Best places to eat in Mexico City in 2020
Mexico City is truly a foodie's paradise. From an array of cheap taquerias that satisfy to exclusive high-end dining, there's no shortage of options to fill your belly. Here's a list of our favorite spots.
Best cheap eats
Just because the price is low doesn’t mean the quality is. Some of the best food in Mexico is found on the street or in little hole-in-the-wall spots. Don’t miss out on these local spots on your next trip.
Cafe de Tacuba
From the outside, Cafe de Tacuba looks like a little hole in the wall. But once inside, you'll quickly understand how this spot has been in operation for over 100 years. This Mexico City institution's breakfast enchiladas will set you up for the day and their beef with mole sauce will have you scraping your dish clean with your fresh corn tortillas.
Ricos Tacos Toluca
Toluca chorizo is famous around this region of the country and this unassuming taco restaurant dishes out the highest quality. Start with one each of the red and green chorizo tacos and if you’re still hungry, try the cecina, a cured beef taco topped with fried potatoes.
Exquisitos Tacos de Mixiotes
Mixiote tacos are a mixture of two meats, usually beef and pork. It is then slow-roasted to buttery perfection and served in corn tortillas topped with cilantro and onions. Mixiote tacos at Exquisitos Tacos de Mixiotes in the Juarez neighborhood are the best around and a bargain at only 18 Pesos ($0.87) each. Don’t forget to have a cup of the consome, the soup that’s made from the meat juices.
Tacos Don Guero
This 24-hour taco spot churns out world-class plates of food no matter the time of day. Crowd favorites include the suadero tacos – a slow-roasted beef brisket that melts in your mouth and the always juicy pastor with huge chunks of pineapple on top.
La Tonina
This unassuming family-run restaurant in the residential San Rafael neighborhood of Mexico City is where you’ll find the best guisados (stews) in Mexico City. It’s all about the northern Mexico style at La Tonina, so you’ll find hand-made flour tortillas filled with Sonora-style steak and Nuevo Leon chicken recipes. Finish the meal with a gordita de nata, a sweet corn-based bread.
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Best high-end dining
The Mexico City fine-dining scene has taken the world by storm in recent years.
Pujol
Pujol is perhaps the most well-known Mexican restaurant around the world. Head chef, Enrique Olvera, was one of the first chefs in the country to modernize Mexican cuisine and dared to serve food that was previously only made by street vendors at his fine-dining restaurant.
In 2019, Restaurant Magazine named Pujol the 10th best restaurant in the world. This means it’s nearly impossible to get a last-minute reservation, so if you want to dine here on your trip to Mexico City, be sure to get your reservation in at least two months in advance.
Merotoro
To nab a reservation at Merotoro you better plan ahead. Located in one of the busiest restaurants in the upscale suburb of Condesa, the only way to get in is to call (don’t worry, they speak English).
Merotoro serves food and wine from the Baja California region of Mexico. Think huge plates of seafood and perfectly sweet sauvignon blancs
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Quintonil
Quintonil combines its fine dining reputation with a very laid back atmosphere. Only a few blocks away from the upmarket Pujol, in Polanco, Quintonil serves food that's just as spectacular but avoids the need to book a table four months in advance.
Although the menu changes every season, you’ll always find plenty of seafood, mole sauces and nopales (flat cactus) on the menu.
Cuerno
Cuerno offers guests the fine-dining experience and high-quality food that you find at the above restaurants, without having to wait two months to dine there.
They’re known best for their high-quality steaks, but the Mexican classics on the menu like the cochinita pibil (roasted pork in a citrus sauce) and aguachile (a shrimp dish) will blow you away. Wash it all down with one of their mezcal cocktails or chat with the sommelier about the perfect wine pairing.
Pasillo de Humo
For a taste of Oaxaca in downtown Mexico City, nab a dinner reservation at Pasillo de Humo. Their mole is rich and flavor-intense and their mezcal selection is overwhelming (thankfully the staff walk you through). Head here for brunch without a reservation for freshly-baked pan de yema (sugar-coated egg bread) and creamy Oaxacan-style hot chocolate.
Top vegan and vegetarian restaurants
It can be hard to find meat and dairy-free options in Mexico City, but there are several fantastic vegan and vegetarian restaurants offering you the flavor of Mexican street food without any animal products.
Por Siempre Vegana Taqueria
From the moment Por Siempre Vegana Taqueria opens, there is a line out the door. Both vegans and omnivores flock here for their meatless Mexican flavors. If you’re feeling left out of the street food scene, have the pastor taco and the chorizo taco topped with beans and nopales (a type of cactus) and a spoonful of spicy salsa, all made without animal products.
Tacos Hola
This isn’t a strictly vegetarian restaurant, but this taco spot serves up guisados for both meat eaters and vegetarians. For flavor-packed vegan options try the huitlacoche tacos or the cauliflower relleno (fried cauliflower steak).
La Pitahaya Vegana
Perhaps most famous for their pink tortillas, La Pitahaya Vegana is a fusion restaurant making vegan dishes with flare. Cauliflower tacos are topped with a house-made coconut cheese and their enchiladas are filled with chorizo made of garbanzo beans.
Best pastor tacos
Pastor tacos are one of the few Mexican foods that has actually come from Mexico City rather than another region of the country. The cuisine is a fusion of Mexican flavors and Lebanese cooking methods. As you walk around Mexico City, you’ll see these bright orange shawarma meats cooking over a flame in front of many restaurants and taquerias.
Tacos El Guero
Tacos El Guero is a common name for taquerias around Mexico City, but this one is located in the San Miguel Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City, a short walk from the popular Condesa neighborhood. The pastor tacos here are cooked fresh to order and topped with spicy chipotle salsa and huge slices of pineapple.
Tacos Los Juanes
Los Juanes is a little stand in the Roma Norte neighborhood that serves the late-night, after-bar crowd, but the tacos taste amazing whether you’ve had some mezcal beforehand or not. The pastor tacos shouldn’t be missed, but if you’re feeling brave, try the lengua (cow tongue) as well.
El Tizoncito
El Tizoncito claims to be the creator of the pastor taco. Whether or not it’s true, they are without a doubt home of some of the best pastor tacos in Mexico City. El Tizoncito is one of the few places still cooking meat with coal. Watch out, taquieros like to fling pineapple across the restaurant into your taco.
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Best breakfast
Mexican breakfast food is rich, heavy and nap-inducing. You won’t want to miss it. Order platefuls of chilaquiles – corn tortillas topped with salsa and meats of your choice, enchiladas or simply huevos Mexicanos – scrambled eggs with onions, chilis and tomatoes served with freshly made tortillas.
Chilakillers
Chilakillers make one dish – chilaquiles. So you know it’s going to be good. Choose your plate size (a half order or full), your salsa (red or green) and a grilled meat or vegetable. You can’t go wrong with the costilla (ribs) or cecina (cured beef). On Sundays, the line for this place snakes around the block.
La Esquina del Chilaquil
La Esquina del Chilaquil, also called La Guera Tortas de Chilaquiles, is an unassuming little tent that pops up every morning from 8am until noon in Condesa. From the moment the tent is set up until the staff stop allowing people to line up, there is a 45-minute wait for this sandwich. It’s filled with chicken, chilaquiles in red or green salsa, cream and cheese and it’s the best breakfast you may ever eat.
El Cardenal
To sample some traditional Mexican breakfast foods, join the locals and head to El Cardenal. Enjoy a Mexican-style hot chocolate with nata bread to dip into it, and that’s just the appetizer. You can dig into huge plates of chilaquiles, enchiladas or an omelette cooked with ant larvae – it’s a delicacy.
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