La Mañana Siguiente: The Seven Best Mexican Hangover Dishes

Hangover food is its own category of cuisine — and it needs to fit specific criteria. Certain culinary attributes are highly regarded the next day among those who drink in excess: greasy, cheesy, spicy, fatty, filling. One particular style of cuisine easily hits all these marks: Mexican food. 

Feeling like death warmed over? Soak up last night's mistakes with these hangover-friendly dishes. Maybe a little heat will help cook out all that tequila.

Barbacoa
Taco El Patron, 10840 Harry Hines Blvd.
For anyone drunk or hungover and no amount of food seems like enough, barbacoa is a friend. This meat is slow-cooked until very tender, with bold flavor and plenty of juicy fat. Even with the gnarliest hangover, it's unlikely more than a couple barbacoa tacos will be needed. This particular taco filling is delicious, easy to find and adept at soaking up alcohol. The tortillas don't hurt, either.

Menudo
Taqueria Conin, 4500 Bryan St.
There's a reason why eating menudo on New Year's Day has become its own annual tradition. Made from chewy beef stomach and often served at taquerias only on weekends, this soup, with its robust red pepper base, is a sobering experience. A spicy bowl, like Taqueria Conin's, will sweat out every last drop of alcohol. 

Vuelve à la Vida
Mariscos La Reyna, 909 W. Davis St., 517 W. Jefferson Blvd., 1818 S. Buckner Blvd., 3349 W. Illinois Ave., 2406 N. Fitzhugh Ave., 730 W. Main St., Grand Prairie
Vuelve à la Vida means “Come back to life” or “Return to life.” This hangover cure from the sea includes ceviche — fresh raw fish in citrus juices and spiced up with chili peppers — tomato juice, shrimp, octopus and oysters. Common at restaurants on the coasts of Mexico, this is a potent recovery cocktail in a chilled goblet.
Chilaquiles
Maracas Cocina Mexicana, 2914 Main St.
One of the easier dishes to find on this list at both Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants, chilaquiles is a great hangover helper. With fried corn tortillas as its base, this is obviously a fatty, carb-lover's dish that can be altered in countless ways, often thrown together with leftover ingredients. Beyond fried tortillas, it brings a a protein, usually shredded chicken, along with fried or scrambled eggs. Don't forget the onions, refried beans, avocado and cheese.



Caldo de Mariscos
Margarita’s, 2414 N. Fitzhugh Ave.
Caldo de Mariscos is another chili-laden seafood soup to aid recovery. It has many variations. Near a coast, a bowl may be filled with the catch of the day.  Margarita’s has catfish, along with shrimp and a seafood mix. Caldo de mariscos is a perfect hangover cure because it has everything you need for a full recovery: Lots of protein and a variety of peppers to help you sweat out the poison.

Birria
Birriería Aguiñaga, 2829 W. Northwest Highway, 2457 Gus Thomasson Road, 105 Main St., Garland
This spicy stew is a great hangover cure. Birriería Aguiñaga is open 24 hours and the $5 "small" order goes a long way. A few different meats can be used for this dish, but Birriería Aguiñaga uses tender pieces of lamb. A bowl of this dried chili pepper base soup with hominy and onions alone is well worth the five bucks, but they also load limes and tortillas. 

Tacos con mucha salsa
Margarita’s, 2414 N Fitzhugh Ave.
If you've consumed alcohol within the last 12 hours, there is a decent chance that you're going to eat tacos. Go for it — a little protein can only help. But don't skip the salsa — drown those tacos in to help you sweat that alcohol out of your system.