323 Best Restaurants in Mexico

Though it serves good basic pastas, salads, and burgers, as well as some Mexican bar-food favorites, this restaurant's popularity is primarily due to its delicious cocktails, aguas frescas, and lively atmosphere. You can dine outside, enjoying the activity on Paseo Montejo, or inside, where the people-watching is just as interesting.

This restaurant in a little yellow house near the plaza has been satisfying cravings for Yucatecan favorites like cochinita pibil (spiced pork baked in banana leaves) since 1945. Locals tend to stop in between 8:30 and 1 for cheap breakfast and lunch menus that highlight tacos and empanadas, and the tortas (sandwiches) are also a real bargain. In the evening, Casa Denis is a place to see and be seen—if you're seeking more privacy, opt for a seat in the quiet garden courtyard to the rear.

This institution is right on the malecón, just a few steps from the fish market. The atmosphere is not fancy, but the walls radiate bright orange, and a courtyard fountain splashes in a minor key. The staff is helpful yet unobtrusive, and the food habitually good. The fare consists of Mexican dishes and such simple seafood plates as fish steamed in foil and served with rice and french fries. Lobster is a specialty, though it and the well-loved seafood platter will push your tab into the $$$$ category.

Relax with tasty Mexican dishes at the tables along the sidewalk or in the oversize garden patio surrounding a magnificent old tree. Try the house specialty: chicken stuffed with huitlacoche (a corn fungus that's Mexico's answer to the truffle) and shrimp in tamarind sauce. Live musicians accompany the food (2:30 to 6 pm, approximately) every day except Monday.

The marvelous view of the Palacio de Cortés is a major draw of this rambling restaurant with sprawling patios, leafy plants, and traditional artwork. The menu mixes Mexican and international foods; you might try the breaded veal stuffed with Serrano ham and manchego cheese, the trout stuffed with shrimp and roasted red peppers, or the tacos filled with grilled cactus.

Part private home, part restaurant (and owned by the same family since the 1980s), this place evokes a country hacienda in mainland Mexico. Although the setting, with tables lining the veranda, outshines the food, stalwart fans nevertheless rave about the huge platters of fajitas and grilled fish. The on-site botanical garden has mango and papaya trees and a small zoo with caged birds. Casa Mission also has two more centrally located sister restaurants, La Mission and Parilla Mission.

The wooden bar, ocher walls, and handcrafted furnishings make this tiny restaurant seem like a true cantina, although it's in the middle of a shopping center. Patio tables are more elegant at night than during the day, with potted trees dressed in little white lights and lively tropical music at a level that doesn't drown out conversation. The chiles rellenos de camarón (egg-battered peppers stuffed with shrimp), fajitas, and tuna steak topped with three kinds of chilies are all filling and delicious, even if they cost slightly more than entrées at nearby restaurants. You can also come for a generous breakfast.

In Colonia Reforma, this café is, as its name suggests, a more informal version of the Casa Oaxaca restaurant in the historic center. This open-air, garden-themed restaurant maintains the same incredibly high levels of food preparation and presentation, and the same attentive service, but with a menu suited more to breakfast and lunch, featuring more fruit, salads, and lighter options. One of the highlights is the huitlacoche omelet served with pumpkin flowers, and bathed in chile guajillo salsa, a true taste of Oaxaca.

This restaurant takes up the entire first floor of a colonial house. You can dine beneath the arches or in the sun next to a fountain. Popular dishes include mushroom soup flavored with epazote (a pungent local herb), chicken with salsa de flor de calabaza (pumpkin-blossom sauce), and a superbly prepared lechón (suckling pig). On Sunday, there's a buffet from 2:30 to 7.

Campechano families come here to enjoy a light supper, perhaps a delicious sandwich claveteado of honey-and-clove-spiked ham, along with a typical drink like agua de chaya, a mixture of pineapple water and chaya (a leafy vegetable similar to spinach). The dining area is a wide colonial veranda with marble flooring and tables decked out in plastic tablecloths. No alcohol is served, and you simply mark your choices on the paper menu (note that for tacos, "m" means maíz, or corn; for tortillas, "h" stands for harina, or flour). On weekends, try the tamal torteado, a tamale with beans, tomato sauce, turkey, and pork wrapped in banana leaves—although not listed on the menu, it's available on request. 

Inside the Hotel Presidente InterContinental, you'll find elevated traditional Mexican ingredients like huitlacoche, a type of fungus that grows on corn, and chapulines, or grasshoppers. If you visit for breakfast, order the blue corn chilaquiles for a nourishing start to the day.

Frequented in its heyday by Hollywood luminaries and the who's who of PV, this downtown restaurant still has a loyal following. The casual patio ambience is simple, but the wholesome food is satisfying, and the portions are generous. House specialties include fajitas and Yucatan-style pork. You can’t leave without trying their killer handcrafted margaritas.

Chilaquiles are by far the top draw at this friendly brunch spot a block from Avenida Amsterdam; it also offers up a nice selection of other all-day dishes, from fruit-yogurt bowls and avocado toast with eggs and goat cheese to molletes topped with butter, beans, Oaxacan and manchego cheeses, and pico de gallo. The chilaquiles are build-your-own: you choose your sauce (chipotle, habanero, and more), protein (eggs, chicken breast, cecina steak, vegan chorizo), and other ingredients (anything from asparagus to panela cheese)---with enough toppings, this can be a dish to last you the entire day. 

In a creaky old house that practically backs up to Museo Frida Kahlo, this unpretentious restaurant with friendly servers and reasonable prices serves well-crafted, authentic Yucatecan cuisine, including classics like rich and flavorful papadzules (tortillas stuffed with hard-boiled eggs and smothered in a pumpkin seed-tomato sauce) and tender cochinita pibil. Be sure to start with a cup of sopa de lima (a soup of shredded chicken, tortillas, and lime), and perhaps an order of panuchos (fried tortillas stuffed with beans and topped with different meats and sauces). Note that this is the restaurant's second location, having opened here in 2021; the original, in Del Valle, has been going strong since 1982.

It’s not hyperbole to say that there are few interiors in the city as pink as the decor within this diner just near the San Cosme metro station. Cochinita Power specializes in Yucatecan food (read: pork and habanero salsas) with a set-up somewhere between a food cart and a restaurant, but without the hustle and bustle of standing and eating on the street. When you're ready to order, your server will arrive with a paper menu to mark your choices on. There’s not much to choose from: it’s really pork, pork, and more pork. But the food is tasty and cheap, and the service is great and speedy if you’re on the go.

Tuck into plates of exquisitely prepared, traditional Mexican snacks like tlacoyos, sopes, flautas, and quesadillas with rich sauces and authentic, carefully curated ingredients. Tortillas are hand-made on the tiny restaurant's comal, and there's lovely outdoor seating in a sidewalk space decorated with vertical wooden slats and pretty plants. 

In Ocotlán the only place to eat is at Comedor Frida Kahlo, located within the main market building. Here, Frida (or her doppelgänger) will offer you the best in local cuisine. Afterwards, you can have a photo with Frida herself.

Typical food of the countryside—enchiladas, tamales, pozole, beefsteak with beans and tortillas, and so on—is served in an equally typical family home that has been expanded to welcome guests. Straw-bottom chairs are comfortable enough, and the oilcloths shiny and new. The small bar is at the back behind the large, open kitchen. It's open for breakfast, too.

Come for the authentic Mexican dining experience. Stay for a televised soccer game or beauty pageant. Traditional dishes include barbecued ribs, goat stew, tripe, and—on Thursday, as Guerrero State tradition dictates—pozole. The long list of daily specials might include pork chops, tacos, and enchiladas; all come either rice or soup and a drink. On the extensive regular menu are seafood and breakfast items. But service stops at 6, so dinner (except a very early one) is not on the menu.

At this innocuous looking, traditional, family-run restaurant you'll find some of the best examples of local cuisine. Look for the fish specials and the triangular tamale-like corundas with cream sauce, which are also great for breakfast, as are the Spanish omelet and the French toast. There are also several good coffee concoctions.

This restaurant is an institution among locals and visitors who know that there's more than just all-inclusive hotels in Nuevo Vallarta. Eddie’s Place is one of the few expat meeting points in the area. Go for the company, stay for the food.

One of the more upscale choices near Médano Beach, Edith's is the sister restaurant to popular The Office. The Caesar salad and bananas flambé are prepared tableside at this colorful and much-loved restaurant, while Wally's Special, a medley of lobster, shrimp, and fish, is one of the most ordered items on the menu. As good as the food is, the atmosphere is even better. Families dine in early evening, so come in later if you're looking for a less crowded experience.

Locals come here for weekend brunch. They serve truly authentic huevos rancheros and all those delicious dishes that make traditional Mexican cuisine so hard to resist. They host live music on certain days.

This elegant colonial house on the south side of the main square specializes in hearty Yucatecan cuisine, with such menu highlights as pollo X'catik (chicken baked in butter cream) and lomitos de Valladolid (cubed pork loin in a tomato-chile sauce). If you're not feeling quite so adventurous, you can choose from mar y tierra (meaning, basically, surf and turf) options. The small front dining room is stylish, but we recommend snagging a table in the leafy back courtyard—it's perfect for lunch on a hot afternoon. El Atrio keeps long hours, opening at 7 am and going strong until 11:30 pm.

This little restaurant east of Parque Paseo Juárez is packed with locals—sometimes there's not a tourist in sight—who appreciate the traditional fare like enchiladas suizas (with sour cream) and the prices. It's a 10-minute walk from the zócalo. You'll know you're there when you spot the huge green eyes painted on the side of the building. It closes early, at 7 pm.

It's on a noisy street corner, but the seriously good food and generous portions make this a local favorite. The molcajete—a sizzling black pot of tender flank steak, grilled green onion, and soft white cheese in a delicious homemade sauce of dried red peppers—is served with a big plate of guacamole, refried beans, and made-at-the-moment corn or flour tortillas. If you're into simpler fare, the unadorned grilled fish fillet is fresh and delicious.

This Bucerías branch of El Brujo is located right on the beach but with the same food and generous portions as the original location in Puerto Vallarta. The molcajete—a sizzling black pot of tender flank steak, grilled green onion, and soft white cheese in a delicious homemade sauce of dried red peppers—is served with a big plate of guacamole, refried beans, and made-at-the-moment corn or flour tortillas. Try the breaded scallops, stuffed fish with shrimp and creamy huitlacoche (black corn fungus) sauce, or a grilled skirt steak with mushrooms and bell peppers bathed in tomato sauce. If you're into simpler fare, the unadorned grilled fish fillet is fresh and delicious, too.