349 Best Restaurants in Mexico

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 colorful restaurant set in a historic building in the trendy La Cruz district is filled with hanging plants, climbing vines, and eccentric paintings and folk art. Although popular for every meal of the day, the restaurant is especially known during the day for crepes, omelets, salads, sandwiches, pizzas, and traditional Mexican dishes. Note that the restaurant is cash only.

Near the malecón's north end, this world-famous franchise restaurant with a fun-loving atmosphere has a bit of a sea view from its second-floor dining room and a Caribbean flavor. Like its Havana namesake, La Bodeguita sells Cuban rum and cigars, and the music (canned during the day, live at night)—like the cuisine—is pure cubano. Try the mojito, a signature Havana drink of lime juice, sugar, white rum, and muddled fresh mint leaves.

This homey bistro offers what may be the best dining value in San Miguel, with a three-course pre-fixe menu at less than MX$200, including a glass of wine or beer. You'll start with a homemade soup or fresh salad, then choose a main course such as Mediterranean shrimp or tacos de alambre: steak, chicken, or fish grilled with onions, bell peppers, bacon, broccoli, and cheese. For dessert, there are classic French favorites, including flan, crepes, and chocolate mousse. The friendly owner personally supervises both the kitchen and the dining room—in fact she might wait on your table. La Brasserie shares space with the popular Café de la Parroquia, which serves traditional Mexican fare for breakfast and early lunch.

Dress warmly in the winter; it's in a covered outdoor courtyard.

This unassuming spot beside a gas station near the border of Condesa and Roma has developed a loyal following for its hearty and affordable birrias (meat stews). The signature dish is the birriamen, basically a Mexican-Japanese fusion of flavor packed with tender pork carnitas, onions, cilantro, and spices, but other delicious options include quesabirria tacos oozing with melted cheese, and the restaurant's spin on chilaquiles, birraquiles.

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 antique furnishings and lazily turning ceiling fans almost succeed in giving this popular restaurant the vibe of an old-fashioned hacienda, but the insistent street noise reminds you that you're in a busy capital city. Never mind: you'll be focusing on the generous portions of charcoal-broiled steaks and the succulent shrimp and fish dishes, served with frijoles charros (black beans cooked in a spicy sauce).

The place is known for its desserts, which include flan with caramel and bananas flambéed in brandy.

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 Cascada y Bosque, simply known in town as “Cascada,” is a wonderful place for breakfast or lunch even when the waterfalls are just a water drop. The jungle setting here is spectacular and begs for a stroll before or after your meal. For breakfast you can choose typical Mexican dishes or the American-style breakfast with bacon and eggs. For lunch, you should try their fish and empanadas.

In contrast to the ho-hum meals served at the other cafeterias lining Avenida Zaragoza, La Casona del Beaterio dishes up fine local fare. The restaurant's two spacious rooms, surrounding a courtyard garden with a fountain, have stained-glass windows and plenty of hanging plants. Breakfast specials are a steal, but the house specialty—cazuela de mariscos—draws the crowds. This is java country, so the menu has a dozen different coffee and espresso concoctions.

This casual restaurant, with a small swing set and a couple of children's toys in front, under two connected palapa (thatched) roofs, is the kind of place where locals might linger over a meal for hours at a time. Meals begin with corn chips, delicious molelike paste that they call chili de mole, and a fish sauce. The pescado al mojo de ajo (fried with garlic) is delicious; they also serve other fresh and tasty seafood plates.

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.

An outdoor lunch buffet, from 1:30 to 6:30, is a great reason to venture outside the city to this restaurant 3 km (2 miles) east of Oaxaca on the road to Mitla. Waiters bring you a welcome cocktail and a typical appetizer, such as taquitos de pollo (small tacos filled with chicken) or memelas (fried discs of cornmeal topped with goodies). You then select from more than 70 Mexican dishes, including several kinds of meat fresh from the grill. You can linger here, listening to wandering mariachi and marimba musicians—and let the kids loose on the small playground.

The entrance to this second-floor restaurant is hidden on a small pedestrian walkway off Calle Enríquez, a block from Parque Juárez. Bright streamers, baskets of paper flowers, and paintings enliven the little cluster of dining rooms. Breakfast starts at 8 am, and includes delicious Mexican dishes like mole and chilaquiles, toasted tortillas in a spicy sauce. Lunch features hearty northern Veracruz fare. Delicious nopales (cactus strips) and chipotle chilies are essential elements of almost every dish.

The three-course lunch special costs between $3 and $5—such a deal.

You can stop by for an early dinner, but the restaurant closes at 5:30.

This food-cart stall off Ensenada's bustling Calle Primera is the place where locals get a solid helping of the region's seafood. Established in 1960, La Guerrerense has been featured on international shows like Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Popularity has led to the opening of a neighboring restaurant by the same name, but it's the original cart that keeps crowds ogling a small army of cooks cracking clams, shucking oysters, and piling the freshest fish onto tostadas. After you choose from the day's catch—shrimp, uni, clams, tuna, cod, lobster, octopus—stand back and wait while your dish is prepared. Once it's ready, make your way through the throng of hungry patrons, and dress your plate from the selection of bottled salsas and condiments on display, which are also for sale. Most-loved is the salsa made with toasted peanuts, oil, garlic, and fresh chilies. Owned by Sabina and Luis Eduardo Oviedo, the spot is a mainstay on the Ensenada food scene, and not to be missed.

A few steps up from street level and offering views of Playa Zicatela from most tables, this casual yet impeccably clean restaurant with traditional Mexican decor offers an expansive menu with something to please everyone. Signature thin-crust, wood-fired pizza is always a good option as are the house-made pastas and even some authentic Mexican dishes. Add to that friendly service, and the unusually late opening hours—you can sit down for dinner at 11:45 pm—and you've got a winning formula.

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!

You can gaze out over the lake and the town's red rooftops at the Michoacana, which is just a short walk from the zócalo. It's one of the town's best sources of regional fare and a great place for a family meal—and open from 9 am to 11 pm 365 days a year. You can't go wrong here—all the typical Mexican plates you'll recognize are available, but the house specialties include a terrific chamorro (lamb shank) and pre-Hispanic dishes that you won't find everywhere else, such as chapulines con cebolla y chili de arbol (toasted grasshoppers with onion and a spicy red chili sauce), and escamoles a la mantequilla (ant eggs lightly fried in butter).

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.

This cantina at the corner of Calles 62 and 49 is popular with locals, expats, and visitors thanks to its large courtyard and likewise large cocktails. You'll be offered free bar snacks as long as you keep ordering drinks, though it's worth trying some of the delicious (if basic) ceviches, enchiladas, and tacos, too. Live bands play most evenings. 

With a calm beachside atmosphere, fresh seafood, and attentive service, it's hard to top this local favorite at the west end of Playa Agustinillo. Begin your afternoon by settling into one of the comfy loungers, where you can sip on a La Ola cocktail, a mojito of mezcal, cucumber, and lime that tastes as healthy as it is delicious. Good options for lunch are dorado tostados or arrachera (grilled steak) served with a perfect trio of black beans, tortillas, and rice. There's also a wide selection of ultrafresh salads. You'll appreciate the spiffy clean washrooms, showers, and prime views of bodyboarders riding and wiping out on the waves.

The service is a bit distracted at chef Pilar Cabrera's combination gallery-café, so you'll have plenty of time to admire the works by local artists that adorn the walls. The food makes up for any shortcomings, however. Start with the tlayuda azteca, a Mexican-style pizza topped with chicken, avocado, and stringy Oaxacan cheese. The sampler plate includes everything from strips of beef to seasoned pork to chapulines (fried grasshoppers). They also serve a different comida corrida, or prix-fixe menu, every afternoon. Cooking classes are also available.

This toes-in-the-sand beach restaurant is a local favorite for whiling away a pleasant day at Playa Manzanillo. Owners Pablo and Doris Carrasco are always happy to whip up a coco loco or offer a shot of fruit-infused mezcal. All the seafood is fresh and reasonably priced. You can eat while lounging just steps from the water or at a table under the shade of an almond tree. The vuelve a la vida (return to life) seafood cocktail is particularly recommended as it's packed with shrimp, pulpo (octopus), and clams. Or try the popular shrimp or dorado topped with creamy tequila-chipotle sauce. The owners' son is working on Blue Flag eco-certification for Manzanillo Beach, so restaurant patrons get the bonus of access to modern and environmentally friendly toilets. If you are going for dinner, be aware that the restaurant closes early—by 7:30.

This cheery café and bakery has comfortable equipales (rustic Mexican chairs) to plop into as you sample terrific soups, salads, and fish dishes. The eggs Benedict and crepes keep the locals coming back in the morning and the turkey breast crepes make a perfect lunch. If you have a sweet tooth, a variety of delectable desserts is baked on-site. Somewhat difficult to find, this downtown gem is on bustling Avenida Cobá near Walmart.

Locals come for the Naples-style pizza, cooked in a brick oven and with a crust that's not too thick, not too thin. There's also great pasta and a good variety of entrées, like salmon with caviar, and lemon and broccoli with fettuccine in cream sauce served piping hot. For appetizers try the tomato-topped bruschetta toasts or steamed mussels with lemon, parsley, and butter. A new location has opened in the residential district behind Costco and the northern hotel zone.

Residents of Mérida have strong opinions on who makes the best salbutes and panuchos, two signature Yucatecan dishes, and La Poderosa is at the top of many lists. All the seats at this restaurant in the southern part of Centro—near San Sebastian's square and market—are outdoors, and it's an especially lovely spot on warm evenings. Its evening hours also make it stand out from some other popular casual eateries, which are often open for breakfast and lunch only. A meal of three or four empanadas, panuchos, or salbutes, accompanied by a soda, will only set you back about $5. Note: There are several restaurants in Mérida named La Poderosa. The one you want is the one in San Sebastian.

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.