This Providence taqueria made Yelp's list of the nation's 100 best. How they got there.

A Providence taqueria is the only New England restaurant on Yelp's all-time list of the top 100 taco spots in the United States.

Casa Azul Taqueria, 890 Allens Ave., is No. 94 on the list published in advance of National Taco Day on Oct. 4.  Alejandra Ruelas opened the restaurant with her husband, Javier Soto, in 2020. He is the chef, while she manages the front of the house.

Ruelas describes their food as homestyle, saying, "We keep it simple so we can make everything fresh."

She considers the Birria Tacos as their signature. The meat is slow-cooked and then shredded by hand. The accompanying sauce is rich, made by reducing the cooking stock. Then the tacos are topped with a combination of cheeses.

She likes using the words "authentic" and "natural" to describe their food, with flavors and recipes coming straight from Coyoacan, Mexico City.

Both Ruelas and her husband grew up in Mexico City, where she studied hospitality at university. Both ended up in Rhode Island, where they met and married 10 years ago. He started as a line cook at mainly Italian restaurants. Her background includes working at large hotel chains, including Hilton. This is their first restaurant.

Casa Azul Taqueria is near the Johnson & Wales Harborside Campus and not far from Edgewood's Cranston neighborhood. It's open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. There are vegan options on its Verde menu, which includes quesadillas, burritos and bowls. They have a craft cocktail menu and also serve Mexican beers.

How Yelp compiled its list

Calling tacos "everyday comfort food across the US," the Yelp story noted that billions are eaten every year in restaurants and taquerias and at taco trucks and fast-food spots.

They identified businesses in the restaurants and tacos categories, then ranked those spots using a number of factors, including the total volume and ratings of reviews. If a chain appeared on the list more than once, they only included the highest-rated location.

The Yelp story notes they "only know how good a taco joint is if you take the time to review it."

To identify the 2023 Top Taco Towns, their data science team ranked the cities with the highest amount of consumer searches for “taco” from August 2022 to August 2023. Cities considered had to meet a minimum threshold of more than 5 million searches for “taco.”

Austin, Texas, home to two restaurants in the top 10, captured the taco crown, with Los Angeles coming in second. Only the top 15 tacos were profiled, and the remaining 85 were simply listed.

More to try: Check out these 5 Mexican restaurants in Providence

Most of the spots on the list are on the West Coast or in Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Florida. Cities well represented include New York, New York; Chicago, Baltimore and Louisville, Kentucky.

What are the top taco trends?

According to Yelp, "cheesy goodness is this year’s hottest taco trend." It combines with the previous biggest trend of birria tacos which are made with braised beef or other meat and often served with consomé for dipping.

Yelp noted that almost half of their top 10-spots offer these hybrid tacos with melted cheese in between the choices of fillings and toppings.

Seafood tacos also got a lot of raves from Yelpers posting this year.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Casa Azul Taqueria, Providence, makes Yelp's list of 100 best tacos