Birria Tacos in NYC: What Birria Is and How to Eat It

Birria tacos have been everywhere for the past several years: crisp red tortillas, slow-cooked meat and a cup of broth on the side for dipping. The style comes from Tijuana and spread through Southern California to taco menus across the US, New York included. If you want to know what you're ordering, start here.

What is birria?

Birria is a slow-cooked stew from Jalisco, in western Mexico. The traditional meat is goat, marinated in an adobo of dried chiles, garlic and spices, then cooked low and slow until it pulls apart. It's served in its own red broth with chopped onion, cilantro, lime and tortillas. In Jalisco it's a classic at weddings, baptisms and family celebrations, and it has a reputation as a hangover cure.

Today birria is also made with beef or lamb, and beef is the usual choice for birria tacos in the US.

What is consomé, and what does Tijuana style mean?

Consomé is the cooking broth: deep red from the chiles, rich, with a layer of fat on top. With birria tacos it comes on the side, often with onion and cilantro, for dipping and sipping.

The birria taco most people picture now comes from Tijuana, where the birria is usually beef. The taquero dips each tortilla in the fat skimmed from the consomé, crisps it on the griddle, fills it with meat and often melted cheese, and serves a cup of consomé alongside. The cheesy version is often called quesabirria.

How do you eat birria tacos with consomé?

1. Eat them hot. The tortilla is at its best right away and softens as it sits.
2. Dress the taco first. Add lime, salsa, onion and cilantro before you dip.
3. Dip, then bite. Hold the taco closed, dunk one end in the consomé and take a bite. Dip again before every bite.
4. Don't pour. Spooning broth over the tacos turns the tortillas soggy fast.
5. Drink what's left. Consomé is a broth, so sipping it from the cup at the end is normal.
6. Use napkins. It drips. Lean over the plate.

What are the birria tacos like at Cantina Rooftop?

Our birria tacos are on the dinner menu under Tacos, at $21 for an order of three. Here they are as they read on our menu:

The consomé comes with them for dipping, and our menu rates them 3 out of 4 for heat. Like every taco order, they come on corn tortillas with creamy zucchini sauce, chile de árbol sauce, onion, cilantro and lime; flour tortillas are $1 more.

Birria shows up in two other ways on the menu. The Patacón con Birria ($19) is smashed fried plantains with beef birria, fried cheese, guacamole, cherry tomatoes, red onion, special sauce, chile de árbol sauce and lettuce. And you can add birria for $8 to the Queso Fundido ($18), the Sopes ($16) or the Quesadilla ($17).

What other tacos are on the menu?

Every order is three tacos on corn tortillas. Prices as on our menu:

The Baja is the only taco our menu rates 4 out of 4 for heat; the rest are a 3. On Tuesdays, Taco Tuesday is unlimited tacos for $25 per person for 90 minutes. Ask us when you book which tacos are on the Taco Tuesday list.

When can you order them, and how do you get there?

Birria tacos are on the dinner menu, served from 5pm Tuesday to Sunday; we're closed on Mondays. At weekend brunch most appetizers, tacos and sides from the dinner menu are served too, so ask your server whether birria is on. There's a live DJ every night, and the retractable glass roof is heated in winter.

Cantina Rooftop is at 605 W 48th Street, between 11th and 12th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen, about a 12-minute walk from the C/E subway at 50th Street. Tables for 2 to 8 book online; for 9 or more, send a group request. Walk-ins are welcome, but we recommend booking.