I’ve visited Mexico City four times now and can confidently say it’s one of my favourite cities in the world. There are so many great places to eat and drink, CDMX feels super safe, and the city has great buzz.
📝 Tacos Al Pastor are king here. You’ll find them on almost every street corner. They originate from lamb shawarma which was brought over to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants. The lamb was replaced with pork, local marinades were introduced, and pita was replaced with a corn tortilla.
📝 Drinking; Salon Tenampa for live mariachi music, Pulqueria Las Duelistas to try pulque – fermented alcoholic juice for agave, and for cocktails Hanky Panky, Handshake Speakeasy, and Tlecan.
📝 Great places to visit; Palacio Nacional, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Museo Mural Diego Rivera & Secretaría de Educación Pública to see the amazing Diego Rivera murals, the Frida Kahlo Museum at Frida Kahlo’s old house too.
📝 Go and watch the wrestling at Arena México or Wrestling Arena Coliseo. It’s a great night out. You can buy your tickets at the venue on the night or outside off somebody selling.
1. Jenny’s Quesadila/ Quesadillas Elenita
📍Roma Norte. You’ll find this stand on the corner of Colima and Merida in Mexico City’s Roma Norte neighbourhood. Freshly made blue corn tortillas are filled with tinga, chicharon, vegetables and cheese. I loved the tinga de res (beef) but the flor de calabaza (zucchini flower) was my favourite. Open from 10:00am every morning. 11:30am on Sundays.
2. Tacos Don Juan
📍La Condessa. A Condessa institution since 1982. Go for a bistek (steak) y queso, suadero (pork belly) y queso taco and the quesabirria tacos with a side pot of consume. Expect queues as soon as they open. Open 10:15-17:00 during the week and 15:00 on weekends.
3. Rico’s Tacos Toluca
📍Centro Historico. Rojo and verde chorizo tacos at Rico’s Tacos Toluca in Centro Historico. These guys serve some of my favourite tacos in the city the city. They offer four different types of chorizo; rojo, verde, habanero, and tamarind. The rojo (my favourite) is pretty spicy. The tacos are topped with fried onions, and potatoes, then there’s a salsa station to help yourself. They’re open 12:00-06:00 every day of the week, except Sunday.
4. El Turix
📍Polanco. El Turix are know for serving the best Yucatán-style cochinita pibil in Mexico City. You’ll find them in the posh neighbourhood of Polanco nestled amongst fancy gringo restaurants. The slow-cooked pulled pork is marinated in achiote paste and citrus juices giving it an amazing sweet, tangy flavour. As well as tacos they also serve panuchos (a fried taco stuffed with black beans), tortas, and tamales. The panuchos might be as popular, if not more popular than the tacos. There’s not really any seating inside so you’ll have to perch on the wall outside or stand. Open 11:30-midnight every day of the week.
5. Los Cocuyos
📍Centro Historico. A Centro Historico institution since 1980 and famously visited by Anthony Bourdain. Due to popularity and the need for a dining they have moved to a larger space since my last visit five years ago. Outside the front of the taqueria you’ll find a crowd of people standing in front of a bubbling cauldron filled with every part of the animal. The menu includes sausage, chorizo, suadero (slow-cooked beef), as well some more adventurous items like tripe, tongue, eyeball and brain. I love watching the meats chopped on a heavy board by a big cleaver before being filled in the tacos.
6. El Hidalguense
📍Roma Sur. This is the place to go for slow-cooked lamb barbacoa. The dish is a specialty from the Mexican state of Hidalgo, hence the name. Your server will recommend how much lamb you need per person. It comes with a side of blue corn tortilla and salsa. The lamb is moist and completely falling apart. Open 07:00-18:00 Friday-Sunday.
7. Contramar
📍Roma. An upmarket seafood restaurant in the heart of Mexico City. Another one you need to book far ahead, although you might get lucky showing up early on the day. Famous for its pescado a la talla with half red chilli adobo rub and half parsley rub. Don’t skip on dessert either.
8. Mi Compa Chava Marisquería
📍Roma Norte. If you forgot to book a table at Contramar and can’t get a walk-in, don’t worry, Mi Compa Chavs has you covered. It’s a walk-in only seafood restaurant in Roma. I recommend getting there as soon as it opens to reduce your waiting time. That said, there’s a street vendor outside serving the queue with micheladas so it’s not the worst. Everything I saw coming out the kitchen looked incredible. There’s a food tower and the biggest clams you’ve ever seen served raw. The place is absolutely buzzing. I was only by myself and had already hit three taco spots so just went for the prawns and a michelada loaded with raw and cooked shrimp, as well as octopus. The prawns were easily one of the best things I ate this weekend.
9. El Vilsito
📍Narvarte Oriente. Car mechanics by day, taqueria by night. El Vilsito is known for serving some of the best tacos Al Pastor in Mexico City. They were also recently awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand. I went on a Sunday evening and the place was buzzing with four giant Al Pastor on the go at once. The tacos come stacked with nice thinly slice ribbons of meat (how it should be). The volcan and gringas versions with cheese are also popular. Open until 03:00am every night of the week and 05:00 on weekends so a great spot to come after a few drinks.
10. Pujol
📍Polanco . Pujol has ranked consistently in the top ten of The Worlds 50 Best for nearly ten years. Book as far ahead of time as you can as it’s always booked up. To learn more about the dishes you can checkout a Chef’s Table episode on the head chef Enrique Olvera on Netflix. As far as Michelin Star restaurants of this level go it is well priced and one of the best I’ve been to.
11. Tacos Tony
📍Narvarte Oriente. Just up the road from El Visito you’ll find another popular taqueria by the name of Tacos Tony. It’s impossible to miss with all the giant ‘Tacos Tony’ signage. The most popular taco here is the trozo de suadero which is a slow-stewed slice of brisket. As well as the sit down restaurant with table service, they also have stand across the street with the same menu. I also really enjoyed the campechanos taco with suadero (chopped beef), sausage and a bit everything else as well as the tripa (tripe) taco too.
12. Taquería Arandas
📍Centro Historico. A Centro Historia favourite for tacos Al Pastor. The prices are super cheap at only $39 pesos for three tacos. As well as the Al Pastor, the suadero and other meat tacos from the cauldron are popular too. Open 10:00-22:00 daily but 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, 19:00 on Sundays.
13. El Pescadito
📍Multiple locations. A good spot to go for loaded seafood tacos. The fried fish and fried shrimp tacos are my favourites. I wasn’t a big fan of the marlin. T
14. Taqueria Orinoco
📍Roma Norte. There’s a lot of people calling Tacqueria Orinoco overrated these days but that happens with anywhere that becomes popular with tourists. I decided to go back and check it out for myself. Since they expanded and opened multiple shops in CDMX, the quality is definitely not what it used to be, but they still serve a solid Al Pastor taco. I’d probably skip on their other offerings though. There is still a constant queue coming out the door which is mainly made up of tourists these days. Open 13:00-03:30 during the week and 05:30 on weekends.
15. Tacos El Huequito
📍Centro Historico. Established in 1959, El Huequito is one of a few taquerias which claims to be the first place to serve tacos al pastor in Mexico City. They have at least ten locations now. Order the “especial” which is a mountain of meat with a stack of tortilla. Open 09:00-21:00 everyday of the week.
16. El Greco Taqueria
📍La Condessa. Despite being called “The Greek”, El Greco is a popular spot to go for “tacos Arabes” (Arabic-style tacos), referred to here as doneraky. Doneraky is similar to al pastor but marinated differently – salt, minced parsley, and onion. The flan for desert is very popular too. Although it’s small there’s a lot of outdoor seating. Open 14:00-22:30 every day of the week. Closed Sundays.
17. Nicos
📍 Claveria. A little further out from Centro. Currently in the Latin America Top 50. A great spot to try traditional Mexican dishes like mole & enchiladas. They’re also open for breakfast serving a completely different menu and fresh juices & spiced hot chocolate.
18. El Cardenal
📍Centro Historico. A great spot for breakfast in Centro Historico. Try the zucchini flower omelette.
19. Tacos Hola El Güero
📍La Condessa. Tacos Hola (est 1986) is a popular spot to go for tacos de guisado (meat and veg stews). There’s such a big selection of taco options here that ordering can be a little intimidating. The first went I asked for whatever is popular. Good news if you don’t eat meat as there are a lot of vegetarian options too. Out of the meat tacos I recommend trying the picadillo (seasoned minced meat and potatoes hash with a creamy green salsa, avocado, and cotija cheese) or the chorizo con papa (chorizo and potato with black beans, cotija cheese, and a semi-spicy salsa), as well as the chicharrón en salsa. Open 09:00-21:00 most days of the week but closes a little earlier Sunday and Monday.
20. Amorcita Gelato
📍Roma Norte. A lovely coffee and ice cream shop in Roma Norte. The coffee is great and the ice cream is top notch. I went for a pistachio affogato which was amazing.
21. Chucheria El Moro
📍Multiple Locations. A city favourite chain of churro spots. You’ll find the original location in Centro Historico. They also do a churro ice cream sandwich.
22. El Califa de León
📍San Rafael. Mexico City’s only taqueria with a Michelin Star (although it doesn’t really make sense how or why they were awarded it).
23. Tacos Don Güero
📍 Colonia Cuauhtémoc. A popular taco spot in Colonia Cuauhtémoc. The Al Pastor is good but the must try is the cheek and bistek tacos with cheese.
24. Pastelería Ideal
📍Centro Historico. Two locations. Go to the one on República de Uruguay 74 – it’s bigger and better. Walking into this patisserie you’ll be blown away by the choice. Open 05:00-20:00.
James Dimitri 