Colorado's Hands-Down Best Street Tacos Come From This Local Favorite Denver Hotspot

Tacos: the great unifier, the great pacifier, able to connect and calm in just a few bites. One could plan an entire road trip around the West and Southwest just tasting all the different tacos in each state, and while you might be tempted to skip over Colorado, Denver locals would say otherwise. Located in the neighborhood of LoHi, Kiké's Red Tacos (pronounced "Kee-kay," a nickname for Enrique) has been the go-to hotspot for street tacos since it first opened as a food truck in 2020.

When Cesar Silva González's father, Enrique, wanted to buy a house with his savings, Cesar had a different suggestion: Why not open a food truck? Enrique had worked in restaurants in Mexico for years and was from Jalisco, the birthplace of birria, a red spicy stew cooked with goat or beef whose untold history is as complex as its flavors. Enrique had his family recipes of birria and thus, Kiké's Red (as in, the red birria sauce made by Enrique) was born. 

The truck was immediately successful, rated by Yelp as "Denver's top-rated food truck" in 2021 (according to Kiké's website) and winning the Denver Post's "March Madness" bracket of the best tacos in the city in 2022. The González family decided to expand and opened this brick-and-mortar location in 2023.

When it comes to finding the best tacos in every state, Kiké's Red Tacos is the clear winner in Colorado. Besides the birria tacos, this popular spot offers a birria ramen (i.e., the center of a Venn diagram of two of the most perfect dishes), queso tacos with a layer of melted cheese, loaded fries, and more.

At Kiké's Red, they slow cook the birria beef and goat (both options are available) for eight hours, marinated with a variety of chili peppers and spices, and the people have spoken: It is GOOD. Currently, the restaurant has a 4.6 rating on Google, with users like Metaphysical AF writing that it's the "best birria ramen I've ever had! ... Come here to get your fix." User 808bump takes a clear hard-line stance on Instagram, writing that the birria ramen is "genuinely the best thing i've ever had. i'll be on my deathbed asking for a bowl of dis." Others note not to sleep on the drinks either, as the margaritas and agua frescas are delicious, especially the pineapple and horchata flavors.

Tacos are about $4 each, while you can get combo plates mixing tacos with birria ramen or tortas that run about $16-$20. The restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays, and it's open for the rest of the week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. You might have to wait a bit for a seat, especially around dinnertime, but it'll be worth the wait, and at least this will be the perfect way to line your stomach before embarking on a hops-heavy bar hop around Denver, the craft beer capital of the United States.