“Who has the best Mexican?”

I get questions like that all of the time, and they aren’t easy to answer given the many styles of Mexican – or Tex-Mex – and other Latin fare that can be found in the Summit City. But for truly authentic Mexican food, I can at least tell you the right part of the town to go to.

The East End has an authentic trifecta rivaled by no other part of town. I fell in love with La Cabana on New Haven Avenue a few years ago after getting my first taste of birria there, and the taqueria inside El Paraiso Mexican Market on Hessen Cassel Road has long been a favorite with one of the best pork tacos anywhere.

But as good as they are, I may have saved the best of this trifecta for last because Los Tacos Paco at 2516 E. Pontiac St, might just be the best Mexican restaurant in the city regardless of style.

It opened nearly five years ago in a little brick building on Pontiac Street that is far from being on the beaten path. But the building has been beautifully decorated inside and out with mock graffiti telling you what is being served up inside. You won’t really need to read them, though, because the aroma that hits your nose as soon as you step out of the car lets you know they are cooking up something good there.

As much as I loved La Cabana’s birria, which is made with goat as it should be, Los Tacos Paco’s Birria de Chivo, as it is called, is even better.

If you have had birria at a local diner or upscale eatery, you have not really had birria unless it was made with goat. Birria has become so trendy that it is played out, so to speak, as everyone is trying to take advantage of the dish that has become popular nationwide. What makes Paco’s birria a cut above is that it is much richer and more unctuous than others I have tried because of its higher fat content, which is key to the rather lean meat that is still considered bizarre in this country for the most part.

The way the tacos were assembled added to their excellence as the outer corn tortillas of these double-tortilla beauties were seasoned just right with some of the peppery consommé that can be ordered with these tacos for dipping, then crisped on the flat top longer than most other places so they remained crispy even after being dunked in the consommé, which had that same rich fattiness of the tender goat inside. The Chivo tacos can be ordered a la carte with just onion and cilantro or with onion, cilantro and cheese, but neither includes a cup of consummé unless requested for an upcharge. The Quesabirria Platter of three tacos includes the consommé, and that is the route I chose.

If the birria wasn’t enough, the pork taco I had at Los Tacos Paco was up to par with the great stewed pork at El Paraiso. Los Tacos Paco offered pork cabeza – head meat – that is not common. Many taquerias offer beef cabeza, but few offer pork, and I think they should. The meat had everything I expected from head meat. It was super tender and stewed to perfection but had a contrast of textures that made them supreme. There were crispy fatty bits that emulated chicharrónes; stringy, super moist strips that were like the birria; and simple chunks that were lean and toothsome. It is a taco every taco aficionado should try.

My eye caught a sign on the wall boasting that Shrimp Soup was now available, and that soup put some eyes on me when it hit the table. This big bowl had six whole head-on, and eyes-on, and antennae-on shrimp as well as six medium-sized peeled and cleaned shrimp swimming in its smoky red broth along with carrots, onions, celery and potatoes.

The broth was rather simple and mild but came to life when the fresh onion and cilantro garnish was added, as well as three shakes from the dark, ground, dried chiles that I was offered with it, and that the owner warned me to be careful with. I was asked if I wanted fish in addition to the shrimp and of course I did. And this tilapia was not just a throw-in, either. It was almost as good as the shrimp as it was stewed just right to be soft and delicate, which was no easy feat considering the broth was lava hot when served.

I would take the whole shrimp out and place them on a plate right away next time because they did continue to cook in that broth. When nabbed at the right time, they were wonderful despite the work of pinching off the heads and peeling the tails – which had been deveined – and the only issue I had was that a few antennae found their way to my palate and had to be taken out.

The whole shrimp had the head tomalley that you can suck out if that is your thing, but even if it isn’t you will appreciate its effect on the soup. It gave it that good kind of seafood funk so there was no mistaking this was a soup from the sea. It also included heavily steamed corn – or flour if you like – tortillas that emulated noodles when torn off and put in the steaming broth. The soup was perfect, and I will be having it again, especially considering the value to presents with its 12 shrimp for $13.50 or with 12 shrimp and fish for $16.

One value that was missing here was the addition of free chips and salsa. An order runs $3 and there are no free refills. I splurged for it during one visit and added a side of guacamole, which was very chunky and quite good with a creamy base binding those avocado and tomato chunks. It was $3.50 for a small with chips, so I would pass on the salsa if I had to have chips and stick to the guacamole even though the serving size was small. I will not be upgrading to a large for $7, however, as that is too steep.

I did get my fill of chips when I ordered the Chilaquiles Con Carne Dinner. This traditional Mexican breakfast dish featured a platter of corn tortilla chips coated in red or green sauce – I chose red – with the taco meat of your choice, and I chose campechano style with steak and chorizo. It also included Paco’s spot-on refried beans and Mexican rice as sides. The chips are topped with two eggs, which I had over-easy to ensure I had a runny yolk, and a very scant amount of queso fresco.

I wish I had chosen the green sauce because the red sauce was very timid and pretty standard fare, but I was able to lift it with the two green sauces in squeeze bottles that were brought with it along with two versions of red sauce. The best of the four was the thicker green version which had avocado blended into it. The dark smokier red sauce which I assume was made with some of the same dried chiles in that shaker with my soup was my second favorite. All four had about the same heat level and none were what I would consider too spicy for most palates. I will have this dish again with the green sauce and will splurge and pay the extra quarter to have sour cream, and maybe extra cheese, on it.

I also played around with the hot sauce quartet on my Carne Molida (ground beef) Burrito, but always seemed to come back to that creamy green one. This burrito was tightly wrapped, cut in half and easy to eat, and the balance of each ingredient was right so there was not an overabundance of beans or rice like some places include to beef up the burrito when all it does is hide the meat. It was not a California-style burrito, either so you may like yours with extra lettuce, tomato, guac and sour cream if you are a fan of the left coasters. But as a standard burrito, it satisfied my expectations.

Los Tacos Paco more than satisfied my expectations when it came to service, too. I often expect that there may be a little trouble communicating with the staff when I go to an authentic ethnic restaurant, but there were no issues here. In fact, a sign hanging up over bar by the cash register that was seeking more servers stated that they must be fluent in English and Spanish – a finer detail that will pay off, literally.

Not only did all the servers do a fantastic job explaining details and getting every order right, but the Paco of Los Tacos Paco checked on me and every other table when he had some time away from the busy kitchen and he, too, offered suggestions and wanted feedback to make the restaurant better. It is his attention to detail and care in his product that make it no surprise that a second – actually third counting a short-lived spot at Leo Crossing that shuttered during the awful period of restaurant worker shortage – has popped up on the northeast side of town on Plantation Lane on the back of the Maplewood Plaza, which faces Stellhorn Road.

If it is as good as the original on Pontiac, it will have no problem thriving because Los Tacos Paco is more than just a diamond in the rough, it is the crown jewel of the city’s authentic Mexican restaurant scene.

Restaurant: Los Tacos Paco

Address: 2516 E. Pontiac St.

Phone: 744-9444

Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday

Cuisine: Mexican

Handicapped accessible: Yes

Alcohol: Beer and wine

Kid-friendly: Yes

Menu: Cabeza taco ($2.50), Birria de Chivo taco ($3.50, with cheese $3.75), Quesabirria Platter ($12.50), Chilaquiles Con Carne Dinner ($10.99), burrito ($8.50)

Rating breakdown: Food: 3 (3-star maximum); atmosphere: 1 (1 max.), service: 1 (1 max.)

Ryan DuVall is a restaurant critic for The Journal Gazette. This review is based on two unannounced visits. The Journal Gazette pays for all meals. Email DuVall at [email protected] or call 461-8130.