349 Best Restaurants in Mexico

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.

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.

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.

This lively street-side café-bakery-restaurant is a hub for locals, visitors, and those passing through; everything you need to know is being passed around by word of mouth here. Almost always full but with speedy service, the restaurant is best known for its hearty breakfasts, Mexican specialties such as enchiladas and quesadillas, aguas de frutas (fruit water), and reliable Wi-Fi. Kid-friendly chow such as hamburgers and spaghetti plus sturdy high chairs make it extra appealing to families with toddlers. The daily special is an especially good deal. Popular bakery items include fruit-filled pastries, whole-wheat bread, and cinnamon buns. There's another branch—slightly spiffier but minus the view—on La Rinconada

There's no kids' menu, but you get 30% off on half orders of any dish.

Widely considered by locals as the best taco place in downtown Vallarta, El Carboncito offers the full taco experience with chairs on the sidewalk and plates covered with plastic bags. However, don't let the aesthetics and lack of amenities fool you—pretty much anything you'll try here is simply delicious. 

San Miguel's place to go for coffee roasts beans from Oaxaca and whips them into a variety of drinks. A selection of baked goods and salads rounds out the fare. The place was formerly known as "Coffee Bean," and people occasionally refer to it by that name.

The ambience at this patio restaurant facing the boats and the marina is casual and festive; the crowd hums with contentment while other restaurants nearby seemingly have been drained of clientele. There is live music (mainly mariachi) most days.

The homemade ice cream and sorbet at El Colón have been keeping locals cool since 1907. Served in a pyramid-shape scoop, the tropical fruit flavors (like chico zapote, a brown fruit native to Mexico that tastes a little like cinnamon and comes from a tree used in chewing-gum production) are particularly refreshing. The shop also sells cookies and fresh candies—the meringues are exceptional. There are five locations throughout the city, and while the one on the Plaza Grande is the oldest, the one on Paseo de Montejo is the most popular, especially on warm evenings. 

A neighborhood favorite since 1962, this spacious taqueria with a striking black awning and red-and-white color scheme offers up hefty platters of delicious tacos and other classics. Try the costras crujientes, in which the meat is wrapped in fried cheese before being wrapped in a tortilla, or any of the alambres al carbón with bacon, onions, chile poblano, and any number of fillings.

"The Blacksmith" will win no awards for cuisine (or, for that matter, decoration), but it's often filled with families of pilgrims, and the locals recommend it, too. The menu offers mainly meat dishes, including burgers with fries, plus antojitos, gorditas, and sopes (all cornmeal-based, fried concoctions stuffed with meat or beans and, in the case of the latter, topped with beans and salsa), pozole, and quesadillas. The tortillas are made fresh at the back of the restaurant. Half orders are available, and there's a bar serving national booze and beer.

This two-story palapa restaurant, named “The Drunken Sailor,” is always packed with locals and tourists alike. It’s no wonder: the location across from the marina is the perfect spot to watch the sunset while enjoying a ginger mint mojito or tamarind margarita. Several dishes feature unexpected Vietnamese and Costa Rican influences, such as the panko-crusted fish taco with ginger cream and the shrimp enchilada with coconut pineapple sauce and fried plantains. The shrimp burger on homemade bread comes with chili lime fries and pairs well with an ice cold michelada (salt-rimmed Mexican beer with lime, spices, and hot sauce). Timid palates must overcome any hesitation and try the best dessert in Los Cabos: the avocado-lime chocolate cream pie on graham cracker crust.

At this glorified food court, more than 20 culinary offerings are at your disposal, ranging from Mexican and Greek to Spanish and Italian. Savor wine, cheese, or tapas while the little ones dig into gourmet hot dogs, creamy gelato, or treats from the candy shop. In this two-story industrial-style building, grab what you want and converge back at the table with the meal of your choice; sushi, barbecue, and Oaxacan cuisine are top picks. The organic market is great for meals-to-go, and the assortment of tacos and regional dishes explore the best of Mexico’s gastronomy in a unique environment.

A macaw named Paco greets you with "Hola, Paco!" when you enter this delightful courtyard restaurant. Huge wagon wheels remind you that horse-drawn carts once brought all the coffee grown here to market. The kitchen's emphasis is on local cuisine, so start with brujitas xiqueñas, the "little witches" that are actually pockets of fried corn filled with "beans bewitched by avocado." Main dishes include cecina xiqueña, which is seasoned beef pounded flat and grilled, and—obviously—moles. All dishes that have been invented at the hotel are marked on the menu with the restaurant's logo.

Open since 1955, Café Bagdad occupies a long narrow room in an 18th-century house on the Plaza de la Aguilita, one of several plazas in Centro's rundown and hectic but charming eastern side. Coffee beans are toasted and ground on-site and simple but hearty comida corrida (all-inclusive meals that include soup of the day, rice, beans, tortillas, and fruit juice) comes at an affordable MP80.

If you are looking for a traditional Mexican experience, there's no better place to go in Tlaquepaque than El Parián. At this large complex with a central patio shared by 18 different restaurants and bars, everyday is a Mexican fiesta! Mariachis perform all day long and tequila flows easily. The cuisine might not be the best in town, but it's quite good. 

The logo says "tradición desde 1970," but in fact El Parnita is a more recent addition to Roma's lunch scene: a hip, updated take on the simple family-owned fonda. The menu consists of antojitos (snacks like tacos, tostadas, and ceviches), from recipes culled from the family's travels throughout the country, such as rellenito, a chipotle chile stuffed with cheese and beans in a sauce of piloncillo (unrefined brown sugar) from Zacatecas; and tacos viajeros, homemade tortillas piled with pork loin and leg long cooked in citrus, from Michoacán. While it's a hugely popular spot for trendy types, local workers and families come, too, enjoying it for the affordable neighborhood restaurant it is at its core.

Just two blocks from the plaza, this local favorite family restaurant serves traditional seafood dishes at reasonable prices. Try one of the seafood cocktails featuring shrimp, octopus, and oysters, or splurge on a pineapple stuffed with seafood and smothered in cheese.

Locals in the know duck into this low-key restaurant on weekends to avoid annoying itinerant vendors or to grab a spiked cappuccino or glass of Mexican wine. Try the whitefish, pink trout, or pechuga de pollo (chicken breast) stuffed with huitlacoche and breaded in Parmesan cheese. For a snack go for a plate of quesadillas with a side order of guacamole. Breakfast is good, too.

El Patio de Mario serves traditional Mexican food in a clean, calm environment with a gorgeous open patio and friendly staff. Forget what you know about Mexican food; come here and try their birria or menudo, exquisite soups of pre-Hispanic origins. Open for breakfast or lunch, it also sells raicilla to go.

This family-owned restaurant is known for its friendly service and casual atmosphere. It has great breakfast options, including eggs Benedict and waffles, which are available until noon to aid late risers. At lunch and dinner light fare predominates, including salads and sandwiches, but there are full meals as well, such as grilled chicken with lovely steamed veggies, and the popular chiles en nogada (mild chili peppers stuffed with an elaborate ground-meat mixture and topped with walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds). Desserts are all made in-house. Don't miss the new rooftop bar, up several flights of stairs, with exceptional downtown views.

At "The Golden Chicken," it's best to order ... well, chicken! You can try it roasted, grilled, fried, or baked, in fajitas, enchiladas, burritos, soup ... a menu worthy of Forrest Gump's narration. Their pork ribs are also quite popular.

On warm nights you can watch activities in the Plaza Vasco de Quiroga from a tiny balcony table at this second-floor restaurant. The brightly colored interior is warm and inviting, and the eclectic menu provides a break from typical Pátzcuaro fare: try the pear salad with goat cheese, walnuts, and watercress, or the chicken rolls stuffed with plantains, coconut, and almonds, topped with a mango sauce. For dessert try the mixed-fruit compote on phyllo dough drizzled with caramel and chocolate.

There are 25 steaming plates of traditional Mexican dishes to choose from at this rustic, full-buffet diner. Lunch will likely include Spanish rice, beans, pollo en mole (chicken in mole sauce), fresh salads, and aguas frescas (fruit water). Prices are reasonable. Hours are 8:30–12:30 for breakfast and 1:30–7 pm for lunch and early dinner.

The best bargain in town is also the place for the best home-cooked Mexican food, prepared in the immaculate little kitchen within the converted garage space. Along with tacos and quesadillas, try hamburgers, grilled chicken, full-meal salads, and shrimp wrapped in bacon.

One of the best-kept secrets in Guanajuato is this hole-in-the-wall across from the university whose bargain comida corrida at lunchtime—four courses for MX$65—is equally popular with students, faculty, and local workers. It starts with delicious fresh-baked bread, then continues with a starter such as crema de verduras (vegetable soup) with green chili, or a chipotle-spiked chicken soup. Tacos and an antojito (appetizer) then a meat will follow, plus dessert. The space is cute, with brick archways, knickknacks, and waiters dressed in black and white.