Mexican Restaurants in Cherry Hill

Mexican Post posts a classic menu of quesadillas, nachos, and burritos. Complimentary chips and salsa begin meals by blowing tiny tortilla trumpets, heralding the quesadilla fiesta of cheese, homemade salsa, and a choice of veggies, tofu, or chicken ($6.45). Diners can chomp down on two custom-stuffed tacos ($4.95) or devour an edible tortilla bowl brimming with taco salad ($6.95). Bottles of Mexican soda cool down mouths with flavors such as mango, guava, and strawberry ($2.50), and churros ($1.50) are sure to remind jaded taste buds why they're in the business.

The word xochitl (pronounced "so-cheet") means flower in the Nahuatl language—so it’s more than fitting that Xochitl's dining room is decorated in bud-like vibrant yellows offset by banquettes in deep crimson. Garden-fresh flavors come to life in the chefs’ ceviches spiked with citrus and in guacamole that gets scooped up with housemade tortilla chips. Earthy comfort food entrees include braised short ribs and a succulent fried chicken dish that begins its path to the table with a 24-hour brining. And because the coveted elixir of the agave plant—tequila—is the star of the restaurant's drink list, Xochitl earned the acme position on CBS Philly's list of "Top Spots for Margaritas in Philadelphia."

Even though he was just four years old when his family emigrated from Puebla, Mexico to the United States, Alfredo Aquilar prepares Mexican food as though he’d lived his whole life there. Under his supervision, chefs at Las Cazuelas prepare authentic dishes such as nopalitos salad—sliced cactus marinated overnight and mixed with cilantro and tomatoes. Abuelitas pollo, whose name means “little grandmother’s chicken” in tribute to its inventor, Alfredo’s own grandmother, is a boneless chicken breast topped with a guajillo pepper sauce. In the kitchen, shrimp snap against hot skillets near pots of slowly roiling chipotle sauce. To wash down steaming feasts, customers tote in bottles of wine or bring along tequila to add to complimentary pitchers of nonalcoholic margarita mix served Sunday–Thursday.

Inside the dining area, blue shutters frame murals of South American cathedrals, rolling countrysides, and maps of Mexico. An outdoor patio offers people-watching opportunities, and the second-floor balcony lets you look people in the eye when telling them you know they are actually a bunch of children stacked up under a big coat.

Los Taquitos de Puebla Restaurant was praised by the Philadelphia Weekly as a destination for great pork, specifically the "succulent cilantro-flecked tacos al pastor." These traditional pork tacos are decorated simply with succulent pineapple and crisp onions. Inside the restaurant’s small and colorful dining room you can order quite a variety of tacos from the menu including some that feature cactus and chihuahua cheese, beef short rib, and smoked pork chop.

Santa Fe Burrito's cooks assemble fresh ingredients daily to fill made-to-order burritos with generous portions of chicken, turkey, shrimp, vegetables, beans, and tofu. Menu options range from traditional burritos with black beans and cheese to ultimate burritos stuffed with Adobo shrimp, chicken chili, or turkey burger.

Attached to an unassuming South Philly corner bodega filled with Mexican groceries, chilies, and spices, Los Gallos doesn't have to go far to find its ingredients. The chefs whip up familiar feasts of chicken tostadas, Texas-style nachos, and cheese quesadillas or dole out more traditional Mexican dishes such as savory menudo stews, huitlacoche tacos, or enchiladas mole. Leave the plastic at home, as Los Gallos only accepts payment in the form of cash or in-key renditions of public-domain Christmas songs.