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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.
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.
Chilaquiles are by far the top draw at this friendly brunch spot a block from Avenida Amsterdam; it also offers up a nice selection of other all-day dishes, from fruit-yogurt bowls and avocado toast with eggs and goat cheese to molletes topped with butter, beans, Oaxacan and manchego cheeses, and pico de gallo. The chilaquiles are build-your-own: you choose your sauce (chipotle, habanero, and more), protein (eggs, chicken breast, cecina steak, vegan chorizo), and other ingredients (anything from asparagus to panela cheese)---with enough toppings, this can be a dish to last you the entire day.
For a refreshing caffeine pick-me-up in the southern reaches of Condesa, pop into this cute and cozy third-wave espresso bar that serves delicious breakfasts and sandwiches, too. Students and freelancers work away on their laptops in the triangular white-brick interior space, while you're more likely to spy friends gabbing at the sidewalk tables. There are a couple of additional locations around town.
A branch of the historic churro restaurant in Centro Historico, this is a great place to stop and take a break on the eastern edge of Polanco. Delicious churros, hot chocolate, milk shakes, and coffee will satisfy your sweet tooth here
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.
A local chain, this location of City Café is the perfect place to grab breakfast, lunch, or a quick snack in Bosque de Chapultepec. It's located in Section 2 close to Lago Mayor and offers a menu filled with healthy choices.
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.
Tuck into plates of exquisitely prepared, traditional Mexican snacks like tlacoyos, sopes, flautas, and quesadillas with rich sauces and authentic, carefully curated ingredients. Tortillas are hand-made on the tiny restaurant's comal, and there's lovely outdoor seating in a sidewalk space decorated with vertical wooden slats and pretty plants.
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.
You'll find this cozy but warmly lit coffeehouse immediately on your left as you enter trendy Mercado del Carmen—it's separate from the main food hall and thus a bit more intimate and peaceful. The menu features an extensive list of espresso and tea drinks, breakfast and lunch fare (from chilaquiles to sandwiches), and pies, cakes, and other sweets.
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.
Specializing in coffee and desserts, El Callejón Café should be your stop for a quick bite on the north side of Centro Histórico. Grab a pizza in the afternoon and enjoy the scenery.
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. Another location in the neighborhood can be found at Marconi 2.
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.
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.
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. Breakfast is served on weekends.
A neighborhood favorite since 1962, this spacious taqueria with a striking black awning and red-and-white color scheme offers up hefty platters of delicious tacos and other classics. Try the costras crujientes, in which the meat is wrapped in fried cheese before being wrapped in a tortilla, or any of the alambres al carbón with bacon, onions, chile poblano, and any number of fillings.
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