This is the best Mexican restaurant in SC for 2026, Tasting Table says

South Carolina’s best Mexican restaurant is located in an area more known for seafood and suntans, according to Tasting Table, a food and drink website.

It’s Fiesta Mexicana Cantina in Myrtle Beach.

Tasting Table selected one Mexican restaurant in every state based on “flavorful and fresh dishes, vibrant salsas and handmade tortillas, wonderfully-textured cheeses, regional specialties, and of course, chilies.”

The group said it also looked for little details like locally sourced or imported from Mexico ingredients.

Fiesta Mexicana is located on 70 Avenue, just off Kings Highway and near several resorts, including Hilton and Marriott.

It is owned by head chef Gabriel Hernandez, who appeared on Cooking Channel’s Chef Swap at the Beach, and his family.

“Most of my uncles, aunts, and grandparents have owned or currently own restaurants, taquerias, or other eateries throughout this hemisphere of the globe,” he told the show.

He was 2 years old when his parents opened Fiesta Mexicana in 1999. His father is Mexican, his mother, Silvia, is Ecuadorian.

He has traveled extensively and brings home lessons learned in other restaurants.

“Everyone is like ‘carnitas are super Mexican,’ but the idea of carnitas is an amalgamation of European cooking practices with native cooking practices from the region of Mexico,” he told the show. “The Spanish brought over the pigs. The idea of cooking it in its grease, the confit, is a French technique. But then, the native Mexicans pair it with their tortillas.”

The extensive menu has appetizers, soups and salads, a la carte sides, fajitas, vegetarian plates, combination platters and dozens of beef, chicken, pork and seafood dishes. There is also a full bar.

Here’s what he told writer Johanna Wilson Jones: “The beautiful thing about cooking – the beautiful thing about all cuisines – is that if you have a good meal it brings people together,’’ he said. “You might not even speak the same language, but if the food is good, people will come together, get together, live together, and make memories.”

Tasting Table said of the restaurant, “It’s the combination of fun times and outstanding food that make this Myrtle Beach restaurant stand out.”

Hernandez said, “Our food is unique and delicious, a change from the ordinary.”

The restaurant also offers a lively weekend scene with mariachi on Thursdays, karaoke on Fridays and open mic on Saturdays.

This story was originally published February 3, 2026 at 6:00 AM.