Like the Tacos El Bronco truck in Sunset Park, East Harlem stalwart Las Delicias Mexicanas provides an older idea of birria — served as a stew with corn tortillas long before quesabirria tacos and birria mulitas became all the rage. As an added plus, this birria is made with very flavorful lamb, rather than beef. The brick-red broth is also somewhat oddly bobbing with carrots, which add sweetness. It’s up to you to assemble the birria tacos.

Long may you ponder why a taco storefront on West 94th Street is called Taqueria 86 (it commemorates the year the World Cup was held in Mexico). A full range of tacos is offered, to be washed down with beer in a comfortable, sports-bar setting, but the best tasted was filled with a shredded and chile-laden birria. The braised meat was totally up to par, and cheese and cilantro were generously applied, but the consomé seemed a bit thin and pallid, so you may want to skip the dipping part.

Eater critic Ryan Sutton is particularly fond of the beef birria tacos at this Midtown West cocktail lounge, open till the wee hours with a kitchen led by Pueblan-born chef Ignacio Cotzomi. The birria is exceedingly chunky, and according to Sutton, “The brisket itself flaunts an intensely browned and crispy exterior; it exudes an intoxicating bovine aroma that recalls the best suadero tacos or griddled burgers.” A cup of consomé and salsa de arbol are served on the side. 

This renamed space in southeastern Astoria (previously Metro Crust Pizza) is one of a collection of Queens pizzerias taken over by Mexican immigrants. Usually, a taco menu is added to the pizzas; in this case, an entire menu of pizzas with Mexican toppings takes center stage. The birria pizza is a thing of beauty with lots of meat on a melting platform of cheese. Yes, the consomé is served alongside at no extra charge, and there’s a bonus cup of guacamole, which is really better for dipping than soup.

This newish combination restaurant and cocktail lounge run by restaurateur Alex Arias offers a wonderful menu of specialties — often using the recipes of América Rodriguez — from the state of Sinaloa in northwestern of Mexico, bordering the Gulf of California. Yes, there’s chilorio and aguachiles, but also a great taco version of beef birria. Served with consomé and a fiery orange salsa, these tacos are made on corn tortillas and are oozing with melted cheese.

Near the new public library and Gantry State Park in Hunter’s Point, Long Island City, a prodigious collection of food trucks has assembled. Among the hot dogs, chicken teriyaki, and empanadas, one artistically decorated van specializes in birria. In addition to a largely Pueblan menu, Chinelos Birria Tacos offers a very fine example of birria tacos, sold in threes on smallish dipped tortillas, freighted with extra meat. The very chunky consomé is available as a side dish, but must be requested.

Finally, the birria trucks that have characterized the street dining scene in the other boroughs have motored into Manhattan. The Delicias Galindo van, having previous made Corona its home, has found its way to Chelsea. Just like the other trucks, it sells an assortment of taco fillings, though beef birria and consomé is the highlight. And like the other birria trucks, it adds Pueblan flourishes to what is basically a Tijuana specialty. The birria quesadilla is a case in point, with the juicy meat folded into a giant corn tortilla, the top squiggled with crema, queso seco, and guac that’s normally used on tacos.

Under chef Henry Zamora, who once worked at French Laundry, the menu at Flatiron newcomer Tacos Güey features a birria taco made with chile-braised lamb, rather than beef. Served in pairs, they are made with paper-thin tortillas that are not pre-coated with the birria braising liquid due to fragility, but an austere and highly flavored consomé is served on the side for dipping; you’ll find yourself drinking the rest after you eat the tacos.

Even after the departure of chef Daniela Soto-Innes, Atla keeps innovating. One of its most recent offerings is birria — boneless beef short rib served in a half-pound portion cradled in a banana leaf. Alongside come cilantro, onion, and an orange-colored “salsa roja,” and the beef achieves a level of flavor unusual for that meat, making it taste almost like goat. House-made tortillas must be ordered separately.

This combined effort of Iqbal “Iggy” Ahmed, Emon Ullah, and Raymundo Garcia resulted in one of the first birrieria to serve halal meat. Why not goat? “It’s way too expensive,” Ahmed told me one evening. The birria tacos here are pleasantly soupy, heaped with lots of onion and cilantro, and consomé is available on the side. This place also marks birria’s advent on the Lower East Side.

La Brujeria (“the witchery) is an amazing taqueria in the back of a Jersey City gas station. It opened a year ago, owned by Mexico City native Roberto Islas, who is also the chef. It was the first place in the metropolitan area to make birria out of lamb rather than beef (though we’re still waiting for real goat birria to appear). The consomé is one of the darkest and richest in town, though the tortillas are not dipped. The shredded meat is intensely flavorful, and gas prices are cheap, too, in case you want to fill up.

Appearing just above the Jefferson stop on the L in Bushwick, Peter’s sleek black truck added a couple of flourishes to the birria taco scene. Like Birria-Landia, it too concentrated on beef birria alone, offered as tacos and four further configurations, though the last two sometimes sell out early: quesabirria tacos, mulitas, tortas, and nachos. Additionally, the antojitos are crisped on the griddle before serving, hence the designation “crunchy tacos.” The truck is named for proprietor Peter Luna, whose parents own taquerias in Brooklyn and Queens.

This bodega is the current home of Nene’s Deli Taqueria, once located a half mile north in a much tinier space. It’s the project of Andrés Tonatiuh Galindo Maria, a classically trained chef who has now turned his attention to birria. Working on a tiny griddle mid-bodega, he turns out tacos, burritos, mulitas, quesadillas, tortas, empanadas, and sopes. If you want birria ramen, Galindo Maria will reach up to one of the shelves, pluck down a package of Mexican-made ramen, and cook you up a bowl.

This legendary taco truck first pulled up across the street from Sunset Park’s Jackie Gleason Bus Depot in 2007. Owned by Mariano Tapia, it spawned a fleet of taco trucks and a full-blown restaurant just down the hill on Fourth Avenue. In addition to low-cost tacos served into the wee hours, it also makes a mean birria, chunky with beef and offered in a paper cup. Recently, the fabled truck started making birria tacos, too.

Yes, the tortas at this small establishment on the northern reaches of Bay Ridge run by Juan Velasco and Blanca Gonzalez are superb, and there’s even a credible pambazo, a street staple sandwich featuring bread dipped in chile sauce. But the birria tacos are the equal of everything else, with the consomé enjoying the distinction of being some of the thickest in town, making dipping easier and the soup itself more fortifying.

This modernistic Gravesend taco spot offers a good shredded birria in a pair of corn tortillas, Puebla fashion. The meat is full of flavor and the balance of chiles ideal, though a little milder than you might like. There’s no consomé, alas, or otherwise you could make the tacos soupier — still, if you prefer to not make a mess as you eat, this is a great place to get birria. A handful of other tacos, pozole, and tortas fill out the menu of this welcoming institution, which now boasts two other branches, in Nolita and on the Upper West Side.