Launched in 2007, this homey restaurant with branches in Eagle Hill and Orient Heights is an East Boston institution. Founder Angela Atenco Lopez, a Puebla native, introduced many a local diner to traditional dishes like mole poblano and pipian verde. Since her death five years ago, her family continues the tradition. The tacos are always good: soft and fragrant corn tortillas filled with pork, steak, shrimp, and more, garnished with onion and cilantro. While you’re in, try the chiles en nogada, stuffed poblanos in a creamy white walnut sauce, sprinkled with red pomegranate seeds and green parsley: the colors of the flag. They’re served this time each year, in honor of the holiday.
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131 Lexington St., Eagle Hill, 617-567-4972; 1012 Bennington St., Orient Heights, 617-874-8251; East Boston; www.angelascafeboston.com. Tacos $2.50-$5 each.
Crispy shrimp tacos with a prickly pear margarita at Barra. A new fall menu is coming soon. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Barra
Mexico City-style food from Mexico City natives. The slip of a bar has a great nighttime vibe plus plenty of mezcal and sotol, on their own or in cocktails. (You can get your margarita with a chile-grasshopper rim if you like.) Along with other delights, the menu includes tacos made with hand-pressed tortillas, blistered and charred. Try the crisp fried fish with morita chile mayonnaise, pickled cabbage, and a dollop of avocado salsa.
Here’s a departure from tradition, and a welcome one, particularly for vegetarians. Chef Valentine Howell, who wowed diners at Krasi and his Black Cat pop-up at Vee Vee, has remade the menu at this Jamaica Plain spot. Now tacos range freely from carnitas to fried chicken with bread and butter pickles. I like the meat-free versions, such as yuca fritters with kale curtido and chipotle ranch; roasted carrots with charred scallion salsa and avocado crema; and Brussels sprouts with pomegranate, cotija cheese, and salsa verde (visually appropriate for Mexican Independence Day). Quesabirria tacos, the omnipresent griddled beef and cheese tacos served with consomme for dipping, are made here with jackfruit too.
711 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, 617-477-9977, www.casaverdejp.com. Tacos $7.60 each.
A lengua taco at Chilacates.Kayana Szymczak
Chilacates
This tiny spot serving Mexican street food — hecho a mano con amor — opened on Amory Street in Jamaica Plain 10 years ago. Since then it’s expanded. There are nearly a dozen locations, from Brookline to Cambridge to South Boston. The original is still the best, and it’s the one I continue to go to, even though there’s a different branch around the corner from me. Tacos on handmade tortillas with potato and chorizo, carnitas, grilled shrimp, and more are always satisfying; order a plate, which comes with rice and beans. Don’t forget to ask for extra hot sauce. It’s good. (With the addition of the delightful but less taco-focused Abuela’s Table, JP’s Mexican food scene is on the up.)
A cheerful ode to Mexican street food, Revere’s tiny, tasty Esquite helps make this corner of Shirley Avenue shine. It’s located across from Revere Beach Pizzeria and next to 4 Season Boba Tea. America, the beautiful intersection. The owners ran food cart Eloti prior to opening this location and another on North Shore Road, and they still sell the Mexican corn they became known for. It’s part of a long menu stocked with delicious things — including excellent Mexico City-style tacos, from birria to carne asada to cochinita pibil with pickled onions.
Pátzcuaro’s birria tacos, filled with braised beef, cheese, onion, and cilantro, served with beef consomme. House-made salsas elevate whatever they touch.Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
Pátzcuaro Taqueria & Bar
This warm and friendly Newton restaurant is named for the town in Michoacán, Mexico, where chef-owner Avelina Saavedra grew up in her father’s taqueria. Tacos are served with caramelized onions and potatoes, as they are back home. The birria version with its rich consomme is a highlight, but you can’t go wrong here. The house-made salsas elevate whatever they touch.
On the side of Plazita Mexico Tacos in Watertown are the words “No Tacos No Life.”Devra First
Plazita Mexico Tacos
The words “No Tacos No Life” are painted on the side of this Watertown taqueria, and eating here makes me inclined to agree. If the message isn’t enough to lure you in, the beguilingly tortilla-scented air surrounding the place will be. Plazita Mexico opened here in December; its original Wakefield branch debuted in 2023. Meats are juicy, salsas are on point, house-made tortillas are thick, pliant, and fragrant. I’m a little jealous of the Watertown High students who get to eat here all the time. Come on the weekends if you want tamales.
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385 Main St., Watertown, 617-923-2339; 10 Vernon St., Wakefield, 781-666-0364; www.plazitamexicotacos.com. Tacos $3.25-$4.95 each.
The Taqueria Don Roge truck is parked in a lot on Revere Beach Parkway in Everett.Devra First
Taqueria Don Roge
When you see the red truck, pull into the parking lot. On Revere Beach Parkway in Everett, Taqueria Don Roge serves tacos worth the stop. Customers range from police officers to food-tripping hipsters to Spanish-speaking locals. Place your order, take a buzzer, and soon enough you’ll be cradling a container of warm tortillas filled with cabeza, lengua, al pastor, and more.
A carne asada taco at Taqueria El Amigo.Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff
Taqueria El Amigo
A beloved classic in Waltham: friendly, tasty, speedy. You’ll know the place by the Mexican flags that hang outside. Walls are decorated with folk art and kids’ drawings, and banda music plays on the speakers. Get your tacos to go, or if you’re lucky grab one of the handful of tables in this tiny taqueria run by the Timoteo brothers, who took over a few years ago. The cabeza taco, made with tender and rich beef cheek, is a favorite.
Taqueria Jalisco is deservedly known for its birria tacos.Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
Taqueria Jalisco
Open for more than 20 years in East Boston’s Day Square, this has long been a contender for Boston’s best tacos. Owner Ramiro Gonzalez grew up in California, where his parents operated taco trucks. He learned the business, and their recipes. Three months ago, he opened a second Taqueria Jalisco, in Orient Heights. It is just right for the neighborhood, serving a similar menu in an Instagram-ready space. Staff make fresh tortillas on one side of the restaurant. Kids are here eating dinner with their parents; people are celebrating birthdays (the staff sings, and the whole room joins in); customers lose their minds over the soccer game on at the bar. It’s festive and delightful, and the food is still great.
Greis Garcia makes tortillas at Taqueria Jalisco in the Orient Heights neighborhood of East Boston.Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
Now there’s also breakfast, with chilaquiles, concha French toast, and other Mexican and American classics. A full cocktail list serves up Oaxacan Old Fashioneds, spiked aguas frescas, and margaritas garnished with house-made popsicles. But I digress! You’re here for the tacos. Al pastor, lengua, cabeza, adobada … all are excellent as always. And the birria tacos, for which Taqueria Jalisco is well-known, remain some of the best around.
980 Saratoga St., Orient Heights, 617-418-5121; 293 Bennington St., Day Square, 617-567-6367; East Boston; Instagram @taqueriajaliscoeb. Tacos $4.50-$5.50 each.
Alberto Salinas tends bar at Taqueria Jalisco, where you can get your margarita garnished with a house-made popsicle.Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
Devra First can be reached at devra.first@globe.com. Follow her on Instagram @devrafirst.
Investigators identified Tyler Brown of Boston as the man who allegedly opened fire on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts, leaving two victims with life-threatening injuries.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said Brown fired 50 to 60 shots on the busy road shortly after 1 p.m. Monday.
Two male victims were hit in vehicles, Ryan said. They are in critical condition and fighting for their lives.
A Massachusetts State Police trooper and a civilian with a license to carry a firearm went toward the gunman and fired their weapons at him. Officers treated Brown at the scene, and he was brought to a Boston hospital, where he is in intensive care, according to the district attorney.
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This video shared with NBC10 Boston appears to show a man opening fire at cars on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Monday, May 11, 2026.
Authorities have, so far, shared limited information about the suspect.
“Mr. Brown is from Boston, and apparently was in the process of moving here. We understand that Mr. Brown was under the supervision of either the Massachusetts Probation Department or Department of Parole,” Ryan said.
She did not elaborate on why Brown may have been on probation or parole.
“We will address Mr. Brown’s criminal record, if any, at the arraignment,” she said.
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Ryan added that she did not know enough about Brown’s condition to say whether he would be arraigned in court or in a hospital bed. The timing was also not clear.
He will face two counts of armed assault with intent to murder and firearms charges, and “a variety of other charges as we unfold what took place, exactly, and we have a chance to speak to the many, many people who were out there,” Ryan said.
An inbound stretch of Storrow Drive and Soldiers Field Road will be closed each night through August for tunnel repairs, officials announced.
Starting Monday, the closures will begin at 8 p.m. and last until 5 a.m., state officials said.
Road closures begin at North Harvard Street in Allston and stretch along the Charles River Esplanade to Mugar Way in Boston, near the Hatch Memorial Shell, officials said.
Traffic will be detoured into Cambridge over the Anderson Bridge, along Memorial Drive, and then be routed into Boston over the Longfellow Bridge.
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The closures will allow ongoing repairs to the Storrow Drive Tunnel in the Back Bay.The work is the first phase of a two-stage project to extend the lifespan of the tunnel, which carries roughly 50,000 drivers to and from downtown Boston daily.
The outbound portion of the tunnel and accompanying roadways will not be affected.
State transportation officials said changes to the work schedule will be made when necessary to minimize impacts during major local events at TD Garden, Fenway Park, or during the FIFA World Cup and 250th anniversary celebrations scheduled for this summer.
Additional changes may be made without notice due to weather.
Transportation officials have not specified when the closures will end.
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Bryan Hecht can be reached at bryan.hecht@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @bhechtjournalism.
OXFORD — Ole Miss softball is back in the NCAA Tournament after making the Women’s College World Series a season ago.
The Rebels (34-24) will play Boston (46-13) on May 15 (1 p.m. CT, ESPNU) in the Lubbock Regional. Ole Miss is the No. 2 seed in the regional, and Boston is the No. 3.
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Texas Tech (52-6), the No. 11 overall seed and regional host, will face No. 4 Marist (37-19).
The Rebels went 6-18 in SEC play this season, and have a largely new-look roster from the team that made the WCWS last season.
Ole Miss beat South Carolina and Tennessee in the SEC Tournament to improve its seed.
Freshman Madi George has burst onto the scene in the SEC. The first-year infielder leads Ole Miss with a .385 batting average. She has a team-high 21 home runs and 58 RBIs.
Seniors Emilee Boyer (3.86 ERA), Kyra Aycock (3.97 ERA) and junior Lily Whitten (3.04 ERA) are the primary options in the circle for coach Jamie Trachsel.
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Trachsel is in her sixth season leading the Ole Miss program. She led the Rebels to their first WCWS appearance in program history in 2025.
What to know about Boston, Texas Tech and Marist in Lubbock Regional
Boston entered the Patriot League Tournament as the top seed and the Terriers delivered. Boston beat No. 2 Colgate 12-1, becoming the second team in Patriot League history to four-peat as conference champions. Boston is on a 12-game winning streak. Kylie Doherty leads the team with a .396 batting average and 26 home runs.
Texas Tech made the 2025 WCWS championship series, losing to Texas in three games.
Texas Tech lost just three Big 12 games this season but lost in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. The Red Raiders are a strong threat to get to the WCWS again. There are four Texas Tech batters hitting over .400. Star pitcher NiJaree Canady leads the Red Raiders with a 1.24 ERA. She has 209 strikeouts.
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Marist plays in the MAAC and won the conference tournament. Marist split a two-game series against South Carolina early in the season. Ava Metzger (12-3, 2.51 ERA) and Peyton Pusey (.404 batting average) lead the team.
Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at Shutchens@gannett.com or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_
