955 Best Restaurants in Mexico

Morelia's current hot spot serves Michoacán cuisine, and not just the ubiquitous whitefish and corundas found at tourist-oriented eateries. Diners choose a seat under the popular portico facing the Plaza de Armas, or inside, where large, open windows overlook the same scene. Otherwise, the plain dining room is brightened only by original paintings and prints of Michoacán scenes. Sample a salad of jicama bloom with cotija (a dry, white cheese produced in the area); tamales of tender new corn; green ceviche; and other upscale versions of classic regional fare. For under MX$300, there's a four-course tasting menu consisting of starter, seasonal salad, main dish, and dessert. How about some chocolate blended with hot chilies and mezcal and topped with avocado ice cream? It's open for unusual breakfast treats, too.

For refined dining in an intimate atmosphere, head to this modern French restaurant that serves refreshingly original dishes. The setting is sophisticated without excess, while the cuisine is bold and authentic. Start with the escargots or a lobster soup, and then order the catch of the day or the surf and turf picanha for your main course; either is guaranteed to satisfy.

This jaw-dropping restaurant at Lomita winery is your chance to try a six- or eight-course tasting menu with a wine pairing. Grab a table overlooking the vineyards or head indoors, where a glass-roofed dining room allows the stars to shine over your table. At the helm is twentysomething chef Sheyla Alvarado, who changes the tasting menus weekly. Expect mouthwatering dishes like spider crab, suadero tacos, oyster mushrooms, firewood lamb, and, for a sweet and smooth finale, camomilla with honey. If you've fallen hard for one of the courses, simply ask for seconds at no additional cost.

Locals go to Lupita on a regular basis for the large menu, reasonable prices, and easygoing atmosphere. There are several rooms inside with tables but, weather permitting, most folks choose the open patio with equipale (pigskin) chairs, umbrella tables, and colorful walls and tablecloths. There are breakfasts from light to full; and for lunch and dinner, five soups and seven salads to choose from, as well as antojitos (snacks like tacos and burgers; tostadas with guacamole), seven pasta dishes, and a full gamut of seafood and meat dishes. There's Wi-Fi and an honor-system lending library up the back stairs.

Luvina’s aim is to create a range of tastes, smells, and textures prevalent in Oaxaca and transform them into culinary creations. The restaurant, inspired by the works of Juan Rulfo, does just that. The elegant dining space, a few blocks away from the main city-center streets, offers just enough peace and serenity for the restaurant goer to be able to interpret and understand the complex flavors found in the local ingredients. The chef, Carlos Garcia, aims to take each diner on a culinary journey through the real and imaginary worlds of Rulfo’s writings.

Inside a colonial-era building, this small (just five tables) family-run restaurant is decorated with Mexican crafts and has an enormous menu of familiar favorites like burritos and fajitas. Grilled fish and steak are served with rice and shredded lettuce, as are the rolled tacos and enchiladas topped with red or green chile sauce. If you’re an early riser, stop by for French toast or a breakfast crêpe.

In an old house with a pleasant patio, this vegetarian restaurant is a favorite of locals and tourists. Almost everything on the menu is homemade, including the daily baked bread. For breakfast, don't miss the muffins and fruit salad with fresh yogurt. You also can't beat the fresh pastas and pizzas or their soups and salads. Going on a day trip? You can buy pizzas, breads, muffins, and preserves to go.

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.

Part of the city's warm embrace and advocacy of Mesoamerican culinary traditions, this diminutive café with Mexican folk art on the walls specializes in dishes made with—as the name suggests—corn and chocolate. Tuck into a plate of blue-corn tamales with mildly spicy pork rib meat, eggs grilled with chiles in banana leaf, or cheese gorditas, washing everything down with corn atole or indigenous chocolate drinks (all of which are also available in the form of refreshing paletas, or popsicles).

Japanese chef Makoto Okuwa brings his energizing point of view to Mexico's rich culinary heritage. The dishes are beautifully presented; main dishes like the black cod miso and short rib maki offer a complex blend of flavors. From the upstairs terrace, diners can look out over the leafy surrounding neighborhood.

Open from 8 in the morning until late every evening (it closes a little earlier on Sunday night), this unpretentiously stylish café with a covered sidewalk terrace fits the bill for a wide range of occasions. Early in the day, it's a favorite for well-crafted espresso drinks, shakshuka, and French toast, but as the day continues, patrons drop by for smoked-trout sandwiches, French onion soup, and to share a bottle of from the short but well-chosen wine list. Service can be on the leisurely—though still friendly—side, but for many who favor this spot, that's the point.

This casual, open-air spot advertises themselves as "probably the best breakfast restaurant in the whole country," and they're not wrong. Everything on the menu is good (if you return multiple times on the same trip, you'll be in good company), but their claim to fame is the decadent French toast stuffed with a mix of cream cheese and ricotta topped with fresh fruit, pecans, and flambéed orange liqueur.

Chef Jorge Melul, a master baker, has become known on the island for his breads, cakes, and pastas, made from organic, local grown ingredients. For a memorable meal, start with shrimp tempura dipped in chipotle cream or homemade pesto and then order the fish cooked in white wine and topped with spinach and pears. The daily catch is purchased directly from the fishermen who dock on the shores. If it's just ambience you're after, head to the rooftop Luuma bar for a reasonably priced basil mojito or ginger margarita.

Manolo is the most traditional of the Oaxacan ice-cream manufacturers, started in 1877. It’s small ice-cream museum is located on the principal city-center street and attracts both locals and tourists. Visitors can experience a wide range of traditional and exotic ice creams including mezcal, corn, and the elusive beso Oaxaqueño (made from carrot, pecan, and appple).

Two of the most exciting chef-owners in Baja, Benito Molina and Solange Muris, have taken a truly modern approach to Mexican cuisine at Manzanilla, integrating the freshest catches from the local waters—oysters, mussels, abalone, and clams, for instance—and using ingredients like ginger, smoked chilies, fresh herbs, and huitlacoche (corn truffle). The ahi with ginger raspberry vinaigrette melts in your mouth, and the white clam with Gorgonzola is delicious. A local ranch sources their beef, grilled and served on a cutting board with warm tortillas. Next to the port, this hip joint is popular for its pleasant atmosphere and eclectic style of concrete floors and an intricately carved wooden bar from the 1930s brought over from Los Angeles.

Local families and expats in the know come here for a seafood fix. The ceviches are delicious, as are the whole-fried-fish platters and the shrimp specials. Margaritas, too, are best-in-class, and a wonderful baked banana dessert comes with condensed milk, cream, and rummy eggnog. This, the original branch, where you can enjoy your meal out in a lovely, fern-shaded garden, is a breakfast-and-lunch-only place, closing at 6 pm. Another branch on Calzada de Porfirio Diaz isn't quite as cute.

Traditional Yucatecan dishes—like panuchos (fried masa cakes stuffed with beans and piled high with shredded meat, lettuce, sour onions, and other toppings) or chile mestizo (poblano pepper stuffed with shredded meat)—are the specialties here. Although waitresses dressed in colorful regional-style skirts will explain the dishes, if you're unsure what to order ask to see the album containing photos of top dishes with multilingual captions. Lunches and dinners are finished off with a complimentary tamarind margarita, and a guitar trio performs some evenings. This is also a great place for breakfast. You can try plain agua de chaya here—in other restaurants, it's often sweetened with pineapple.

The difference between a memorable evening here and an unforgettable one is reserving a table for two at the water’s edge—otherwise, you’ll be sitting beneath a palapa roof overlooking an infinity pool and the crystal bay, which is, of course, a spectacular runner-up. The minimal menu presents the best local seafood in dishes like red snapper with herb sauce; shrimp skewers with lime; and grouper with tomatoes, olives, and basil. For something meaty, try the rib eye or grilled lobster. Cap your meal by ordering caramel lava cake with homemade mango sorbet. Note that this little haven is reached via a dark, steep driveway.

The original Mariscos 8 Tostadas establishment (nowadays there are a few others in the bay) is widely considered the best seafood restaurant in PV. It's not a flashy place, but it’s clean, offers good service, and serves up simply delicious dishes.

Want to go where the locals eat lunch? El Tigre is a bit out of the way, in a residential neighborhood (take an Uber rather than walk), but it has the some of the absolute freshest seafood in town. The chocolate clams are obligatory, but get the aguachiles, too, to order like a Mexican.

The best fish and shrimp tacos in town are served at Marisma. It started in a little stall away from the big restaurants of the Marina seawalk but has now overtaken most of them, at least in reputation among the locals. 

Located in La Manzanilla, Martin's is one of the best restaurants by the beach in all the Tenacatita area. You can tell that the chef goes the extra mile to serve more sophisticated seafood dishes than the other restaurants in town.

A few blocks south of the Zócalo, there's often a line outside at this beloved ice-cream parlor known for rich and creamy frozen treats. Favorite flavors include avocado, cajeta, and hibiscus.

Established by wife-and-husband chefs Norma Listman (born in Mexico) and Saqib Keval (born in the U.S. to Indian farmers from East Africa), this intimate bistro presents an intriguing fusion menu of dishes that reflect the owners' diverse heritage with a special focus on exploring social justice through the medium of food. In the morning, you might try heirloom beans in a tamarind adobo sauce with a fried egg and puffy bhatura bread, while lunch favorites include the signature masala fried chicken with Indian and Mexican spices, cardamom sweet potato puree, and herb chutney. Reservations are recommended.  

Maxico is the main spot in town for coffee and coworking. The menu features healthy options like avocado toast, omelets, wraps, and smoothies, as well as numerous vegetarian and vegan options.

This thatch-roof restaurant in the La Cañada neighborhood on the south side of town is one of the prettiest in Palenque. Grab a table amid the fragrant gardens, and listen to musicians play softly (evenings) as you choose one of the regional dishes like pollo en mole chiapaneco (chicken in a local version of the dried-chili classic) and a soup of chipilín (a local herb). Skip the dry shrimp and go for the whole fried fish. Maya, the downtown restaurant, is owned by the same people, but has a different vibe.

The glowing reputation of this long-standing Polish restaurant shone even brighter after people got word that the establishment had served Pope John Paul II on several of his visits to Mexico City; the generous Degustación del Papa (Pope's Menu) includes small portions of various entrées served to the pope. Its best days might be behind it, but it's an interesting slice of the city's diverse culinary history, and still a source for terrific duck dishes.

This hip space is a communal eatery featuring six stalls with neon signs advertising everything from pulque (lightly alcoholic fermented agave nectar) to seafood tacos and Colombian arepas. Nestled among tortillerías, hardware stores, and apartments, it’s easy to walk past it unless you happen to glance inward to spot the brightly decorated market and its picnic table–esque seating.

About 55 vendors offering everything from elevated short-order street food to refined farm-to-tables victuals operate out of this trendy food hall with a popular artisan beer bar, the Biergarten, on the third-floor rooftop space, which is also home to a whiskey bar. The first floor features stalls and a patio seating area, and a smaller mezzanine offers still more options. Some of the most popular choices include paella, sushi, mezcal, boozy paletas, churros, and French crepes.

The hip Mercado Roma has replicated its success on a slightly smaller scale with this attractive, three-story food hall a couple of blocks from both Avendia Francisco Sosa and the swanky Oasis Coyoacán shopping mall and cinema. You'll find a good variety of options, including mini-outposts of some popular restaurants around town (including El Auténtico Pato Manila and Butcher & Sons, which occupies the entire top floor), serving everything from pizza and burgers to kebabs and Thai curry bowls.