Daniel Pineda, co-owner of Seddon’s Superchido, fell hard for Mexico City’s taquerias when he visited last year.

“In Melbourne, pure taco shops are just not around,” he says. Instead, there is a sea of quick-service restaurants selling burritos or Mexican restaurants doing broad brushstroke takes on the cuisine. Taquerias, though? Few and far between.

CDMX was the answer, a taco stand he opened last year with wife Beatrice and sister Sarah. It was initially a pop-up at Melbourne Central that later became permanent.

Now the team have graduated to a full-blown restaurant in Brunswick East that is closer to the lively Mexican venues that inspired the concept.

There are white tiles on the walls hand-painted with signs that read “The best tacos are in CDMX”, a reference to both the restaurant and the abbreviated form of Mexico City’s official name, Ciudad de Mexico.

A tiled bar is the centrepiece of the 65-seat venue, generously proportioned for all the small plates of tacos that will inevitably be dropped in front of diners.

There are five on offer, including signatures from Mexico’s capital city such as campechanos, translating to combination. In this case, it’s pork al pastor and fresh chorizo sausage made in-house with dried chilli. Other fillings on La Tortilleria tortillas include beer-battered barramundi, crisp potato, and braised beef with consomme (aka birria).

It’s less eat-and-run than the petite city location, so there are more snacks, including grilled corn showered with cheese, and ceviche (usually snapper) on tostadas with avocado and pico de gallo salsa. You can finish with churros served with cajeta, Mexico’s answer to dulce de leche.

Splashes of electric blue and neon contrast with metal cantina-style furniture and the back bar’s white arches. Drinks are a mix of failsafe cocktails (margaritas, palomas), local beers from Temple Brewing and Mexican soft drinks.

Where Superchido is a broad overview of Mexico’s different culinary regions, this is a highly focused, eat with your hands spot, perfect for more casual nights.

Open Mon 5pm-9pm, Tue-Fri 5pm-10pm, Sat & Sun noon-3.30pm & 5pm-late.

315 Lygon Street, Brunswick East, 0466 926 773, cdmx.com.au