Nearly sixty years after a Mexico City butcher founded the family taqueria, his family's taqueria has a real dining room — and it's in Flatiron. El Califa de León opened its first location outside Mexico at 20 W. 23rd St. on August 24, opening a 60-seat restaurant while retaining its Mexico City location, with terracotta floors, brick-red tiles, accordion doors, and one large grill in the center. NYC.gov presentation materials date the construction of the Flatiron Building to 1902-1909, underscoring the district's longstanding architectural identity.
According to Time Out, the New York space is the taqueria's New York location. The Flatiron venue was designed by Mexico City architecture firm Estudio MERO, which built an interior false façade meant to simulate an outdoor Mexico City street terrace, as Edible Manhattan reports. The effect protects diners from a neighboring Home Depot cart while echoing the open-air feel of the original stand.
From a Butcher's Grill to Mexico's Most Famous Taco
From a Butcher's Grill to Mexico's Most Famous Taco El Califa de León was founded in 1968 by butcher Juan Hernández González in Mexico City's San Rafael neighborhood, according to Mexico News Daily's reporting on the family's history. The gaonera taco was created to celebrate bullfighter Rodolfo Gaona. Hernández González is credited with innovating or popularizing the taqueria's signature gaonera taco — a single thin slab of beef tenderloin, a luxury cut rarely served at taco stands at the time, on a fresh tortilla, per Edible Manhattan.
The original CDMX location remains in Mexico City. That contrasts sharply with the 60-seat layout with one large grill in Flatiron. The taqueria made history as the first taqueria on the planet to win a Michelin star, earning the distinction in 2024 and 2025, though Michelin Guide Mexico stripped that star rating in May 2026 without offering a formal explanation, according to Mexico News Daily. The restaurant describes its offerings as “Mexico's highest-awarded tacos.”
Family-Run Expansion, Tested Coast to Coast
The U.S. expansion is led by third-generation owner José Andrés Hernández Elizalde, his father Mario Hernández Alonso, and business partner Rodrigo Diaz, Edible Manhattan reports. Mario Hernández Alonso, who took over the original CDMX stall in the mid-1980s, personally trained the New York kitchen staff on traditional meat-cutting and grilling techniques. Rather than bringing in a corporate restaurant group or venture capital, the family self-financed the Flatiron location with backing from relatives and close friends, according to a Facebook post from Comfort Food by Mashed.
Hoodline covered a sizzling Tempe pop-up. New York was the most enthusiastic market, and that reception encouraged the family to expand.
Same Menu, Very Different Price Tag
Ahead of the August 24 opening, the restaurant had already logged over 1,500 advance reservations for August and September and built a waiting list of 6,000 people, according to Edible Manhattan. The menu in Flatiron mirrors what's served in Mexico City, per Time Out, though the sources cited here do not provide prices for either location.
The Flatiron kitchen uses fresh masa corn tortillas from Sobre Masa in Bushwick, according to Time Out. The restaurant also offers a vegetarian taco with roasted poblano peppers and huitlacoche, plus red and green salsa.
The article also mentions New York City employment and unemployment.
El Califa de León is at 20 W. 23rd St. in Flatiron and discusses reservations and a waiting list. Flatiron is the family's first U.S. outpost.
