Tacos in Colima

Colima, a small Pacific state between Jalisco and Michoacán, shares birria and pozole with its neighbors and is best known on the street for sopitos, tiny pork-topped corn cakes from Villa de Álvarez, rather than for a taco of its own.

Overview

Colima is one of Mexico's smallest states, with ten municipalities and a mostly urban population. Larousse's gastronomic dictionary notes that it is the country's leading lime producer and ranks near the top in catches of tuna, skipjack and bonito. The dictionary describes a cuisine formed from Indigenous, Spanish, African and Asian influences, the last brought by merchants arriving on the Manila galleons.

Among the traditional stews Larousse lists are birria, chanfaina, menudo, pipián, shrimp pozole and frijoles puercos made with iguana, several of them shared with Jalisco and Michoacán. Birria in particular links Colima to the wider western Mexican taco tradition in which the stewed meat is folded into corn tortillas.

Sopitos and street food

Colima's signature antojito is the sopito. According to Larousse, sopitos are small sopes about six centimeters across that originated in Villa de Álvarez, formerly San Francisco Almoloyan, and are also called sopes de La Villa. They are topped with pork that has been boiled with onion, pepper, clove and garlic, and the broth is turned into a light sauce of tomato and cascabel or árbol chile. They are traditionally finished with shredded cabbage, aged cheese and salsa and are served several to a plate. Larousse also lists enchiladas and tamales such as mezcatamal among the state's popular street foods.

Larousse's entry on Colima does not describe a taco specific to the state, and this article has not found a documented local taco style.

Coast and Lent

On the coast, Larousse names caldo de chacales (river prawns), chacales in adobo, ceviche and oyster sopes as distinctive dishes. During Lent nopales take center stage in dishes such as stuffed nopales and nopales rancheros. Coconut sweets such as cocadas and alfajores are common along the coast, and drinks include tuba, tesgüino and tuxca.

Bread is another strong local tradition. Larousse notes that many of Colima's regional breads share a single base dough of wheat and egg, including picones, cemitas and the pan de Comala from the hill town of the same name, and that miel de tuna and pinole-based sweets are also common.

Signature tacos

• Tacos de birria

Reviews

See also

• Tacos de birria
• Tacos in Jalisco
• Tacos in Michoacán
• Tacos in Nayarit

References

1. "Colima". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "Sopito". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
3. "Birria". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.