972 Best Restaurants in Mexico

Locals and expats gather here for breakfasts of migas (scrambled eggs with bits of bacon and tortilla) and the daily lunchtime comida corrida (a set-priced meal with a choice of appetizers and entrées), which is a great deal. Favorite dishes include pollo con mole poblano (chicken in a smooth, earthy chile sauce), chile relleno de camarón (chile stuffed with shrimp), and pork with pumpkin-seed sauce. Taste the yellow salsa with your complimentary chips, and you will be buying a bottle of it to take home. You can sample an array of agua frescas in flavors like hibiscus, but remember to leave room for the chilled avocado pie.

This casual restaurant, with a small swing set and a couple of children's toys in front, under two connected palapa (thatched) roofs, is the kind of place where locals might linger over a meal for hours at a time. Meals begin with corn chips, delicious molelike paste that they call chili de mole, and a fish sauce. The pescado al mojo de ajo (fried with garlic) is delicious; they also serve other fresh and tasty seafood plates.

It's a waterside palapa as large as a palace, but the character doesn't overshadow the menu: fish, beef, and pasta dishes are exquisitely prepared. A few old favorites come with a Mexican twist, perhaps a hint of cilantro or a spark of chili. There's an occasional outright adventure, such as stingray with black butter or calamari in its ink. Breakfast and lunch are served, too. The water views are hard to beat, especially at sunset.

The excellent seafood, reasonable prices, and tremendous beachfront view keep this family-owned spot thriving year-round with a clientele that's equal parts visitors and locals. Try the Sinaloa specialty pescado zarandeado, in which an entire fish is smothered with vegetables and spices, wrapped, and cooked slowly over a fire until you can strip the meat with a touch of your fork. Request a song and maybe buy a CD from the singing waiter. Turn away the time-share sales pitch with a smile.

This restaurant, part of a small inn, might look like just another Mexican restaurant from the outside, but there is more than what meets the eye. The cuisine is mostly international, with Greek dishes like gyros.

Dig your toes in the sand floor and enjoy the catch of the day at La Cueva del Pescador. A crowd of easygoing expats hunkers down for the afternoon to feast on octopus, shrimp, or conch ceviche prepared with lime juice and flavored with cilantro—usually with a generous helping of beer on the side. Great grilled garlic shrimp and simple quesadillas are also served. Portions are sizeable, and prices are moderate. There’s a pool table here plus a TV that's typically tuned to sports.

This friendly family restaurant with great Mexican food is easy to spot if you look for the large green-and-yellow building or the mermaid on the sign. Traditional Mexican dishes are the best bargain, but seafood lovers will have plenty to choose from: the menu lists 12 different shrimp dishes, such as Hawaiian-style shrimp wrapped in bacon and served in a sweet apple-and-pineapple sauce.

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.

This popular Italian restaurant right in the center of San José on the town's zócalo (square) is known for authentic and affordable Italian fare. Locals and visitors alike flock to this reasonably priced perennial favorite for antipasti and wood-fired-oven pizzas, a never-ending selection of pastas, and steaks and seafood dishes. The homemade beef ravioli with porcini mushroom sauce is to die for. Reservations are necessary on Thursday after the Art Walk. Another outpost can be found in Cabo San Lucas.

La Dolce is the sister restaurant of La Dolce Vista located in the malecón, and although it also provides a variety of Italian dishes, it focuses on serving the best pizzas in the Hotel Zone.

During breakfast the cuisine is typically Mexican, while at lunch it goes more Mediterranean, and after 4 pm, La Duna becomes a sunset bar and social club. The atmosphere is a bit more relaxed than in other establishments inside the Costa Careyes development. La Duna is right in front of Playa Careyes. 

An outdoor lunch buffet, from 1:30 to 6:30, is a great reason to venture outside the city to this restaurant 3 km (2 miles) east of Oaxaca on the road to Mitla. Waiters bring you a welcome cocktail and a typical appetizer, such as taquitos de pollo (small tacos filled with chicken) or memelas (fried discs of cornmeal topped with goodies). You then select from more than 70 Mexican dishes, including several kinds of meat fresh from the grill. You can linger here, listening to wandering mariachi and marimba musicians—and let the kids loose on the small playground.

For fine regional dishes prepared with a dash of creativity, try this rustic restaurant overlooking the tropical Parque Los Tecajetes. Inside it's cozy, always buzzing with diners feasting on cecina (paper-thin beef fillet) with slices of avocado, and crepas poblanas (crepes filled with chicken or spinach and topped with poblano chilies). The restaurant is tucked into a small strip mall, so it's tricky to find.

One of the city's best non-Mexican options is this delicious Argentinian restaurant with decades of success. Steaks are their specialty, but they also offer a wide array of dishes including fish, pasta, and salads. An outstanding cava will also delight wine lovers.

The entrance to this second-floor restaurant is hidden on a small pedestrian walkway off Calle Enríquez, a block from Parque Juárez. Bright streamers, baskets of paper flowers, and paintings enliven the little cluster of dining rooms. Breakfast starts at 8 am, and includes delicious Mexican dishes like mole and chilaquiles, toasted tortillas in a spicy sauce. Lunch features hearty northern Veracruz fare. Delicious nopales (cactus strips) and chipotle chilies are essential elements of almost every dish.

The three-course lunch special costs between $3 and $5—such a deal.

You can stop by for an early dinner, but the restaurant closes at 5:30.

A favorite of locals, this Italian-Mexican restaurant is the place to get Roman-style, hand-stretched pizzas. Even those who aren't fans of pizza will find something on the diverse menu, with a balanced offering of pasta, antipasti, and main courses. It's worth saving room for their refined desserts. Afterward, take a look at their interesting wine cellar.

Every inch of wall space at this elevated restaurant on the west end of the Adoquín is filled with paintings. And every inch of your small, square table will be covered by platters of homemade pasta, like tortellini, ravioli, and lasagna. Pizzas are also popular; try the one with eggplant, garlic, mushrooms, and basil. Though service can be spotty, the brick-and-stone floors and red tiles peeking through the rafters make for a pleasant environment. The bacon-wrapped shrimp Culiacán is a popular choice.

Easily the most famous---though also touristy---dining option in the area, this hulking restaurant dates to 1906 and is set within an immense cave with dramatic rock ceilings. The traditional Mexican fare served here is consistently good, including hand-made corn quesadillas filled with seasonal ingredients, tortilla soup, albóndigas (meatballs) in a tomato-chipotle stew, and traditional barbecue. There's a pretty good kids' menu, too. Reservations aren't required, but they're a good idea on weekends and holidays. Although open every day of the year, La Gruta closes at 7 nightly.

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.

This food-cart stall off Ensenada's bustling Calle Primera is the place where locals get a solid helping of the region's seafood. Established in 1960, La Guerrerense has been featured on international shows like Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Popularity has led to the opening of a neighboring restaurant by the same name, but it's the original cart that keeps crowds ogling a small army of cooks cracking clams, shucking oysters, and piling the freshest fish onto tostadas. After you choose from the day's catch—shrimp, uni, clams, tuna, cod, lobster, octopus—stand back and wait while your dish is prepared. Once it's ready, make your way through the throng of hungry patrons, and dress your plate from the selection of bottled salsas and condiments on display, which are also for sale. Most-loved is the salsa made with toasted peanuts, oil, garlic, and fresh chilies. Owned by Sabina and Luis Eduardo Oviedo, the spot is a mainstay on the Ensenada food scene, and not to be missed.

This much-loved restaurant, "The Bean," has an elegant yet cozy indoor dining room plus an outdoor area full of Mayan sculptures and local flora. Although the menu includes chicken, pasta, and grilled kabobs, this is a good place to satisfy your seafood cravings with Caribbean lobster tail or giant shrimp prepared 10 different ways. Finish off your meal with xtabentún, a Mayan liqueur distilled with honey and anise. 

A few steps up from street level and offering views of Playa Zicatela from most tables, this casual yet impeccably clean restaurant with traditional Mexican decor offers an expansive menu with something to please everyone. Signature thin-crust, wood-fired pizza is always a good option as are the house-made pastas and even some authentic Mexican dishes. Add to that friendly service, and the unusually late opening hours—you can sit down for dinner at 11:45 pm—and you've got a winning formula.

Shell lamps; pictures made entirely of scallops, bivalves, and starfish; shell-drenched chandeliers—every inch of wall space is decorated with different denizens of the sea. Service isn't particularly brisk (pretty much par for the course in laid-back San Blas), but the seafood, filet mignon, and fajitas are all quite good. Afterward stroll over to the main plaza a few blocks away.

Soaring stained-glass windows, a fountain, artwork, and beautiful furniture from the central part of the country lend drama to this restaurant. The food is both traditional and creative, with dishes like grilled Tampiqueña-style beef or sea bass wrapped in maguey leaves. The chicken mole and cactus leaf with roasted grasshoppers from Oaxaca will appeal to adventurous eaters; for something less exotic, try the sampler of mini cochinita pibil–style tacos. Performances by a 10-piece Mariachi band add to the ambience.

This hole-in-the-wall, with its red plastic tables and chairs, is a perennial local favorite. Expect enormous portions of the beloved sopa de frijoles (black bean soup made with onions, tomatoes, lime, and fresh cheese) and chiles rellenos (stuffed chiles lightly battered, fried, and served with a side of pickled cabbage and rice). Fish fillets are moist, and the chicken mole is the best on the island.

After picking up somewhat of a cult following in San José del Cabo, La Lupita opened this location that's just as fun---there's a prominent stage overlooking the restaurant floor for bands to perform on and free-flowing cocktails. Just one block from Médano Beach, it feels less touristy than many of the neighboring establishments serving up gourmet tacos (the santo pastor is their specialty, but you'll want to try a variety), flights of mezcal, and an unbeatable ambience.