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$$ | Centro Histórico |
An institution known for its classic Mexican cooking, today El Cardenal has locations all over the city, but the branch to try is on Calle Palma, in a three-story building in the florid style of the late 19th century. Inside, the atmosphere (think beige walls and white tablecloths) and food are old school; the best time to come is breakfast, when trays of pan dulces make for a pleasant prelude to eggs or chilaquiles. Other locations include the ground floor of the Hilton Alameda in San Angel (Avenida de la Paz 32) and Lomas de Chapultepec (Avenida Paseo de Las Palmas 215, near Colonia Polanco).
Calle Palma 23, Mexico City, Mexico City, 06010, Mexico
Known For
- Perfect Mexican breakfast
- Oaxacan-style moles
- Family favorite for special-occasion dining
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, No dinner
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$$ | Juárez |
The former ambassador to China was so impressed by El Dragón's lacquered Beijing duck that he left behind a note of recommendation (now proudly displayed on one of the restaurant's walls) praising it as the most authentic in Mexico. The duck is roasted over a fruitwood fire and later brought to your table, where the waiter cuts it into thin, tender slices, though it's served with flour tortillas instead of the traditional Chinese steamed pancakes. Most of the cooks hail from Beijing, but they mix up their regional cuisines.
Hamburgo 97, Mexico City, Mexico City, 06600, Mexico
Known For
- A good place to splurge on a meal
- A mix of regional Chinese cuisine, with a focus on Beijing
- Ideal location for a meal while out exploring
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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$$$ | Coyoacán |
Although a Uruguayan owns this fashionable eatery on Coyoacán's lively Jardín Centenario, the menu will be familiar to fans of Argentine cuisine: the superb provoleta (grilled provolone cheese with oregano), for example, and the stellar steaks. Uruguay's Italian heritage appears on the menu as well, with good pizzas and gnocchi with a creamy gorgonzola sauce.
Jardín Centenario 14, Mexico City, Mexico City, 04000, Mexico
Known For
- Prodigiously aged steaks
- Clericot (a classic Argentine drink of red wine, sugar, lemon juice, and soda water)
- Dulce de leche imported from Uruguay
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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$$ | Roma Sur |
This laid-back restaurant has been serving Hidalgo-style lamb barbacoa to grateful Mexico City residents since the 1990s. Friday through Sunday afternoons only, fresh lamb from owner Moisés Rodríguez’s Hidalgo farm is roasted for 12 hours over mesquite and oak in an underground pit, then served in charred agave leaves. An order of barbacoa comes with everything you need to make tacos you'll remember for days; be sure to order the consommé, flavored with meat drippings, chile, and lime, and wash it all down with a glass of pulque. Though this is a barbacoa favorite, the mixiotes (pit-barbecued meats)—another Hidalguense specialty—are fantastic as well.
Calle Campeche 155, Mexico City, Mexico City, 06760, Mexico
Known For
- Excellent lamb barbacoa tacos
- Informal, local scene
- Variety of pulques
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No credit cards, Closed Mon.–Thurs. No dinner
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$ | Roma Norte |
The logo says "tradición desde 1970," but in fact El Parnita is a more recent addition to Roma's lunch scene: a hip, updated take on the simple family-owned fonda. The menu consists of antojitos (snacks like tacos, tostadas, and ceviches), from recipes culled from the family's travels throughout the country, such as rellenito, a chipotle chile stuffed with cheese and beans in a sauce of piloncillo (unrefined brown sugar) from Zacatecas; and tacos viajeros, homemade tortillas piled with pork loin and leg long cooked in citrus, from Michoacán. While it's a hugely popular spot for trendy types, local workers and families come too, enjoying it for the affordable neighborhood restaurant it is at its core.
Av. Yucatán 84, Mexico City, Mexico City, 06700, Mexico
Known For
- Boisterous people-watching scene
- Affordable regional Mexican fare
- Great micheladas
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No dinner. Closed Mon.
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$$$$ | Polanco |
Built in the 17th century on the site of a mulberry farm, this hacienda has been transformed into one of Mexico's most elegant dinner spots. The atmosphere outclasses even the food, which consists of both Mexican classics and more experimental dishes that incorporate Spanish and Mediterranean influences. Live music in both the dining and bar areas, which might take the form of a string quintet, a lone pianist, or a strolling mariachi band, adds to the experience.
Juan Vázquez de Mella 525, Mexico City, Mexico City, 11510, Mexico
Known For
- Gorgeous colonial architecture
- Creative flavor combinations
- A variety of live music while you dine
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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$$ | Centro Histórico |
The oldest portions of this 16th-century mansion were built using stones torn down from the Templo Mayor, which lies just feet away. At lunchtime, you may want to reserve a table on the atmospheric second-floor terrace overlooking the Zócalo, cathedral, and national palace, or simply stop at the ground floor patio for a drink in the shade of the towering cathedral across the street. The menu is a mishmash of international (Cornish game hen) and Mexican (cilantro soup).
República de Guatemala 32, Mexico City, Mexico City, 06010, Mexico
Known For
- Nice craft beer and mezcal selection
- Mix of international and Mexican cuisine
- Outdoor seating
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, No dinner Sun.
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$$ | La Roma |
This popular veteran of the city's modern Mexican culinary scene is still a mainstay for reasonably priced, consistently well-prepared dishes like huitlacoche risotto with corn and poblano chiles, and grilled prawns with a sweet-spicy tamarind-guajillo reduction. The space is refined, relaxed, and ideal for conversation, and there are a few tables on the sidewalk overlooking Plaza Villa de Madrid and Fuente de Cibeles.
Calle de Durango 186A, Mexico City, Mexico City, 06700, Mexico
Known For
- Refined, quiet dining room
- Excellent selection of Mexican wines
- Artfully plated contemporary fare
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, No dinner Sun.
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$$ | La Condesa |
This cozy, old-fashioned restaurant and wine bar is ideal for conversation and lingering over a light meal from the eclectic menu that shows Mexican, Spanish, and Italian influences. Try the wild mushrooms and goat cheese in pastry with brandy sauce, the fish of the day with artichokes and white wine, and the cajeta crepes for dessert.
Av. Fernando Montes de Oca 52--A, Mexico City, Mexico City, 06140, Mexico
Known For
- Low-key, quiet ambience
- Excellent Eurocentric wine list
- Interesting mix of new-world and old-world cuisine
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, No dinner Sun.
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$$ | Centro Histórico |
When Los Girasoles ("the sunflowers") opened more than 30 years ago in the Centro, it became the first in a wave of modern Mexican restaurants to take on a neighborhood dominated by century-old classics. Now it remains a good place to sip a cold beer and enjoy pre-Hispanic delicacies like escamoles (ant eggs), gusanos de maguey (agave worms), and chapulines (fried grasshoppers). Set in a restored colonial home, its front patio has the best view around of one of the city's most grandiose plazas, its edges lined by extravagant belle epoque giants.
Xicotencatl 1, Mexico City, Mexico City, 06010, Mexico
Known For
- Outdoor dining
- Great views of one of the city's most gorgeous plazas
- Sunny decor
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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$$ | Benito Juárez |
The glowing reputation of this long-standing Polish restaurant shone even brighter after people got word that the establishment had served Pope John Paul II on several of his visits to Mexico City; the generous Degustación del Papa (Pope's Menu) includes small portions of various entrées served to the pope. Its best days might be behind it, but it's an interesting slice of the city's diverse culinary history, and still a source for terrific duck dishes.
Nueva York 150, Mexico City, Mexico City, 03810, Mexico
Known For
- The best kielbasa for miles
- Impressive international wine collection
- Pierogi with piano accompaniment
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, No dinner Sun. and Mon.
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$$ | Juárez |
Strategically positioned a few blocks west of the U.S. embassy and close to the Japanese embassy, this spot is notable for its varied sushi and teppanyaki options. A fine Japanese chef and a cheerful mix of Japanese embassy workers and young Mexicans also make Mikado a real treat.
Paseo de la Reforma 369, Mexico City, Mexico City, 06500, Mexico
Known For
- Hibachi grills in view of diners
- Plentiful vegetarian options
- Excellent yakimeshi, a fried-rice dish
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, No lunch Sun.
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$ | La Condesa |
Throughout the day, Condesa's traditional Mexican ice-cream parlor—and its several other locations around the city—packs in kids and hipsters alike with its nieve (sorbet) flavors like maracuyá (passionfruit) and tuna (prickly pear cactus fruit), and its helado (ice-cream) flavors, including rompope (eggnog) and macadamia. It's distinctly old school, with its teal vinyl chairs, white tables, and bright fluorescent lights, but the quality is first-rate. Roxy enjoys a friendly competition with another beloved ice-cream chain, Tepoznieves.
Fernando Montes de Oca 89, Mexico City, Mexico City, 06140, Mexico
Known For
- Old-school ambience
- Lots of regional Mexican fruit flavors
- Ice-cream sundaes
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Open daily 11–8
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$$$ | San Angel |
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 (ant larvae) 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.
Calle Diego Rivera 50, Mexico City, Mexico City, 01060, Mexico
Known For
- Gorgeous indoor and outdoor dining areas
- Weekend brunch
- Elaborate dessert cart
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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$$ | |
With sushi, tacos, and tarot readings, this chef-driven restaurant adds more variety to San Rafael’s food scene. In addition to the eclectic culinary offerings, it’s a space that also serves as a fresh vegetable market and art space (with art and Mexican-made jewelry for sale), which nicely complement the psychedelic artwork that adorns the small, deli-style space. Courses on how to read tarot cards take place at the end of each month (consult Facebook for updates) and there are complementary tarot readings on Thursday evening.
Sadi Carnot 41, Mexico City, Mexico
Known For
- Chilaquiles with cochinita pibíl
- Funky, art-heavy atmosphere
- Weekly tarot card readings on Thursday and monthly tarot classes
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun.
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$ | Centro Histórico |
In 1917, the Sanborn brothers took over the iconic Casa de los Azulejos building to expand their drugstore business and now the popular stores-cum-restaurants, owned by billionaire Carlos Slim, populate every major town in Mexico. The menu plays it safe with decent Mexican standards and international options like burgers, soups, and club sandwiches, but the long, winding counter is one of the best places around for a solo coffee and breakfast, while happy hour deals at the endearingly old-fashioned upstairs bar are hard to beat.
Calle Madero 4, Mexico City, Mexico City, 06500, Mexico
Known For
- Quality enchiladas
- Spectacular colonial setting
- Old-school atmosphere
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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$$$ | La Condesa |
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.
Amsterdam 241, Mexico City, Mexico City, 06100, Mexico
Known For
- Apple-stuffed roasted duck
- Refined Polish food
- Elegant art-filled dining room
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted, No dinner Sun.