The North: Sonora, Flour Tortillas and Cow Heads

Sonora is cattle and wheat country, so its taco comes on a hand-stretched flour tortilla with beef charred over fire, not corn and not stewed. Taconora brings that tradition to Garnet Avenue with Sonoran-born recipes, tortillas pressed in house and a salsa negra worth asking for by name. The ribeye torerita is the order, and a coyota with ice cream is how Hermosillo ends a meal.

A taco perron is Sonora's showpiece: grilled carne asada, frijoles de olla, melted cheese and guacamole folded into a flour tortilla big enough to need two hands. Taco Machin on Bonita Road names its house taco after it and pairs it with Tijuana-style adobada, tripa, lengua and a birria de res with consome, which makes it the rare shop fluent in both borders. Order the Taco Machin first.

Cabeza de res en su jugo is a northern Mexican method, Sinaloa and Sonora more than Baja: the entire cow head simmers for hours until cheek, tongue, eyes and brains fall off the bone into their own broth. The owner spent eleven years cooking at Aqui Es Texcoco before taking over the space and turning it into the best cow-head counter in the county. Order a taco surtido to taste everything at once, then a half-pound cabeza bowl with handmade tortillas when you know what you like.