190 Best Restaurants in Mexico

By day it looks like a hole-in-the-wall, but when the sun goes down, the rummage-sale-meets-taco-stand atmosphere of this open-air local favorite truly comes to life. Get beyond the ghoulish silhouette logo—ahorcado means "hangman" in Spanish—and you'll find that the food is pretty good. One of the few area restaurants open late, it's packed until closing, usually around midnight. Old pots, baskets, antique irons, sombreros, and other tchotchkes hang from the walls and rafters. Quesadillas come with vegetarian fillers such as flor de calabaza (squash blossom), nopales (cactus), and rajas (poblano chilies), while meatier house specialties include beef tongue tacos in mustard sauce, cochinita pibil tacos, Cantonese-style beef rib tacos, and cuchiviriachis—a tostada filled with cheese and meat and roasted for a perfect melt. This is the place to get a chilled Corona for a handful of pesos.

After 70 years in a tiny alley of a shop deep in Centro's fabric district on Calle El Salvador, Lebanese grocer and baker Helu's moved to bigger, shinier digs on Mesones, where they serve tasty shawarma on homemade pan arabe and empanadas libanesas stuffed with spinach, cheese, or meat. There are also Lebanese groceries like labneh and tahini for sale, popular with members of the community coming through the neighborhood for work.

One of the few vegan restaurants in Cancún is popular with locals thanks to its wide variety of juices, smoothies, and fruit bowls. Its menu also features excellent vegan versions of traditional Mexican breakfasts such as enchiladas, chilaquiles, and burritos. For lunch, you can enjoy a portobello burger or a No Meat Lover's pizza.

A mix between a sports bar and a restaurant, the food here is legendary. Big burgers, ribs, hot dogs, and of course Mexican seafood all come in generous portions. You'll often find Juan himself having fun with patrons and checking to make sure you're enjoying your meal.

Juanito's has had American owners for four decades, and the evidence is obvious everywhere from the menu (which includes burgers, milk shakes, fries, barbecued ribs, and fried chicken) to the quick service to the U.S. sporting events on the big-screen TV. But the place has been enthusiastically embraced by the locals, who crowd in every morning for breakfast and stay late into the evening to watch telenovelas (Mexican soaps) when there's no game on. The menu features a full range of Mexican food, too, and there are Internet computers for your use. A smaller branch in a modern building near the port (Blvd. Miguel de la Madrid 426,Tel.314/114–0318) dishes up the same great food.

This Tapatío institution has held the Guinness World Record for fastest restaurant service: 13.5 seconds for a table of six. Lightning-fast service is made possible by the menu's single item: carne en su jugo, a combination of finely diced beef and bacon simmered in rich beef broth and served with grilled onions, tortillas, and refried beans mixed with corn.

Rub shoulders with cab drivers, local government officials, and expat regulars over coffee at Tulum's favorite family-owned and -run coffee shop, where espresso drinks are made with 100% Mexican-grown coffee from places like Oaxaca and Veracruz. Upstairs you'll find a small bakery, out back a quiet jungle garden, and up front a relaxed beachy bar space, all serving up coffee, baked goods, and Mexican dishes like molletes—spiced toast over black-bean puree with pico de gallo (pro tip: add a fried egg for something special). Eco-friendliness is important here, and the plumbing is a composting system.

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.

Thanks to a hot-pink-and-turquoise exterior, you can't miss this restaurant, which features a palapa-covered bar that opens onto a dimly lit garden dining area. Kondesa puts a modern spin on classic dishes, and the menu emphasizes fresh fish, with favorites like the Kondesa kake (an interpretation of crab cakes made with lionfish) and seafood-filled enchiladas. A full cocktail list complements any meal, so if you can't make it for dinner, stop in for a drink. DJ's spin music on certain nights.

With driftwood tables overlooking Half Moon Bay, swings at the lively bar, and salsa music keeping things moving, this might be the perfect beach restaurant. The usual Mexican fare—quesadillas, empanadas, burritos, and fish tacos with handmade tortillas—is perfectly fine, but the food isn't the point. It's all about the location. Directly on the beach, this place takes full advantage with two big upstairs terraces that provide sweeping views of the water. Lounge chairs are scattered on the sand for customers' use, and there's a small pool to keep the kids busy while you have another margarita. Climb the ladder to the two-seater tower table, 15 feet above the sand, where your drinks are delivered in a bucket on a rope.

La Capilla is a truly Oaxacan experience. Sitting under a palm roof listening to the animals play in the petting zoo and the children playing in the gardens, you can enjoy platters of traditional Zaachilan food: mountains of fabulous cooked meats, cheeses, and vegetables will come your way.

For authentic Mexican food visit this spot serving traditional dishes from the southern state of Oaxaca. Try the enchiladas, the memelas, or the amazing guacamole with chapulines (grasshoppers). The food is great, but the traditional Mexican market atmosphere is unbeatable. 

The waiters that dance at night and the faux-rustic Western scheme can come across as a little too Disney, but the Mexican dishes from the kitchen's firewood grill are authentic and excellent. The arrachera (skirt steak) and other regional cuts arrive with kettle beans, quesadilla, and guacamole; the rib eye and American cuts have sides of corn on the cob and baked potato. Fresh-fruit margaritas and piña coladas are served by the pitcher. During the day, clowns come and go, offering children balloons.

Seafood soup and grilled fish are options at the "House of Lobster," but clearly the lobster, fried Puerto-Nuevo style, is the star. This is one of the best spots in town to try the deep-fried recipe created by Susana Diaz Plascencia in 1956; otherwise, try their fresh lobster steamed or stewed with seafood and salsa inside a traditional molcajete stone. Most wooden tables in the large dining room are covered with platters of fried or grilled lobster and all the standard accompaniments like rice, beans and paper-thin flour tortillas. Start with the clam chowder or jumbo shrimp wrapped in bacon. The medium-size lobsters tend to be a bit more flavorful than the larger ones. There's an actual wine list here, and it has several Baja wines. On a hot day opt for the tart margaritas.

You'll know that a fun evening lies ahead even before you are seated at your table at this outdoor restaurant, where the pizzas and empanadas are cooked in a wood oven and several different pasta dishes are offered each day. A food truck serves as the main kitchen, kids (and adults) can make their own s'mores around a fire, and strings of taverna lights glow overhead. Well-behaved dogs are welcome, too, adding to the feeling that you have joined a casual gathering of friends at the beach.

La Cevichería is one of the best seafood restaurants in the Marina Vallarta area. It's not as tasty as other places in town but definitely more stylish. Its Nayarit-based cuisine offers flavors not easily found in PV.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It may be small, but La Michoacana has a grand history of providing frozen fruit-based refreshments all over Mexico. The huge selection of paletas (popsicles), frozen fruit bars, and ice cream is so tantalizing, it's difficult to choose just one from the colorful display. Try mango chili if you dare!

Locals and visitors come here for tasty traditional Mexican food in a simple family-friendly restaurant. Try the pozole, which starts with hominy and a protein as the base, and comes in three types of broth. Red pozole is a thinner broth that uses dried, red chilies; green pozole broth is rich and calls for fresh, green peppers; and white pozole is a thinner broth without chilies.

If you want to try authentic Mexican and pre-Hispanic cuisine, La Perla Pixan is the place for you with its wide variety of traditional specialties such as pozole (and its vegetarian option), barbacoa, enchiladas, tlayudas, and more. Look for the weekend brunch buffet, and the extraordinary variety of mezcal cocktails. At night, live music and pre-Hispanic shows make La Perla one of the favorite spots of locals, expats, and visitors alike.

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.