If you follow Rick on Twitter, you know that he’s always moving. He’s in Mexico several times a year, of course, but he’s also everywhere else: Tokyo, Paris, Istanbul, New York. He returns from these trips full of stories (and Instagram pics); find them below, and use them for inspiration for your next trip.
Just remember that where you stay is incredibly important. Traffic is legendary. Legendarily intense. Even a short distance can take 30-45 minutes to traverse. Many of these places are in La Roma/Condesa neighborhoods, things change constantly, so please check hours, etc before going. And keep up with other lists that are more frequently updated than this list.
MeroToro
Jair Tellez’s comfortable, medium-casual place, Baja cuisine (but no open flame, no big seafood focus). I’ve found it incredibly reliable.
Quintonil
Jorge Vallejo’s fine dining establishment. One of my favorite restaurants anywhere, not just Mexico. Strong modern kitchen. Most consider it the best fine-dining in the city.
Pujol
Enrique Olvera’s place has just moved and re-created itself, including an omakase “taco bar.” I haven’t been yet, but it seems like it is much less formal, much less tasting/fine dining.
Contramar
An all-time favorite, a true stand-out. In the old-fashion tradition, it opens at 1 pm and closes at 5 or 6, since the main meal of the day is traditionally eaten at around 2 or 3 pm. Seafood, including wonderful fish a la talla, ceviches, aguachiles, etc.
Casual atmosphere, but incredibly good, precise service.
Rosetta
This is Elena Reygadas’ restaurant that started off as completely Italian (made with a lot of local ingredients), but has now evolved to mostly contemporary Mejxican … with some Italian dishes. The last meal I had there was REALLY good. Her bread is impeccable, as are the very interesting desserts, many of which are available through the Panaderia (see below)
Máximo
Lalo Garcia’s bistro with a pretty modern American sensibility, but made with incredibly good local ingredients. Mexican touches, but not really a Mexican restaurant. But everyone loves it. It has moved recently and is much bigger than before
Lalo’s
Across the street from the old Máximo, this places is great for breakfast. Mostly modern Mexican breakfast but super laid back with great pastries. Open from early to late. Lots of pizza and pasta after 1 pm.
Panaderia Rosetta/Café Nim (the one on Havre in la Juarez)
This is one of my favorite places for breakfast. You can’t make resos, and the place is usually full; but the tables turn pretty fast. Famous for great pastries, but they have some other breakfast stuff. Inspired more by Italy than Mexico, but there are several great Mexican offerings.
Masala y Maiz
Very passionate cooking from a talented couple who met in San Francisco. Expression of her Mexico City heritage and his Indian/Kenyan roots. Highly recommended. More casual, but equally as good, MariGold by the same couple is in the nearby colonia of San Miguel Chapultepec
Fonda Fina
Very much a modern Mexican fonda. Traditional sauces, but modern plating in a very relaxed atmosphere. I’ve had some really good meals here.
La Docena
Though the menu ranges from poboys and burgers to great seafood, it’s the seafood this Guadalajara restaurant is famous for. Great bar, too. They arguably have the best oysters in town—get both the raw ones and the wood-grilled ones, especially when they have the oysters from San Blas. (Across the street is an outpost of my favorite churrería, El Moro. Don’t miss it. There’s also a branch in Mercado Roma.
Lardo
A lot of people are raving about this place from Elena Reygadas (the owner of Panaderia Rosetta and Rosetta high-end Italian restaurant). I like it, but am not sure that it’s as good as the hype. When Mexican flavors don’t appeal, this modern Italian offering can be good.
Cardenal
In the Centro Historico, this hundred-year-old place is best for breakfast. Really: The. Best. Breakfast. A great experience.
Mercado Roma
The high-end market experience with a few stalls from Mexico City chefs. Crowded, fun atmosphere. You can even get my favorite churros there (from El Moro, though the ones añ from the original in centro histórico are better). Montelobos/Ancho Reyes bar in the back, and beer hall on the top floor. Don’t miss the paletas in the back left corner.
Taquerias
I know that everyone thinks tacos are the be-all, end-all of Mexican cuisine these days, but I think of them like most Mexicans: a quick bite. That said, I love the tacos de guisados at Tacos Hola/El Güero in Condesa. Think of these are tapas, but served in a tortilla rather than on or with bread. Fancy grilled tacos can be had at El Califa, though I really prefer the ones across the way at Farolito. Some think those are both overrated, but I think the food is good. Truth be told, my favorite grilled tacos (tacos al carbon) are at Los Parados in Roma Sur; I LOVE the grilled poblanos with cheese and the lamb tripe cake machitos (don’t miss it). Meats seared on the griddle (tacos a la plancha), served in homemade tortillas with a huge amount of toppings, are great at Don Frank in close-by Colonia del Valle. For a crazy fun late night taco excursion, I’d go to Vilsito about 10 minutes further south into Colonia Navarte. You stand on the street and order from one of two huge trompos and it’s an amazing experience. The place is an auto shop in the day, a taqueria at night. I really love that place. If you are downtown (centro histórico) don’t miss Cocuyos for suadero tacos. This list could go on and on.
While you can enjoy MEZCAL lots of places (and well known mezcal bars are La Bótica, La Clandestina & Bósforo), Mezcaloteca Antolino (formerly Alipús Endémico) has been high on my list. They do make cocktails, but doing a tasting of mezcales is the way to go. (Just tasting mezcales in cocktails is like going to Scotland and only tasting Scotch cocktails). Antolín o also has Oaxacan food, which is quite delicious. A really good craft cocktail bar (the first one in CDMX, in fact) is Limontur in La Roma Norte. Hanky Panky, Baltraand Handshake are other very famous cocktail bars, with new ones emerging all the time.
If you’re looking for anything else in particular, please let me know. I could have written pages, so this is heavily edited.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
— William Churchill
Markets
While the Central de Abastos is wondrous and huge (and has great vegetables) the downtown market (two buildings: Benito Juarez and 20 de Noviembre) are great and more manageable. In the first building (mostly fruits, vegetables, meats, etc) are two prepared food stalls not to miss: Chaguita (100+ years) for agues frescas (try the horchata con tuna) and Chagüita (100+ years old) for nieves (almost granita-like ices). In the second building (20 de Noviembre), there are lots of pan de yema stalls (egg yolk bread) and prepared food stalls. Have breakfast/almuerzo at Abuelita (100+ years). Order enfrijoladas and chocolate de aqua with pan de yema for a traditional meal. Starting right at Abuelita is the Pasillo de Humo (Smoke Alley). don’t miss it. Walk yo the people with the vegetables and salsa and ask for a bunch of knob onions and a few fresh chiles de aqua. They will put them on a tray which you carry through the place looking at the meat vendors. You choose your meat from a vendor that catches your eye (most are about the same): tasajo (salted beef), cecina (chile-cured pork loin), chorizo. They charcoal-grill it (along with the onions and chiles). Return to the vegetable people who will find you a spot at the communal tables and prepare the onions and chiles. They’ll bring around the salsas and fresh garnishes and you choose what you want. A woman will come around with hand-made tortillas that may just be the best tortillas you’ve ever tasted. They are expensive and big, you need something to wrap everything in. They’ll ask about drinks. You tear up the grilled meat with your fingers, lay it on the tortillas, spoon on the salsa and such, roll it up and eat it. Incredibly memorable stuff. Walk out the back of this market and you’ll find the chocolate grinding street, where at places like the omni-present Mayordomo shops grind Mexican drinking chocolate on the spot and give you a taste of the still-warm deliciousness.
There is another, smaller market within walking distance, La Merced. La Güera’s stall makes these huge masa empanadas filled with everything from huitlacoche to squash blossoms and quesillo cheese. These can be mind-blowing. That market’s equivalent of Abuelita is really good, too,. That is, if nothing has changed.
Each town in the valleys has a different market day. All are different and interesting. If you’re there on a Sunday, Tlacolula is great (about 30-45 minutes outside town). It’s out by the weaving village, Teotitlan, which is really worth going to. If Tlamanalli is open, eat there.
Restaurants
Las Quince Letras
Doña Celia has what most would consider the best traditional restaurant in town. That doesn’t mean it’s stodgy! Great mole made from scratch, wonderful antojitos, carefully sourced ingredients. The beautiful big book she put together celebrating the Cocineras Traditcionales is a classic!
Danzantes
Owned by the Mezcal people (Danzantes and Alipus), designed by Alejandro Dacosta. One of the coolest rooms in town. Food is modern/traditional. Good. Good wine list of Mexican wines, too.
Criollo
Recently opened by a cook from Enrique Olvera’s Pujol in CDMX. Enrique is an investor. Tasting menu of traditional food done with finesse and precision. Good, but not as memorable as others.
Origen
Rodolfo Castellans won the first season of Top Chef Mexico and he’s a great cook. Ingredient and tradition focussed but plated in a modern way. Really good.
Casa Oaxaca: the grandfather of the modern Oaxaca movement. Deeply rooted cuisine that’s done with creativity and, for the most part, skill. Beautiful view of Santo Domingo from the second-story roof dining room. Some Oaxacans really like the Casa Oaxaca Reforma better, but it’s a good cab ride into the Colonia Reforma.
Pityona
Modern and focus on local product. Sit on the roof level of possible. I have had a number of great meals here. Good wine list, great cocktails.
La Teca
In a woman’s house in Colonia Reforma. Typical cuisine from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Only open in the day. Very homey and delicious.
Boulenc
a great bakery (mostly French) with a restaurant. I really like their pizzas (great crust, wood-burning oven). Decent cocktail program, too.
Zandunga
Also Tehantepec cuisine, but right in town. They have expanded, taking the old Biznaga space, and seem to be doing better than ever.
Sabina Sabe
Great cocktail program (on the 50 Bedt Latin American Bars list), good food that is mostly rooted in Oaxaca. Casual and fun atmosphere.
El Tendejón
Has a fun, modern vibe and good food and drinks. Lots of locals.
Tlayudas Libres
Only in the evening. The tlayudas are toasted right on the charcoal, brushed with crackling-rich lard. Same for the meats. Then everything is folded together with a drizzle of salsa and beans and cheese and maybe some other stuff. This is the most famous of Oaxaca’s most famous street food.
Bars
Oaxaca hasn’t been much of a cocktail culture until recently, but now Danzantes, Orígen, Boulenc, Destilado, La Selva & Sabina Sabe have great cocktails, though new places are opening all the time). People mostly drink mezcal neat.
To taste the best, geek-worthy mescals in Oaxaca, I have always recommended going to In Situ to taste small batch mescals collected from all over the state. (I’m not sure, but things seem to have changed here, so word of warning.) Super casual and a magnet for geeks who want to talk about the virtues of different agave varieties, different fermentation methods and tanks, clay v copper still distillation and aging.
If you want the geekiest of geeky experiences, make a reservation at Mezcaloteca (they only take a handful of people at at time), sit down at the bar and do a tasting. Bartenders speak a lot of (or native) English. They’ll give you the full delicious education. Totally worth it if mezcal is your thing. This place is mecca for mezcal aficionados.
El Destilado: co-owned by Jason Cox, owner of Cinco Sentidos Mezcal, this is a great place to taste small batch mezcal that never makes it to the States. Good cocktails, too. They have a dining room with good food.
There are a bunch of other, smaller tasting rooms that can offer great experiences too!
Other
While you’re there, don’t miss the botanical gardens behind Santo Domingo. They have English tours at certain times (just drop by or look on their web site for details). They have a huge section of endemic edibles.
Eating times. Almuerzo is typically between 10 and 12 (That’s when you should go to Abuelita). Restaurants open at 1, but don’t get busy until 2 or 2:30. Main eating time is around 3 for the main meal of the day. If restaurants open at night (the most traditional ones don’t), they will open around 7 or 8, but not get busy until around 9. I always make reservations at Danzantes, Criollo (it’s small) and Casa Oaxaca, just to make sure.
