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Mexico City has been a culinary capital ever since the time of Moctezuma. Chronicles tell of the extravagant banquets prepared for the Aztec emperor with more than 300 different dishes served. Today's Mexico City is a gastronomic melting pot, with some 15,000 restaurants. You'll find everything from taco stands on the streets to simple, family-style eateries and elite restaurants. The number and range of international restaurants is growing and diversifying, particularly in middle- and upper-class neighborhoods like Polanco, San Angel, La Condesa, La Roma, Lomas de Chapultepec, and Del Valle. Argentine, Spanish, and Italian are the most dominant international cuisines; however, you'll also find a fair share of Japanese, Korean, Arabic, and French restaurants. Mexico City restaurants generally open 7–11 am for breakfast (el desayuno) and 1–6 for lunch (la comida)—although it's rare for Mexicans to eat lunch before 2, and you're likely to feel lonely if you arrive at a popular restaurant before then. Lunch is an institution in this country, often lasting two or more hours, and until nightfall on Sunday. Consequently, the evening meal (la cena) may often be really light, consisting of sweet bread and coffee, traditional tamales, and atole (a hot beverage made from corn and masa and sometimes chocolate) at home, or tacos and appetizers in a restaurant.
If having dinner, most locals start out at 9 pm; restaurants serving dinner stay open at least until 11 pm during the week, and later on weekends. Many restaurants are only open for lunch, especially on Sunday. At deluxe restaurants dress is generally formal (jacket at least), and reservations are recommended; see reviews for details. If you're short on time, you can always head to American-style coffee shops or recognizable fast-food chains all over the city that serve the tired but reliable fare of burgers, fried chicken, and pizza. If it's local flavor you're after, go with tacos or the Mexico City fast-food staple, the torta (a giant sandwich stacked with the ingredients of your choice for about $3). Eating on the street is part of the daily experience for those on the go, and surprising as it may seem, many people argue that it's some of the best food in the city. Still, stick to crowded stands to avoid a stomach illness.
Also cheap and less of a bacterial hazard are the popular fondas (small restaurants). At lunchtime fondas are always packed, as they serve a reasonably priced four-course meal, known as the comida corrida, which typically includes soup of the day, rice or pasta, an entrée, and dessert. There are few vegetarian restaurants, but you'll have no trouble finding nonmeat dishes wherever you grab a bite. Vegetarians and vegans, however, will have a more difficult time, as many dishes are often prepared using lard.
Colonia Polanco, the upscale neighborhood on the edge of the Bosque de Chapultepec, has some of the best and most expensive dining (and lodging) in the city. Zona Rosa restaurants often fill up with tourists, so don't expect to be sitting with the locals here. The Condesa and Roma neighborhoods buzz with a younger crowd all week.
You'll know this tiny storefront by the cluster of people waiting patiently on the sidewalk for a full loaf or single serving of panque de nata, pound cake made in a style traditional to the nearby state of Queretaro. Pillowy, buttery, and sweet, a piece makes for a perfect snack while winding your way through the nearby Ciudadela and San Juan markets.
Depending on the time of day and your mood, this buzzy warren of smartly designed nooks can be a fun options for drinks and a leisurely mid-afternoon lunch or for a late-night feast of ceviche and tacos with creative fillings like hibiscus flowers, seared tuna, and longaniza sausage. Keep in mind that it gets packed here on weekends, so scoring a table and receiving your order can be slow, but everything here—from the food to the drinks—is delicious.
Dine at one of the sidewalk tables here when you're craving first-rate Argentinean-style steaks and other expertly prepared grills, such as grilled veal osso buco, pork shoulder with caramelized sweet potatoes, and sous vide confit of octopus with roasted potatoes and aioli. There's an excellent Argentina-focused wine list, and the desserts (including a cardamom-lemon crème brûlée) are impressive. The on-site shop sells yerba mate, chorizo, coffee, and prepared foods from Argentina.
This stylish mid-century-modern lunchroom offers a contemporary take on classic Mexican and American comfort fare, like ham-turkey-gouda sandwiches with a fried egg on top, cochinita pibíl, and beef milanesa tortas with salsa verde. There's nothing fancy about this place, but it's great for a light in-between meal, late-night snack (it's open til 11 pm), or breakfast, which features a similarly extensive variety of favorites, from huevos rancheros to French toast slathered in berries and agave honey. There are several other locations around the city.
With several branches across the city, Peltre is an easy budget option in ritzy Polanco. Like traditional loncherías, this modern version has an extensive menu covering everything from chilaquiles negros to sopa Aguascalientes. The coffee (direct from Coatepec, Veracruz) and freshly squeezed juices make this relaxed eatery a favorite among local students and businesspeople.
While you wouldn’t want to push gringo cuisine on anyone visiting Mexico, Pinche Gringo BBQ has created a little barbecue sanctuary for itself, with live music and football on the television screens. Serving Texas-style brisket at Texas prices, it has a small but loyal following of patrons who enjoy food it's hard to find elsewhere in CDMX.
One thing you can always count on in Mexico City, and Mexico for that matter, is excellent roasted chicken. While popular with locals, the dish is often overlooked by foreigners in favor of flashy tacos, but you should visit this small, sidewalk eatery and try its delicious marinated chicken; there are also grilled vegetables and salsas to make your own tacos. Grab an order to go (which many people do) or take a seat on one of the benches backed up to the street.
Located in the Coyoacán delegación but about 2 miles (3 km) south of the historic area, this lively outpost of the popular Mexico City chainlet specializing in tasty and reasonably authentic U.S.-style barbecue is a fun lunch or dinner stop when visiting nearby Museo Anahuacalli or on your way back from Xochimilco or Tlalpan. Grab a seat at one of the communal picnic tables and tuck into platters of tender, slow-cooked baby-back ribs, brisket, and pulled pork, along with burgers, queso fries, and even pretty decent ramen. It's not close to the Metro, but it's a short walk from Las Torres stop for the light-rail commuter train that runs to Xochimilco.
Named after the Mexican dictator whose 31-year reign sparked the Mexican Revolution, Porfirio's does classic Mexican steak and seafood dishes very well. The service and atmosphere are quiet during the day, with DJs taking over after dark. The Polanco branch is one of many dotted across Mexico.
The internationally acclaimed chef at Pujol, Enrique Olvera, continuously reinvents traditional Mexican dishes and their presentation, and is largely responsible for the country's gastronomic revolution. The dining experience here can be described as educational and hedonistic, and the seven-course menus are designed to create a holistic flavor experience. There is also a 10-course taco menu available, with drink pairings included. Despite the rave reviews it receives from critics, Pujol has fallen out of favor locally after many accusations of terrible labor practices.
This diminutive, modern café turns out some of the finest Kyoto-sourced matcha green tea in the city as well as exceptional house-roasted coffee drinks, which are served in beautiful hand-thrown ceramic mugs. Have a seat on one of the little benches fashioned out of tree trunks or at one of the sidewalk tables ensconced within a landscaped wooden platform.
It's worth making your way south to Cuidad Universitaria to dine at this distinctive and generally untouristy venue inside the UNAM faculty club, with a terrace that overlooks beautiful gardens and volcanic rocks. Open to the public and especially enjoyable for a late afternoon lunch, the restaurant serves a diverse, affordable menu of globally inspired dishes, such as penne pasta with a puttanesca sauce, panela cheese enchiladas with mole verde, and roasted rosemary chicken with a Chardonnay reduction. A buffet is offered on weekends.
Dark mahogany furniture, crisp white table linens, exquisite blue-and-white Talavera place settings, and refined service strike a note of restrained opulence at this 18th-century estate whose dining rooms surround a central courtyard with fragrant gardens and a circular fountain. Although you'll find European-influenced classic fare like chateaubriand for two and crispy calves' brains in brown butter, the Mexican delicacies are the stars—consider the crepes of huitlacoche, or a jewel-like dish of escamoles panfried in butter and herbs. The dessert cart, which displays everything from rich chocolate cake to Bavarian cream with strawberries and cajeta (goats-milk caramel), is a must. Even if you don't come for a full meal, try to drop by for cocktails and appetizers in the beautiful courtyard.
You'll recognize this bustling corner stall near the Mercado San Juan by the tangling garlands of chorizo hanging over its flat top. And while the taqueros here serve perfectly good tacos of many varieties, the reason you're here is the fragrant, herbal chorizo verde, or green chorizo, from the nearby city of Toluca, stained emerald with herbs and green chiles.
Just a handful of blocks from the entrance to La Merced, Roldán 37 may well be Centro's most surprising restaurant. Set over two floors in a 200-year-old house, the restaurant, run by chef Rómulo Mendoza, is an elegant oasis of high ceilings, French doors, and lovingly prepared family recipes, some drawn from Mendoza's grandmother's handwritten cookbook, which he keeps out of sight but on the premises. If you find yourself overwhelmed by the pace and crowds on this side of Centro, Roldán 37 is the place to stop for a bite and a breather.
Extraordinarily delicious baked goods and savory breads are dispensed at this cute French-style bakery in the south end of Condesa. Highlights include rich pain au chocolate, doughnuts bursting with strawberry jam, creamy flan, and crunchy cinnamon palmiers. Among the savory options, the flaky sourdough bread is a favorite, but there's also first-rate rye bread and baguettes.
With sushi, tacos, and tarot readings, this chef-driven restaurant adds more variety to San Rafael’s food scene. In addition to the eclectic culinary offerings, it’s a space that also serves as a fresh vegetable market and art space (with art and Mexican-made jewelry for sale), which nicely complement the psychedelic artwork that adorns the small, deli-style space. Courses on how to read tarot cards take place at the end of each month (consult Facebook for updates) and there are complementary tarot readings on Thursday evening.
In 1917, the Sanborn brothers took over the iconic Casa de los Azulejos building to expand their drugstore business and now the popular stores-cum-restaurants, owned by billionaire Carlos Slim, populate every major town in Mexico. The menu plays it safe with decent Mexican standards and international options like burgers, soups, and club sandwiches, but the long, winding counter is one of the best places around for a solo coffee and breakfast, while happy hour deals at the endearingly old-fashioned upstairs bar are hard to beat.
This uberhip osteria with a cool arched dining room overlooking Plaza Río de Janeiro is justly famous for the fresh handmade pastas of internationally renowned chef Marco Carboni—think gnocchi with a 12-hour ragu of beek cheek, lamb, sausage, and pork leg, or tagliolini tossed with lobster, lemon, tarragon butter, and fish roe. Portions are a bit small, so consider ordering a side or two of the marvelous Creole tomatoes with burrata, pesto, and preserved lemon. The owners also operate intimate Bottega Sartoria across the street, which is a good place to enjoy a glass of wine or a light bite, as well as the snazzy little coffeehouse Buna, which adjoins the main restaurant.
The perfect spot for a quick coffee or pastry, Signora Mariola is a tiny place with very few tables placed on the sidewalk outside, so be prepared to take your meal to go as you stroll through Polanco. The croissants and bread are to die for, and the Mexican breakfasts are tasty and light.
The famous roasted duck with an apple-based stuffing, mashed potatoes, and a baked apple bathed in blueberry sauce has made Specia a wildly popular destination, but the refined Polish restaurant with 1920s-inspired Jazz Age artwork serves a number of other tasty dishes, too. Consider the lamb goulash, seasoned with paprika and tomato, or the slow-grilled rabbit loin with cabbage and beets. Service is attentive and the pace of a meal here is leisurely.
Open all night and drawing a particularly spirited crowd during the wee hours, this no-frills taco stand named for the vampire-ish "goat sucker" of Latin American folklore serves joyfully messy, overstuffed pastor, chorizo, beef, cecina, and other meaty tacos for around just MP25 apiece. The casual seating area, set below a highway overpass, has several metal picnic tables.
Founded 65 years ago and moved to its current location three decades back, Taco de Oro specializes in cochinita pibíl, the beloved dish of slow-roasted pork from the Yucatán. This small restaurant doesn’t have much seating inside, so be prepared to eat on a bench on the sidewalk or stand outside.
According to some food historians, tacos de canasta (literally "basket tacos") are the original taco and a street food par excellence as closely associated with the capital's unique culinary culture as tacos al pastor. Mostly made in the neighboring state of Tlaxcala and carried into the city in baskets (hence the name), tacos de canasta are cheap and tasty, slicked with fat and moisture from their journey, and stuffed with simple fillings like beans, potatoes, or chicken in adobo. You'll find tacos de canasta on just about every corner here, but Los Especiales, just off the Zócalo, is justly famous. Get in line, snag an order of five, chow down, and be on your way.
Try to arrive early to ensure that you get your choice of delicious tamales from this casual little shop with a handful of sidewalk tables---they sometimes sell out quickly, especially on weekends. Devotees of the hearty tubes of steamed corn masa come from all over the city, drawn by the extensive selection of fillings, including figs-and-cream cheese, chicken mole, pork with mushrooms in red sauce, and black beans with cheese and chapulines (grasshoppers).
Indian and Pakistani cuisine are not easy to come by in Mexico City, much less of the high quality variety, but Tandoor is a welcome exception. The exquisitely decorated space, featuring items from India and Pakistan, is welcoming and intimate with plenty of space between tables. Mirrors line the ceilings, and the large windows on the first floor face out to a lovely residential street. Upstairs is romantic and even quieter.
At this no-frills, old-fashioned take-out taqueria, shaved meat rotates enticingly on a spit before an open flame, practically daring you not to try a plate of the Árabe-style (wrapped in grilled pita bread) tacos al pastor, plus tortas, grilled meats, and a long menu of other short-order snacks. It's a great, cheap Condesa option when you're hungry and on the run.
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