Restaurants in South Of Mexico City
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Acerto
This strikingly modern, sleek (and rather orange) conversion of a long-standing local favorite now functions as a restaurant, cocktail bar and internet café. The main attraction is the fantastic view across the Plaza Borda to Santa Prisca, although its delicious menu of salads, soups, antojitos and moles and its superior cocktail making are also good reasons to drop by.
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Reposado
Reposado is synonymous with its celebrity chef Ana García, a local girl who has made a name for herself both in Mexico and the US with her promotion of alta cocina mexicana. Don’t miss a chance to come to her intimate and charming restaurant and to try her ever-changing menu of traditional Mexican cooking with exciting twists and innovations. Tables are scattered throughout the colonial complex and romantically candlelit. There’s a stylish sofa-bed cocktail lounge in a loft overlooking the pool. Those really interested can organize to stay in the small on-site hotel here and take cookery courses with Chef García – see the website for details.
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El Barco
This popular, no-nonsense joint specializes in Guerrero-style pozole, the all-curing Mexican version of matzo-ball soup. Small or heaping clay bowls are accompanied by fine oregano, mildly hot red chili, shredded lettuce, limes and chopped onions. Specify pollo (chicken) maciza unless you’d like your soup to include bits of fat, and especial if you enjoy avocado. For refreshment, there’s ice-cold beer, pitchers of agua de jamaica (hibiscus water) and top-shelf tequilas.
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La Strada
On the walking street also known as Callejón del Cubo, this inviting slice of Rome presents authentic Italian-Mediterranean cuisine in a covered interior courtyard. The napkins are linen, the wine cellar is well-stocked, the lettuce is organic and service is attentive. Considering its location near the Palacio de Cortés, it’s not too touristy. Romance fills the air Friday and Saturday nights, when there’s live violin music and opera singing.
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Restaurant Y Cafetería Los Arcos
Right in the thick of things off the Plaza de Armas, Los Arcos is a European-style café which makes for a great meeting place. The huge terrace is nearly always packed. Whether you come for early-morning coffee, late-night cocktails or a meal in between, you’ll find friendly and efficient service. There’s also a geletaría here serving up great ice cream. Happy hours run from 2pm to 4pm and again from 8pm to 10pm.
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Pozolería Tia Calla
There are no fine vistas or breezy terrazas (terraces) here – just authentic, no-nonsense pozole, served up in Auntie Calla’s basement. Pick your poison: chicken or pork. Pork comes loaded with chicharrón (fried pork skin), avocado and all the fixings. No matter your meat choice, the broth is always pork-based. The beer steins are chilled, and there’s fútbol on the tele. What more could you ask for?
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Casa Hidalgo
Directly opposite the Palacio de Cortés, with a great terrace and an even better upstairs balcony, this is one of Cuernavaca’s most popular eateries and attracts a well-heeled crowd of local socialites and wealthy visitors. The menu is eclectic (try cold mango-agave soup with jicama or Tlaxcalteca chicken breast stuffed with cheese and roasted poblano pepper with three salsas: squash blossom, spinach and chipotle, for example).
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La Sibarita
High on a hill above town, the restaurant at Posada del Tepozteco has gorgeous views of the valley below. With surreal cliffs and a pyramid overhead, the restaurant’s setting could scarcely be more striking. The menu features steak in foie gras sauce, chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese and Italian herbs, róbalo (snook) carpaccio in vinaigrette and the like – all paired with imported wines.
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La Hacienda de Taxco
It offers an extensive menu of traditional Mexican dishes, including house-made jam in the morning and a 20-ingredient, house-made mole in the afternoon. La Hacienda also offers considerate touches, like the option of egg-white-only breakfasts and child-sized portions. Due to its popularity with locals, who linger over long, social lunches, there’s a cover midday (check the menu).
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La Cueva
This sloped bar, which opens onto the bustling crowds of Galeana, serves up superb pozole (shredded meat and hominy in a delicious pork-based broth) and a range of other delicious snacks and light meals. This is a great place to come and eat with the locals at local prices. It’s also an excellent place for breakfast, with a range on offer for just M$30.
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La Caletilla
High in the mountains and far from the sea, Taxco’s perhaps the last place you’d expect to find a great marisquería. But La Caletilla’s small, fish-only menu is loved by locals who flock to its large tiled terrace for heaping portions of delicate ceviche, three kinds of seafood soup and well-prepared platters of shrimp and fish.
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Café Sasha
Taxco’s boho and traveler hangout has an excellent selection of vegetarian dishes (including many with Thai and Indian influences), low lighting, tiny balcony tables and a good collection of antique Lonely Planet guides. Owing to a house brand of mezcal (agave liquor) and frequent live-music shows, Sasha can get lively in the evenings.
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Gaia
Once the mansion of the ‘Mexican Charlie Chaplin, ’ actor Mario Moreno, this stylish restaurant has a very impressive international menu, with dishes like linguini with shrimp in cilantro sauce and a ‘fish trilogy’ served with tamarind and chili. Reserve a table with a view of the Diego Rivera mosaic that adorns the bottom of the swimming pool.
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Sotavento
Next door to the Palacio Municipal, Sotavento serves everything from breakfasts to cocktails, enchiladas de mole to prime rib. You can sit on its wide, street-side terrace for people-watching or in a peaceful interior garden for a more intimate meal. This restaurant-bar also has a good in-house art gallery and fine wine list.
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La Casona
Cheaper than its neighbor Del Ángel, La Casona is also less touristy, more relaxed and more traditional in its menu choices. There are equally superb views from the tables at the back, although our favorite table is the one you share with the cigar-smoking skeleton! The excellent menu del día is a winner for M$80.
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El Mango Biergarten-Restaurante
Craving goulash, spaetzle, bratwurst and hearty, freshly baked bread? This German-run beer garden, just down the hill from the zócalo, serves genuine German food in the heart of central Mexico. To wash it down, Mango’s beer list includes both imported European beers and domestic, artisanal cerveza.
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Restaurant Santa Fe
In business for more than 50 years, Santa Fe is a favorite with locals, serving fairly priced traditional Mexican fare such as conejo en chile ajo (rabbit in garlic chili) and fresh shrimp. The walls are bedecked with photos of local patrons and some excellent black-and-white photos of ye olde Taxco.
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Alameda
Between the zócalo and Plaza Alameda, this simple corner restaurant serves excellent breakfasts, including large, tasty omelets and a dazzling array of freshly squeezed fruit juices. For lunch, it has a full range of hamburgers, tortas and sandwiches, including some vegetarian options.
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El Ciruelo
Set in a courtyard with views of the cliffs and pyramid, this longstanding favorite serves an impressive upscale menu of dishes from camarones al curry (curried shrimp) and salmón chileno a la mantequilla (Chilean salmon in butter sauce) to good pizzas, salads and international dishes.
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La India Bonita
Set in a lush courtyard, Cuernavaca’s oldest restaurant also has some of its best traditional Mexican food – from brocheta al mezcal (skewered meats marinated in mezcal) to chile en nogada (poblano pepper in walnut sauce) – with the occasional enticing twist.
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Del Ángel Inn
Think tour groups and mariachi bands here, at one of Taxco’s most enduringly popular restaurants. Despite this, the superb views over the town from the 2nd floor roof terrace are hard to beat, and food quality is good, with a range of Mexican and international cuisine on offer.
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Govinda Ram
As if you needed it, here’s proof that Tepoz is well and truly central Mexico’s biggest hippie haunt. A Hindu-inspired vegetarian café, Govinda Ram does a range of snacks and full meals, including an excellent Ayurvedic buffet, good coffee and warming evening meals.
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Los Buenos Tiempos
Head here for the best pastries in the state – the smell drifting over the zócalo alone will probably bring you on autopilot. There’s also good coffee and a lively social scene, and it’s a great place to buy a pastry breakfast to take up to the Pirámide de Tepozteco with you.
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Bon’s Café
Head to this large, open café on a pedestrian avenue for affordable, delicious breakfasts – including scrumptious bagel sandwiches, waffles and croissants – and a quiet place to read or use your laptop (wi-fi is free). Afternoon fare includes simple paninis and heaping salads.
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Tepoznieves
A homegrown ice-cream emporium, Tepoznieves scoops some 100 heavenly flavors, including exotics such as cactus and pineapple-chili. It’s an obligatory stop and there are many imitators around town. There’s a second branch nearby.
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