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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.
Set in the back of a small but posh contemporary shopping arcade overlooking a tranquil formal garden just off Plaza del Carmen, chic Bistro 83 is a go-to for lavish contemporary Euro-Mexican fare, such as escargot sautéed in garlic butter, grilled red snapper with a lemon-caper sauce, and tuna tartare tostadas with a soy-ginger marinade. During the day, enjoy a drawn-out feast on the classy patio.
Here you'll find everything you would expect from a petite bistro: an intimate environment open to the street, comforting food, good music that's not too loud, and excellent French wines. Start by ordering the house specialty, hailing from Lyon, France: fish quenelles with your choice of various sauces. A popular main dish is the carne bourguignonne, beef cooked in red wine and butter with bacon and mushrooms. If there's room for dessert, try the clafoutis, a French custard with cherries.
Sitting on a quiet corner on a residential street, Branca Parilla is stunning both inside and out. It's snazzy enough to dress up a bit, but casual enough not to worry about it if you’re not. The bar is stacked and the waiters are knowledgeable.
You'll find one of Roma's prettiest dining rooms—with high brick walls and lush greenery set around a two-story interior courtyard with plenty of natural sunlight—in this moderately upscale and somewhat unassuming restaurant that turns out excellent globally influenced bistro fare. Consider the Vietnamese shrimp dumplings in a fragrant soy-shiitake sauce or tuna tartare tostadas to start, before choosing among the soft-shell-crab tacos, grilled Pacific snapper, or rabbit carnitas among the mains. There's a very nice cocktail and wine list, too.
This laid-back seafood eatery brings the beach to Mexico City. Try the fresh taco Gobernador or tostada Punta Mita accompanied by a michelada.
Part cute vintage store (with clothing, housewares, jewelry, and antique toys) and part café, this homey spot in Escandón is the sort of place you want to linger. The all-day breakfast menu features a number of hearty dishes, including the house dish: poached eggs over ham, bacon, and roast beef with hollandaise sauce; plus, there's a good selection of pastas, sandwiches, and other tasty fare available later in the day. It's also a nice stop for coffee and dessert.
The main location of a small local chain founded in 1938 by a family of Lebanese immigrants, Jekemir recently moved to one of Centro's prettiest plazas, at the end of the pedestrianized Calle Regina. One of precious few places in Centro to sit outside, Jekemir is still a family-owned operation.
Think of this as Mexico City's equivalent of your favorite all-day diner: open from 7 am to 4 am every day of the year, La Pagoda is the best of several (admittedly very similar) old school cafés lined up along the northern side of Avenida 5 de Mayo. The food is far from extraordinary, but the atmosphere is beyond charming, with its long bar and bright lights, service that borders on the maternal (expect to be called mi amor or mi vida at least once), solid breakfast dishes served all day, and a perfect café con leche to snap you out of a late-night or early-morning stupor.
This exquisitely designed eatery feels like entering a mansion. A bit like a labyrinth, the service is quick and the menu extensive with breakfast through dinner options specializing in fresh ingredients. Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options will appease travelers who have eaten one too many orders of chilaquiles.
This beef-lover's dream is popular with everyone from businessmen to young families. Everything is grilled, from the Argentine beef and Australian lamb to the whitefish in a mild chile sauce. Desserts are large and inventive—try the riff on an alfajor, a typical dulce de leche sandwich cookie. The low-ceiling, wood-beam dining room is hung with nostalgic pictures of Buenos Aires. Menus in Braille are also available.
Near several art spaces in San Miguel Chapultepec (and across the street from famed Kurimanzutto), this upbeat, stylish Italian restaurant has a lovely brick patio that fills with creative types after gallery openings. The roasted potatoes with truffle oil and Parmesan is a worthy starter, and there are some nice pasta and salad options, but the star is the pizza, including a distinctly Mexican-style pie topped with huitlacoche, Oaxacan cheese, corn, and jalapeños. You could check out the more traditional Diavola with Italian sausage, cured pepperoni, Calabrese salami, and a spicy tomato sauce. There are several other locations throughout the city.
An old-school cantina, come here for the vibes and the excellent service. You'll find classic Mexican meat and seafood dishes.
In a gray house with red trim and awnings that are lit up at night brighter than a Christmas tree, this extremely popular restaurant near the border with Roma specializes in the distinct brand of Chinese food that's popular in the Baja city of Mexicali. Start with the chiles rellenos stuffed with ground seasoned pork, garlic, and ginger before moving on to flavorful main dishes, such as Szechuan-style dan dan noodles, beef chop suey, and shrimp chipotle.
Just off Plaza San Jacinto, this smart and contemporary café offers a relatively calm respite from the bustle of weekend shoppers and is particularly popular for brunch. The menu focuses on creative thin-crust pizzas, bountiful salads, avocado toast, and panini sandwiches, and the mimosas are always flowing.
Inside the Hotel Presidente InterContinental, you'll find elevated traditional Mexican ingredients like huitlacoche, a type of fungus that grows on corn, and chapulines, or grasshoppers. If you visit for breakfast, order the blue corn chilaquiles for a nourishing start to the day.
This peculiar restaurant name (for this latitude) is thanks to the Midwestern owner who started making delicious burgers on a cart from the back of his bike. These gratuitous-in-every-way burgers quickly became well-recognized across the city and its San Rafael location has become one of the busiest restaurants in the neighborhood. Stop in for a beer on the patio, catch a gringo game on the TV, and see if it lives up to the hype.
Depending on when you visit, this hip hangout can serve as a cheerful breakfast nook for chia pudding and egg sandwiches, an afternoon coffee or teahouse with light salads and a delicious smoked-eggplant-harissa dip, or an evening lounge with craft cocktails and well-curated (though pricey) wines. Whatever the time of day, there's almost always a crowd that tends toward the fashionable, artsy side. The vibe is a bit self-important, but it's a reliably nice space with good food and drink options.
In a creaky old house that practically backs up to Museo Frida Kahlo, this unpretentious restaurant with friendly servers and reasonable prices serves well-crafted, authentic Yucatecan cuisine, including classics like rich and flavorful papadzules (tortillas stuffed with hard-boiled eggs and smothered in a pumpkin seed-tomato sauce) and tender cochinita pibil. Be sure to start with a cup of sopa de lima (a soup of shredded chicken, tortillas, and lime), and perhaps an order of panuchos (fried tortillas stuffed with beans and topped with different meats and sauces). Note that this is the restaurant's second location, having opened here in 2021; the original, in Del Valle, has been going strong since 1982.
It’s not hyperbole to say that there are few interiors in the city as pink as the decor within this diner just near the San Cosme metro station. Cochinita Power specializes in Yucatecan food (read: pork and habanero salsas) with a set-up somewhere between a food cart and a restaurant, but without the hustle and bustle of standing and eating on the street. When you're ready to order, your server will arrive with a paper menu to mark your choices on. There’s not much to choose from: it’s really pork, pork, and more pork. But the food is tasty and cheap, and the service is great and speedy if you’re on the go.
Always packed with locals---including plenty of expats from other parts of the Americas---watching fútbol on TV or enjoying the live music, this welcoming two-story Roma Sur mercado contains more than a dozen food stalls set around a central dining area with communal tables. Cuisines from mostly Central and South America are featured, including Brazilian feijoada, Peruvian ceviche, and Salvadoran arepes. There's an extensive selection of juices, soft drinks, beers, and cocktails, too.
A stylish bi-level bistro and mezcal bar with a prime views across Jardín Centenario, Corazón de Maguey is a pleasing setting for artfully presented regional Mexican fare and creative cocktails. You could easily put together a meal of several starters—the guacamole with chapulines and a sampler of five moles with tortillas among them—or opt for one of the substantial main dishes, such as Acapulco-style seared octopus with fried plantains, jicama, and pineapple, or tender Oaxacan tlayudas with arrachera (a grilled, thin steak) marinated in a guajillo chile sauce.
A cheerful bakery-café near San Miguel Chapultepec's art galleries, Deli Lou serves crusty-baguette sandwiches with distinctive toppings (turkey with olives, goat cheese, Camembert, jamón serrano, and the like), plus freshly baked cakes, brownies, and cookies. There's also a small selection of jams, wines, artisanal juices and teas, and other gourmet goodies, plus a variety of espresso drinks.
This gourmet market, artisan bakery, and sidewalk café with a prime location on Álvaro Obregón is a top destination for any meal, but especially breakfast and brunch, when you might try French toast with whipped cream and fresh fruit or Greek-style baked eggs with jocoque, olives, tomato sauce, and grilled pita. The rest of the day, the eclectic but slightly Mediterranean-leaning menu features tortas and toasts (like the one with smoked trout, pickled beets, and capers) as well as lasagna, lamb moussaka, and other heartier dishes. The market also carries fresh baked breads, wines, cheeses, jams, salsas, olive oil, and other goodies. There are a couple of additional locations in Roma Norte, including a Colima branch that's mostly a take-out market.
This trendy, casual spot with a long wooden bar serves up some of the best Korean food in the city, including classics like beef bulgogi, kimchi-fried rice topped with a fried egg, bibimbap, and—arguably the star of the menu—crispy Korean fried chicken wings with gochujang (fermented chiles). There's also a nice selection of kefirs and kombuchas to sip, plus wine and craft beer.
This dapper all-day café with white-brick walls, colorful peltre dishware, and fresh flowers on every table is in a semi-residential section of Coyoacán, well-removed from the crowds and an easy stroll from Museo Frida Kahlo. The owner uses organic coffees and, as much as possible, locally sourced ingredients in the European-influenced Mexican fare, which includes superb chilaquiles (order them with both the green and red sauces), panfried potatoes with paprika and chipotle aioli, and ham-gruyere croissant sandwiches. If you're having trouble finding a seat, there's a smaller location (it's actually the original) around the corner.
This intimate but elegant (for the neighborhood) diner has small tables in a quiet space with a reclaimed feel and appropriately minimalist decor. With juicy burgers, salmon carpaccio, and crunchy thin-crust pizza, the menu caters to a wide audience. The space gets busier with an artistic crowd throughout the day, some staying a while to sip wine and coffee. With a variety of tapas-style snacks, mouthwatering burgers, and their own craft beer brand, it makes for a relaxed afternoon or evening stop.
