213 Best Restaurants in Mexico City, Mexico

Polanco's most beloved taquería serves tacos, tortas, and panuchos of cochinita pibíl, the Yucatecan specialty of achiote-marinated pork. People from all walks of life, from hipsters to construction workers to businesswomen, line up throughout the day for a quick fix, topped with the habanero salsa and pickled red onion (and Montejo beer) typical of the Yucatán. If you can grab a table, get the sopa de lima, a mildly tart chicken soup made with the region's tiny limes. It's common to see a line here, so be prepared for a short wait.

Occupying the intimate, refined space that was the original location of renowned Máximo Bistrot, this romantic farm-to-table restaurant is the brainchild of celebrated chef Lucho Martínez, an alum of both Máximo and Quintonil. Em's exciting menu varies according to the chef's inspiration and the season's bounty, but you might start with steak tartare with black truffles and a pain perdue brioche before graduating to braised short ribs with a rich peanut-based mole sauce or a fragrant, earthy porcini mushroom risotto.

Located in the shadows of Parque Uruguay, Entremar is the lesser-known sister restaurant of the popular Roma Norte seafood restaurant Contramar; both share the same menu as well as the same attentive service. Luckily, it's much easier to get a table at Entremar, but you'll still be enjoying the same high-quality dishes like the pescado contramar, a filet of fish seasoned on one side with red adobo rub and parsley on the other.

Black-and-white tiles give this bright space an impeccably clean and welcoming vibe. With its own house mezcal, wines, and beers, it can also be a place to gather for a drink or grab a light dinner. You can sit at the long wood bars facing either the barista zone or the street and the lovely Jardín de Arte, which separates San Rafael from the Colonia Cuautémoc.

Partly founded by Quinonil's celebrity chef Jorge Vallejo, Fonda Fina serves modernly interpreted Mexican classics, such as raw tuna tostadas with citrus oil and a gaujillo-chile vinaigrette or a casserole of beef cheeks braised in a green mole sauce with smoked cauliflower. One popular way to choose your meal here is to mix and match your protein (rib-eye, octopus, and pork among them) with any of several vegetable garnishes and about 10 salsa options—the servers are happy to recommend tasty pairings. The creative cocktails are excellent, too.

Close to the border of the Juárez neighborhood sits this locals' favorite German restaurant, which has been in business since 1947. Serving authentic German food and a very extensive list of German beers, it has been paid a visit by many famous players in Mexican history, as proudly displayed on the walls near the bar. Antiquated German beer signs add to the quaint charm of this small but popular restaurant.

Fans of Thai food who are frustrated by the lack of options in the capital can flock to this stellar restaurant set inside a dramatic, spacious 19th-century mansion. The artfully prepared dishes here can hold their own with any you'll find in North America—it's best to share a few dishes, such as duck in a red curry of pineapple, eggplant, and lychee; a southern-style pad Thai with soft-shell crab, tamarind sauce, and coconut milk; and the dessert of fried bananas with house-made chrysanthemum ice cream.

This itty-bitty taqueria on a less swanky block of famous Calle Colima has a big following for its hearty tacos prepared in the style of Monterrey. There are just a few options on the decidedly meaty menu, all of them delicious, with the chiccharón with tangy salsa verde a particular standout. 

Venture just up the hill from Polanco into similarly upscale Lomas de Chapultepec to sample some of the most exquisitely presented and sublime sushi in the city, including king crab hand rolls with truffle mayo and butter soy, and hamachi marinated in ponzu-yuzu with sliced serrano chiles. The varnished wood sushi bar is a fun place to sit and watch the chefs in action. There are two other locations in the city.

You can opt for either of the two distinct experiences in this stylish Calle Colima restaurant: dining in the early 20th-century town house that overlooks the busy street below or sitting in the much more casual and social covered outdoor section with a green living wall. The menu changes seasonally but might feature crab tostadas with grapefruit, ginger, and arugula or fillet of beef with pureed potatoes and a soy-caramel emulsion. The cocktails here are first-rate, too.

The swanky Santa Fe business district has plenty of good restaurants, but this buzzy spot serving inventive takes on regional Mexican cuisine is one of the few truly worth making the trip. Decorated with Mexican pottery and eye-catching artwork, the contemporary space is perfect for feasting on short rib tacos with spicy glazed grapes and an arugula-peanut salsa, grilled salmon with garlic-chile sauce and Oaxacan-style polenta-huitlacoche tamal, and other boldly flavored, creative fare.

This younger sibling to Galanga offers a more varied menu that includes both Thai and Vietnamese fare at slightly lower prices, but as with the original restaurant, the food is flavorful, expertly prepared, and delicious. The solarium-style space creates the feel of dining in an art nouveau birdcage, and there's outdoor seating on a side patio as well. Next door, the same owners run the hip and inviting Somsaa Wine & Tea Room inside a gracious old house---here you'll find an extensive array of drinks as well as flavorful desserts and creative Southeastern small plates.

Savor deftly crafted modern Japanese fare—yakitori skewers, oden and ramen bowls, tempura, udon noodle, raw shellfish, and sushi and sashimi—in this inviting, contemporary space with a variety of seating options, including private tatami rooms. The menu stand-outs are many, including a serrano-wagyu beef roll and shrimp mapo tofu. There's an impressive selection of cocktails, wines, and artisan beers to match the food.

This casual Spanish restaurant is known both for traditional tapas like tartar de atún con ajillo, croquetas de jamón serrano, and patatas bravas, and for its Iberian take on tortas, the classic Mexican sandwich. The tortas are among the best in the city, some with Mexican touches—like the secretaria (pork leg, chorizo, and cheese)—but the specialties are the calamar (chopped baby squid in chimichurri sauce) and vegetariana (a hearty stack of roasted eggplant and melted cheese). The small, stylish café has a long selection of artisanal Mexican beers, and may be the only tortería in town with a wine list.

Busy and stylish, this is a popular classic in the Santa María la Ribera neighborhood, located in an older building that has retained its original high ceilings and tile work. Known for having slightly higher prices than usual for the area, it’s also recognized for excellent service, taste, and variety of traditional Mexican dishes, but the star is the barbacoa (slow-roasted sheep meat) and pulque.

At this more casual and free-wheeling sibling to famed Rosetta restaurant and bakery, sit at one of the cozy café tables in the sun-filled, shabby-chic dining room and fill up on exceptional grilled, panfried, and oven-baked modern Mediterranean fare served on whimsical antique china. Highlights from the extensive menu include grilled rustic bread topped with tomato and anchovies, blistered-crust pizzas topped with eggplant and ricotta, and rabbit liver ravioli with a rabbit ragù. The bakery offers up different sweet and savory breads depending on the day of the week (the calamata olive bread on Thursday is notable).

Quick and reliably good, Las Tlayudas is a small sidewalk eatery specializing in Oaxacan cuisine. Come here for the tlayudas, of course—massive tortillas covered with beans, cheese, and meat. And don't miss a glass of mezcal or botana Oaxaqueña to wash down some chapulines (grasshoppers).

With a chic terrace upstairs and a modern white-on-white interior space on the ground floor, Loretta is one of the few restaurants in the southern half of the city that consistently makes it onto critics' top dining lists. Celebrated chef Abel Hernández presents contemporary takes on classic Provençal, Tuscan, Greek, and Middle Eastern dishes, like pork belly confit–and–heirloom tomato crostini, followed by creative pastas, steaks, moussakas, seafood grills, and a generous selection of vegetable sides.

Stroll just a block south of Jardín Centenario's inevitable crowds to find this little gem with simple red-and-white-checked tablecloths and a front window lined with tantalizing displays of fresh-made cakes and pies. Indeed, sweets—as well as finely curated teas and well-crafted espresso drinks—are the specialty here, but you'll also find excellent breakfast, lunch, and dinner options, ranging from vegetable frittatas and mollettes with beans and ham in the morning to spinach-and-artichoke casserole and salmon burgers later in the day.

Centro's most famous tacos are available all day from this hole-in-the-wall puesto (stall), but are best experienced in the early hours of the morning after several rounds of beer. The tacos here are all beef and are small, so plan on trying at least three. The most famous is the braised suadero, but if you're feeling adventurous the taco de tripa (intestine) is really unmissable.

The specialty of this trendy San Miguel de Chapultepec restaurant helmed by a veteran of famed eatery Pujol is food prepared with an open flame, such as grilled sirloin with an eggplant puree and roasted vegetables, but you'll also find a number of classic Mexican and Italian dishes, from shrimp aguachiles to house-made casarecce pasta with a hearty ragu sauce. Dining is inside one of the neighborhood's well-preserved 1930s homes, but there's also a pleasing sidewalk terrace bracketed by cacti and succulents.

Run by Santiago Muñoz, formerly of the famous regional Mexican restaurant Nico's, this casually stylish rooftop restaurant showcases the talented chef's devotion to traditional preparations and ingredients (including the centuries-old nixtamalization process of producing corn tortillas). Highlights from the creative menu include barbecue-duck tacos, huaraches (oval-shaped masa tortillas) topped with braised oxtail, and grilled striped bass with pasilla chiles and heirloom tomatoes. There’s always an interesting selection of pre-Hispanic-inspired desserts, too. Downstairs, an on-site shop sells salsas, handmade tortillas, and other delicious products, and a festive taco bar serves up big portions of sensational short-order snacks that you can embellish yourself with the bountiful array of salsa.

The creative cuisine served in this chic restaurant with sidewalk tables overlooking pretty Plaza Río de Janeiro is inspired by the time the chef-owners spent in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Typical fare from the regularly changing menu includes wild boar sausage with pickled blackberries or clams steamed with white wine, panceta, spring peas, and parsley. The sister restaurant next door, Cafe Trucha, serves lighter fare throughout the day. 

One of the capital's most sought-after dining experiences has moved from its unassuming original digs to a much more spacious and rather swanky space. Chef Eduardo García crafts complex French-Mediterranean-Mexican dishes like sea scallops with a raspberry "aguachile," lobster risotto, and tagliatelle pasta with a wild boar ragout—nothing outlandish but always perfectly executed. For an opulent feast, book the tasting menu with wine pairings (MP5,350).

Just a few steps down Calle Higuera from Plaza Hidalgo, this covered, open-air market with about a dozen stalls is home to some of the best street food in the neighborhood: barbacoa tacos, squash-blossom quesadillas, fresh-squeezed juices and smoothies, and plenty more, all of it affordably priced. There's nothing trendy about this bustling space where you may have to jostle a bit for a seat, but young buskers often entertain the crowds with great music. Having trouble deciding which vendors to try? Las Dietetics quesadilla stand is one of the best, as is the pozole vendor next to it.

One of the most beautifully designed and eclectic of the city's many contemporary food hall–style mercados, this bustling complex occupies a stylishly converted colonial home off Plaza del Carmen. The front contains hip boutiques selling sophisticated gourmet goodies, designer sunglasses, and mod housewares, and the open-air rear section is anchored by a bi-level seating area with a retractable roof that's fringed with trendy food stalls dispensing elevated pork buns, American barbecue, sushi, burgers, tortas, pizzas, tacos, and a range of wine, craft beer, and cocktail options. Order at the counters and grab a seat at one of the long communal tables set beneath rows of hanging ferns and Edison bulbs—your food will be brought out to you. Moira's Bakehouse, with its decadent teacakes and hand pies, is a must for dessert—it's located among the boutiques, before you reach the food hall.