly rated upscale Bay Area Mexican restaurant on both Google and Yelp. Oddly, the Cantina has gotten scant local press in the past couple of years––but last month, the restaurant received an unexpected honor. In a national Yahoo survey conducted by Foodies.com, Cantina Los Mayas was named the best Mexican restaurant in California.

Take a moment to reflect on that: there are nearly 20,000 restaurants that serve Mexican food in California. I also think most people would argue that California has the best Mexican food in the United States. It speaks volumes that despite all of that fierce competition, the team at Cantina Los Mayas came out on top. This isn’t the kind of thing that happens without a lot of inspiration, and tons of hard work.

Much of the credit goes to stoic Chef Marco Mendoza-Correon, who continues to raise his game in the kitchen week after week. From his pitch-perfect, silky mole to the piquant smoked pepper sauce that elevates his Chamorro de Borrego––lamb shank slow-roasted in banana leaves––his sauces are nonpareil. People also absolutely froth over Marco’s Branzino Frito, and his Molcajete Mixto, a battalion of scallop, shrimp, octopus, carne asada, chicharrons, queso panela and nopales mushrooms (!!) is no less than a showstopper. Served with a side of steaming fresh tortillas, it’s ideal for sharing with a few hungry friends.

And let’s not forget the wine: Cantina Los Mayas’ wine list is 100% Mexican, with well over 80 offerings from wine regions all over Mexico, including Valle de Guadalupe, Coahuila, San Luis Potosi and Guanajuato. As the first restaurant in the US to publish an exclusively Mexican wine list back in 2022, the Cantina spearheaded a national trend: although only some Mexican wines are natural wines and/or minimal intervention wines, younger drinkers also see them as an alternative to the wines their parents might have enjoyed. And let’s face it, the quality of Mexican wines is drastically higher than it was a decade ago––and they’re getting better every year.

This all might sound a little on the fancier side, but when I spoke with co-owner Juve Carrillo, he emphasized the approachability of the place. “A lot of people might think Cantina Los Mayas is just for special occasions, or things like that,” he told me. “But I have regular customers who will sit at the bar and get a bowl of pozole, or maybe a little ceviche and a beer, and they’re gone.

“This is a small, kind of intimate neighborhood––and we want to be a neighborhood restaurant,” Carrillo continued. “We want to take care of the people here, and as much as we want everyone in the city to come, we try hard to do that.”

431 Balboa Street

San Francisco, CA 94118