310 Best Restaurants in Mexico City, Mexico
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.
Kahwen Café
This cozy café is perfect for a pick-me-up from the well-curated list of artisan coffees and wines, all of them from highly respected producers found throughout Mexico. Just a couple of blocks from Jardín Centenario and Plaza Hidalgo, Kahwen is a happily chill space far from the crowds.
Klein's
This popular deli has been serving up affordable Mexican-Jewish fusion in Polanco since 1962. You'll find hotcakes, waffles, and chili dogs on the menu alongside chilaquiles and enchiladas, all topped with a large range of house-made salsas. Klein's has retained its charming diner appeal with burnt orange vinyl booths and laminate tabletops despite opening multiple locations throughout the city.
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Kolobok
One of few Russian restaurants in the city, Kolobok showcases cuisine from Russian immigrants who came to Mexico after various Eastern European diasporas. A small space featuring just 10 wooden tables, the decor is homey with Russian music playing and murals depicting the Russian countryside, and the food is as authentic as it gets in Mexico. You can order a tasting menu, or à la cart.
La Barra de Fran
This contemporary Spanish tavern plates up Mexico City's top tapas, alongside paella and other delicacies. The jamon serrano is freshly carved and the red wine is full bodied; both are made to be shared. Fran's bar is relatively small, so make a reservation or prepare to wait.
La Buena Birria MX
This unassuming spot beside a gas station near the border of Condesa and Roma has developed a loyal following for its hearty and affordable birrias (meat stews). The signature dish is the birriamen, basically a Mexican-Japanese fusion of flavor packed with tender pork carnitas, onions, cilantro, and spices, but other delicious options include quesabirria tacos oozing with melted cheese, and the restaurant's spin on chilaquiles, birraquiles.
La Casa de las Sirenas
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).
La Corte
La Divina Culpa
La Docena
Known primarily for its succulent oysters, La Docena also offers an expansive menu of steaks, jamón ibérico, and burgers. Don't miss the octopus, the grilled oysters, and the cocktails either. Another location can be found in Roma Norte.
La Docena
La Guerrerense
Fans of Baja-style seafood flock to this bustling counter inside the Parián Condesa food hall for fresh, delicious crab tostadas, caracol (sea snail) ceviche, oysters and clams on the half shell, and shrimp and octopus cocktails. Enjoy your food at one of the casual tables, imagining you're at the beach in Ensenada, where the original La Guerrerense (which was much lauded by Anthony Bourdain) is located.
La Periquita Tacos Arabes
La Pitahaya Vegana
Although the availability of vegan cuisine has come a long way in Mexico City in recent years, few restaurants are devoted exclusively to it, but this small café produces some of the tastiest and most beautifully plated plant-based fare in town. Tortillas at La Pitahaya are as bright pink as the walls (they're dyed with beet juice---the tortillas, that is), and they come with equally bright, fresh fillings like cauliflower with coconut cream and pineapple, and pastor-style oyster mushrooms. There are also hearty raw bowls and tofu scrambles, and chia pudding and almond-milk ice creams for dessert. There's also a selection of house-brewed kombucha.
La Santa
This tiny pizzeria has more space on its sidewalk than its interior, which is mostly a kitchen that prepares thin-crust Argentine style pizzas, empanadas, and salads. The service is attentive and the prices are low. You’ll probably have to wait for a table, as there are very few, but the food and staff will make it worth it.
La Secina
La Taberna del León
Set in a pretty 1920s chalet-style house, this dignified destination for sophisticated modern European–Mexican cuisine is surrounded by the historic redbrick buildings of the Plaza Loreto shopping center. Once you're seated on the shaded side patio or old-world dining rooms—supping on beef tartare with caviar, roasted duck with a mango sauce and wild rice, or ribeye steak with a Roquefort sauce and Lyonnaise potatoes—it's easy to feel like you've been transported to a wealthy friend's hideaway in the French Alps. There's an impressive wine list, and the desserts are worth saving room for.
La Tecla
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.
La Tía
La Vaca de Muchos Colores
La Vinería
This cozy, well-established 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 steak tartare with curly french fries, and the cajeta crepes for dessert.
LagoAlgo
Part art gallery and part restaurant, LagoAlgo is the best place to have a meal that's actually in Bosque de Chapultepec. The focus in the kitchen is on fresh, local cuisine with strong Mexican flavors. It's a little fancier than most places in the area, but it still has a come-as-you-are vibe if you'd like to wander in after a day in the park.
Lalo!
The walls are decked with cartoon figures and bursts of color at this lively space that differs from its more sophisticated and spendier night-time sister restaurant, Máximo Bistrot. Come in the morning to feast on smoked-salmon bagels with poached eggs, acai bowls with seasonal fruit, and croque monsieur sandwiches, while afternoons are the time for gourmet pizzas, pastas, ceviche, roasted chicken, and other satisfying fare. There's an extensive menu of craft beers, too.
Le Bon Bistro
One of the newer and decidedly modern French restaurants that abound and, indeed, fit in perfectly amid Condesa's vaguely Parisian vibe, this dapper bistro is a charming option when you're seeking a slightly fancy but still unpretentious dinner out. You'll find all the classics here, well-prepared and artfully plated, including salade niçoise, filet mignon, duck leg confit, and beef bourguignonne.
Lorea
Meals in this minimalist dining room are among the most refined and romantic culinary adventures in Roma. Local chef-owner Oswaldo Oliva spent years abroad honing his craft at some of Spain's most hallowed restaurants, and he shares his farm-to-table approach here in the form of exquisitely plated, ethereal bites that change seasonally, but you can expect a number of Mexico-centric ingredients, such as huitlacoche, tomatillos, and honeycomb.
Los Arcos de Regina
Los Danzantes
On the fancy side for the neighborhood, this outpost of a famed Mexican fusion restaurant in Oaxaca occupies a handsome two-story space overlooking Jardín Centenario. Artfully plated dishes like guajolote (organic wild turkey) smothered in mole poblano and negro sauces, and achiote-marinated huachinango (Gulf red snapper) with plantains, avocado, and cotija cheese reflect the kitchen's creative approach, although service can be a tad stiff, especially for laid-back Coyoacán.
Los Girasoles
When Los Girasoles ("the sunflowers") opened more than 30 years ago in 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.
Loup Bar
This cozy wine-cave-like space, located beneath the wildly popular cocktail-piano bar Artemisia, stands out from the city's growing clutch of vino bars for its devotion to natural bottles, from German orange wines to heady, bold Rhône blends (nearly all are priced over MP1,000—and many are much costlier—so budget accordingly). But there's also a quite reasonably priced menu of tasty French-inspired bar fare, including a savory Wagyu beef tartare with piquillo chiles, fried Brussels sprouts with a garlic-lemongrass dressing, and lamb couscous with olives and preserved lemon.
Maison Belen
A colorful French-Mexican fusion café, Maison Belen offers pastries and hearty breakfasts. The space itself is small, but the outdoor seating provides an excellent opportunity for people-watching over a pain au chocolate. A few doors down on the same block is a stand where you can buy their pastries to go.