190 Best Restaurants in Mexico

One thing you can always count on in Mexico City, and Mexico for that matter, is excellent roasted chicken. While popular with locals, the dish is often overlooked by foreigners in favor of flashy tacos, but you should visit this small, sidewalk eatery and try its delicious marinated chicken; there are also grilled vegetables and salsas to make your own tacos. Grab an order to go (which many people do) or take a seat on one of the benches backed up to the street.

“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 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.

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.

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.

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.

At the town’s most comfortable eatery, tables draped in white linen sit under a wide palapa that's surrounded by plants and with a burbling fountain. In a small hut in the back, the cooks make tortillas by hand, and menu highlights include locally made longaniza (a tasty grilled pork sausage) and excellent sopa de lima. A small shop sells carefully selected and cleverly displayed local folk art.

This oceanfront restaurant has seen better times, but it still has a reputation as one of the best spots to eat in South of PV. Part of the Girasoles Condominium Complex, it's right on the beach, offering customers extraordinary views of the Pacific Ocean and the legendary sunsets of the region. The seafood is good but lacks originality.

Residents of Izamal have strong opinions on which restaurants make the best panuchos, salbutes, papadzules, and other local specialities, but Restaurante Muul is on many short lists. The atmosphere is no-frills, though the location is convenient, right on the main plaza just steps from the ex-convent.

Patrons come to Restaurante Pineda for the generous portions of delicious seafood, though the beautiful ocean view is also a draw. Locals rave about the grilled octopus, oysters, and scallops, but the coconut-breaded shrimp aren't too shabby either. You'll leave the place with a full stomach and a somewhat emptier than expected wallet, but it's well worth the experience.

Grab a seat in this palapa restaurant directly across from the water and watch the day's catch come straight from the docks. The menu features local specialties like ceviche, seafood soup, fish fillet stuffed with shrimp, and breaded seafood rolled into a ball and deep-fried. In season (July–December) you can order lobster and octopus cooked several different ways. With a seashell-strewn floor and plastic tables, it's far from fancy, but you're sure to leave satisfied. Owner Diego Núñez and his family also operate Río Lagartos Adventures and can arrange a variety of tours.

A favorite of expats and locals, this restaurant has an extensive breakfast menu that includes whole-wheat French toast and cheese crepes. For lunch or dinner try the vegetarian tacos, linguine with clams, or one of the many salads. Pies, cakes, and pastries are baked on-site daily. You can savor your healthy meal or sweet snack (and take advantage of free Wi-Fi) while enjoying a sea view through the back windows. New Rock 'n Java spots—Noodle Bar and Sushi and Tex-Mex Island Grill (both in the nearby Mega Shopping Center)—round out the offerings of this popular Cozumel brand. Pay in pesos for a lower bill—the exchange rate here is not the best.

This Cancún landmark since almost the beginning draws crowds with its scrumptious wood-fired pizzas. The most popular, Pizza Del Padrone, is topped with tomatoes, prosciutto, arugula, and mascarpone cheese. The calzones are smothered with olive oil and packed with fresh ingredients like asparagus, mushrooms, and ham. You can’t go wrong with the homemade pasta dishes like the veal-stuffed ravioli or linguine with clams and white wine, either.

The delicious scent of grilling meats will entrance you from blocks away. Latin music blares from the jukebox inside, so after sundown most clients dine at the white plastic tables on the grassy front yard. The charcoal-grilled burgers, which are made of top sirloin, and the french fries, deep-fried zucchini, and baked potatoes are true-to-the-source American treats, but with a twist. The burgers are topped with cabbage, and delicious with the Benton's chipotle sauce that you'll find next to the mustard and ketchup. Try the corn soup served with a generous dollop of sour cream. For dessert there are grilled bananas glazed with cinnamon and sugar and served with fresh cream.

In 1917, the Sanborn brothers took over the iconic Casa de los Azulejos building to expand their drugstore business and now the popular stores-cum-restaurants, owned by billionaire Carlos Slim, populate every major town in Mexico. The menu plays it safe with decent Mexican standards and international options like burgers, soups, and club sandwiches, but the long, winding counter is one of the best places around for a solo coffee and breakfast, while happy hour deals at the endearingly old-fashioned upstairs bar are hard to beat.

It's very pleasant to dine at night on the back patio of this local favorite amid dozens of candles and tiny lights. The menu includes pizza, salads, pasta dishes, and Mediterranean fare like chicken souvlaki and Greek chicken. Order a liqueur-laced coffee or dessert from the bakery counter. The café at the front has great espresso but is open in high season only, usually December through Easter.

If you need a break from seafood, this small, sophisticated café serves outstanding coffee, Mexican breakfasts, and classic burgers for lunch. They have live music during the week.

Locals rave about the grilled steaks and garlic shrimp at Sergio's—one of the nicest restaurants in Chetumal. The barbecued chicken (made with the owner's special sauce) and smoked-oyster or seafood pizzas are equally tasty. When you order the delicious Caesar salad for two, a waiter prepares it at your table. This place also offers a huge breakfast menu plus a variety of lunchtime pasta dishes. You can order takeout or have food delivered, but the gracious staff and free Wi-Fi give you an added incentive to eat in.

Chef and owner Brian Solomon runs one of the most popular restaurants on the Cabo San Lucas Marina, supplementing waterfront views with first-class service and an enormous range of quality food and beverages. Fresh local seafood is the specialty of the house, but pastas, steaks, and traditional Mexican favorites are also staples of the lunch and dinner menus. The palapa-style architecture is fun yet classy, and the space is pet-friendly, too. 

With an enormous menu (as well as a kids' menu) to satisfy every appetite, this elegant palapa restaurant is the perfect place to savor the sunset. The wide range of dinner dishes includes grilled tuna, coconut shrimp, paella, and grouper in a creamy dill-and-wine sauce. Homemade key lime pie provides a sweet finish. A wall-less dining terrace overlooks the sea, while soft music and candlelight add to the romantic ambience. Grab a table in the sand, and you can take a dip in the ocean between courses.

A truly local joint that seems out of place in the Zona Hotelera draws crowds in the morning for its smoothie bowls and later on for its tacos and burritos. Forget your own private booth at this 24-hour place—you’ll eat at long tables and really get to know your fellow diners. This hangout sits a short distance from Cancún’s party central, but it’s a world away in style. Partiers converge here for a quick after-hours bite.

Founded 65 years ago and moved to its current location three decades back, Taco de Oro specializes in cochinita pibíl, the beloved dish of slow-roasted pork from the Yucatán. This small restaurant doesn’t have much seating inside, so be prepared to eat on a bench on the sidewalk or stand outside.

According to some food historians, tacos de canasta (literally "basket tacos") are the original taco and a street food par excellence as closely associated with the capital's unique culinary culture as tacos al pastor. Mostly made in the neighboring state of Tlaxcala and carried into the city in baskets (hence the name), tacos de canasta are cheap and tasty, slicked with fat and moisture from their journey, and stuffed with simple fillings like beans, potatoes, or chicken in adobo. You'll find tacos de canasta on just about every corner here, but Los Especiales, just off the Zócalo, is justly famous. Get in line, snag an order of five, chow down, and be on your way.

For a quick bite Tacos Las Palmas offers a lot more than what the name suggests. Marlin, tuna, shrimp, and other staple items are served with local fruits and vegetables to produce mouthwatering dishes. The burritos are big and tasty, too.

Don't be fooled by the bare-bones atmosphere: Tacos Rossy serves some of the best tacos in San José. Fish tacos are the thing at this no-frills joint brimming with local families who munch on everything from peel-and-eat shrimp to ceviche and chocolate clams. Served breaded and fried, the shrimp, scallop, and fish (flounder) tacos here are cheap and delicious. Dress them up however you like at a condiment bar that offers avocados, chilies, cabbage slaw, onions, and an assortment of sauces from tomatillo to habanero.

This place is widely recognized as having "the best tacos in Cabo" ($3); you'll be surprised by how many of them you can eat at one sitting. The al pastor grilled pork taco is a star alongside the customary agua de Jamaica (hibiscus iced tea) ($2). Besides the traditional tacos, you can get a wide array of gringas, quesadillas, and vampiros, all of them served with cheese and a meat of your choice.