972 Best Restaurants in Mexico

Named after the Mexican dictator whose 31-year reign sparked the Mexican Revolution, Porfirio's does classic Mexican steak and seafood dishes very well. The service and atmosphere are quiet during the day, with DJs taking over after dark. The Polanco branch is one of many dotted across Mexico.

At this classic of Vallarta's dining scene, yachties, locals, and other return visitors attest that everything on the menu here is good. Since there are no lunch specials and the Italian menu is the same at dinner, most folks come in the evening.

From exclusive chef's tables to traditional à la carte dinners, Pueblo 25 offers organic, personalized dining experiences. Pueblo means "village," and the whole idea behind Pueblo 25 is to support local farmers and fishermen while offering guests unique and environmentally friendly culinary creations.

Puerta Vieja translates into "Old Door," and the beautiful door you enter through, imported from India, is indeed over 160 years old. Though Puerta Vieja serves lunch, we suggest dinner at sunset, when the view of El Arco is the most impressive. The cuisine pulls from Continental, Latin, and Mexican traditions, with a touch of Asian flavorings. Specialties feature lobster, shrimp, and Sonoran cuts of meat. There's live piano music nightly from 7 to 10 pm.

The internationally acclaimed chef at Pujol, Enrique Olvera, continuously reinvents traditional Mexican dishes and their presentation, and is largely responsible for the country's gastronomic revolution. The dining experience here can be described as educational and hedonistic, and the seven-course menus are designed to create a holistic flavor experience. There is also a 10-course taco menu available, with drink pairings included. Despite the rave reviews it receives from critics, Pujol has fallen out of favor locally after many accusations of terrible labor practices.

Located in a corner of buzzing Plaza de los Caballeros, Punto Como is an Italian steak house serving traditional Neapolitan pizzas and pastas. The place has an Italian-Mexican atmosphere, with classy design and excellent service. If you dine on the terrace you can enjoy the open-air cinema on the plaza.

This delightful restaurant is known for its delicious Cuban food. The grilled tostones sandwiches, which use fried plantains instead of bread, are topped with a finger-licking onion-and-orange sauce, and the juicy hamburgers are stuffed with goat cheese and served with yucca fries. Several vegetarian dishes are also available, and lunch salads are topped with fresh ingredients like garbanzo beans, avocado, and jicama.  By night, Qubano morphs into a tapas bar, with a lively atmosphere and a long list of delicious Caribbean cocktails.

“I want gelato” is the translation of the name of this shop on the southwest side of central plaza. Partake of mango-, lemon-, banana-, and other tropical-flavored cones in addition to the standard chocolate and vanilla. The place does a brisk business when families and couples turn out to enjoy the Sunday doings on the plaza.

This diminutive, modern café turns out some of the finest Kyoto-sourced matcha green tea in the city as well as exceptional house-roasted coffee drinks, which are served in beautiful hand-thrown ceramic mugs. Have a seat on one of the little benches fashioned out of tree trunks or at one of the sidewalk tables ensconced within a landscaped wooden platform.

This oceanfront, thatched-roof, palapa restaurant serves simple but tasty food. The Tex-Mex shrimp tacos accompanied with a cool beer are perfect for lunch, while dealing with the midday heat, and, for dinner, try the Poc Chuc pork or the traditional chicken with mole.

For coffee and desserts there is nothing more vallartense than Repostería Los Chatos.

Founded in 2008 by chef Donnie Masterton, formerly of New York's Bouley, Montrachet, and Tavern on the Green, The Restaurant is where well-heeled and shabby-chic expats dine with fashionistas and movers and shakers, though they cede the pleasant vine-covered patio to wealthy Mexican visitors come the weekend. The menu emphasizes organic ingredients and changes according to the season and whatever inspires chef Masterton in the local market. Specialties include homemade ravioli with goat cheese and poblano peppers, crab cakes with guacamole, miso-marinated Pacific salmon, sautéed salmon trout in curry brown butter, and, for dessert, panna cotta made with goat yogurt and honey. Thursday is burger night, with a whole menu of specialty burgers.

La Playa is one of the nicest places to have fresh seafood or beverage in Los Barriles. It’s a little pricey, but everything tastes incredibly fresh, and you can’t beat the location or beach access. It’s a fun spot to watch the kiteboarders on a windy day.

This grandly turreted brick building was once the summer home of the Braniff family, former owners of the defunct airline. The house specialty is chamorro, pork shank wrapped in banana leaves. A patio overlooks the boardwalk and is inviting in the evening.

Perched on the rim of the 300-foot-deep cenote, this palapa restaurant charges a MX$50 entrance fee to access the site. Busloads of tourists come to dine on chicken, pork, and fish dishes, as well as house specialties like the seafood platter and shrimp kebab. Although the setting surpasses food, it's still worth lingering over a meal to gaze out over the deep blue waters. After your food digests, enjoy a swim off the dock. There's also a souvenir shop.

People rave about the dishes—especially the steaks—at this chalet-style restaurant in the Hotel El Paraíso. The interior has eight candlelit tables and a cozy fireplace. Swiss delights include classic raclette and several different types of fondue. The service is doting but not distracting. The intimate bar is known for its creative, strong cocktails.

Open to the ocean air, the wood-and-palm exterior of this restaurant looks right at home on Conchas Chinas Beach. The menu is a mixed bag of Mexican specialties such as chile relleno, international cuisine add-ons like chicken masala, and seafood dishes like the delicious crab enchiladas with chipotle sauce. There are wonderful views of waves crashing on or lapping at the shore at its bar El Set. If you're driving, look for the sign for Hotel Lindo Mar on the coast highway.

The coffee is good at this sunny corner café, but it's also a great place to stop in for a meal. (Just be prepared for leisurely service.) The menu includes a wide variety of Mexican dishes, including the delicious sopa de ajo (garlic soup). The pechuga de pollo en chipotle al gratin (chicken breast with chipotle and topped with cheese) is also tasty, but if you're looking for a simpler dish, you can also order more American fare—including burgers and fries.

Though it may be a bit hard to locate, you may well find yourself returning, drawn by the clean, unpretentious environment and congenial service—not to mention margaritas as big as fishbowls. Superb seafood dishes include sopa de siete mares (soup of the seven seas) and jaiba a la diabla (a spicy hot crab dish).

Set right on Boca de Iguanas Beach, this restaurant serves the typical seafood dishes of the region. Breakfast and burgers are also available. The restaurant is part of a camping compound with cabins and swimming pool included, so many come for the food and stay for the pool.

This outdoor restaurant is one of a handful of eateries along the lakeside in Teuchitlán. While not fancy, it offers a variety of Mexican dishes, including fish, molcajetes dishes of mixed meats, cheese, and vegetables in a stone bowl), and fajitas, and provides a grand view of the lake teeming with fish and birds including herons and pelicans. There's also a fish pond where kids can borrow a homemade rod for some catch and release. As you turn into the street, don't feel pressured by the parking attendants at the other restaurants who will make attempts to get you into their locales.

This popular steak house is a great place to enjoy a meal on a sunny day. There's a nice outdoor dining area with plants as well as toucans and other birds in cages. The menu has large tasty salads, including the so-called Kenya salad, with lettuce, nuts, pear, grapes, spinach, and Brie. Try the puntas de filete a la Mexicana (tenderloin tips with a red Mexican sauce served with rice and beans).

This quaint restaurant is small but cozy, and serves traditional homemade dishes and wood-oven pizzas. Sit at the outside tables and get a good view of the quiet life in the main square.

From the balcony of this cheerful second-story restaurant you'll have a great view of the goings-on in the zócalo. Brightly colored cloths adorn the tables, where house specialties—including cecina con enchiladas (salted beef with spicy enchiladas) and rellenos al gusto (green chilies stuffed with chicken, cheese, or beef)—are served by the friendly staff. There's free Wi-Fi for diners, so you if you bring your laptop you can check your e-mail while you eat.

Many people stop here for a breakfast of enchiladas and refried beans before heading to El Tajín.

It's worth making your way south to Cuidad Universitaria to dine at this distinctive and generally untouristy venue inside the UNAM faculty club, with a terrace that overlooks beautiful gardens and volcanic rocks. Open to the public and especially enjoyable for a late afternoon lunch, the restaurant serves a diverse, affordable menu of globally inspired dishes, such as penne pasta with a puttanesca sauce, panela cheese enchiladas with mole verde, and roasted rosemary chicken with a Chardonnay reduction. A buffet is offered on weekends.

Bullfighting posters and mirrors in elaborate frames are some of the things that make stepping into this restaurant a little like stepping back in time. Main dishes include róbalo a la cazuela (sea bass in a tomato-based sauce with shrimp). The daily prix-fixe menu consists of a soup, a plate of pasta or rice, and an entrée. Sunday sees a tasty paella.

This intimate spot has excellent food and hanging lamps and masks. You'll find a fairly typical selection of meat, poultry, and seafood dishes, including salmon with grilled onions and spicy chile de árbol sauce and steak with a savory mustard sauce, but the favorites are garlic-and-shrimp soup and the queso al cilantro, fried cheese on a bed of potato skins, covered with salsa verde.

El Coral serves generous portions of seafood in a relaxed environment facing the beach. It's a favorite among those heading out on a tour of the Marietas Islands and for surfers who come to ride the waves at El Anclote.