Paterson’s Mexican meal can begin before sunrise or last into a late family dinner. On Grand Street, small kitchens keep tacos and antojitos central. On McLean Boulevard, a Puebla-born chef’s restaurant has had three decades to grow into a larger gathering place. The useful choice is the kind of meal, then the filling.
Hacienda Campos, Antojitos Poblanos and Brenda Lee III offer those different starting points. Their menus share familiar Mexican names, but a brisket birria taco, a cecina order and pork-ear tacos do not lead to the same plate. The profiles collect exact contacts, maps, ordering options and one nearby regional address.
Hacienda Campos: tacos inside a longer family meal
Tony Campos opened his restaurant in June 1995. Paterson’s municipal agenda honored its thirtieth anniversary in 2025, reflecting a history larger than a recent dining-room renovation. Today, 102 McLean Boulevard has a full bar and space for family gatherings.
Pastor combines pineapple, dried chilies and pork; lengua is braised with garlic and onion; birria brings Oaxaca cheese into lightly toasted corn tortillas. Enmoladas and chicken mole are reasons to continue beyond the tacos. The sauce includes nuts, sesame, bread and plantain as well as chilies and chocolate. Monday is closed.
Antojitos Poblanos: breakfast is part of the route
At 246 Grand Street, the business’s published 5 a.m. opening makes tamales, a torta de tamal or eggs a possible early meal. Later, steak, cecina, pastor and spicy pork take their place in the taco choices.
Birria appears in tacos, quesadillas, cemitas and other formats, while sopes, picaditas and huaraches show the wider antojito kitchen. Diners often favor a chicken or beef milanesa torta. The room is small and handles a substantial carryout trade, so an exact dish order is useful during the rush.
Brenda Lee III: choose the cut, then the finish
At 331 Grand Street, the menu’s concentration on Mexico City-style tacos is the attraction. Carnitas, steak and pastor are prominent orders, but buche, cueritos, oreja, cabeza and cecina make the selection more distinctive.
Onion and cilantro can be adjusted, with cactus, scallions, cucumber, radish or lime among the accompaniments. The Paterson order has its own phone and checkout. A Brenda Lee restaurant in neighboring Passaic is gathered inside the profile with its separate address and hours, rather than treated as another Paterson counter.
Paterson’s choices reward an exact appetite: an early antojito, a cut-focused taco order, or tacos followed by mole in a family dining room.
Options to compare
These options relate to the question. Read each profile and check current details before deciding.
Tony Campos’s family restaurant since 1995, with pineapple pastor, braised lengua, suadero, Oaxaca-cheese birria and a full Mexican dining menu.
Tony Campos’s family restaurant since 1995, with pineapple pastor, braised lengua, suadero, Oaxaca-cheese birria and a full Mexican dining menu.
Grand Street’s early-opening Mexican kitchen, with cecina and pastor tacos, birria in several formats, milanesa tortas and breakfast tamales.
Grand Street’s early-opening Mexican kitchen, with cecina and pastor tacos, birria in several formats, milanesa tortas and breakfast tamales.
A focused Mexico City-style taco counter, with carnitas, pastor, cabeza, buche, cueritos, oreja and cactus and onion accompaniments.
A focused Mexico City-style taco counter, with carnitas, pastor, cabeza, buche, cueritos, oreja and cactus and onion accompaniments.
Sources & references
Sources for the information and reporting discussed in this guide.
- Hacienda Campos: current dishes / Hacienda Campos: platos actuales ↗ Primary source haciendacampos.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Tony Campos’s restaurant history / Historia del restaurante de Tony Campos ↗ Primary source haciendacampos.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Antojitos Poblanos: business hours / Antojitos Poblanos: horario del negocio ↗ Primary source www.facebook.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Brenda Lee: separate Passaic address / Brenda Lee: dirección separada de Passaic ↗ Primary source taqueriabrendaleerestaurantnj.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Municipal recognition of the thirtieth anniversary / Reconocimiento municipal por los treinta años ↗ Secondary source www.patersonnj.gov · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Antojitos Poblanos: merchant menu / Antojitos Poblanos: carta de pedidos ↗ Secondary source www.toasttab.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Antojitos Poblanos: diner experiences / Antojitos Poblanos: experiencias de comensales ↗ Secondary source www.restaurantji.com · Accessed November 5, 2026
- Brenda Lee: Paterson menu / Brenda Lee: carta de Paterson ↗ Secondary source order.online · Accessed November 5, 2026