Restaurants
My Top Eleven Favorites
Distances are from our apartment at Zacatecas 173, Roma Norte.
- Máximo (modern international, culinary, Michelin star, 8 blocks away)
- Yakumanka (bistro from Peru’s most famous chef, two blocks away)
- Azul Histórico (upscale Mexican traditional, downtown/Centro Histórico)
- Sud 777 (modern international chef-driven, southern Mexico City)
- Galanga (extraordinary Thai, 4 blocks away)
- Huset (international/chef/Mexican touches in modern courtyard of an old Roma mansion)
- Mi Compa Chava (energetic mariscos place, across the street)
- El Califa (tacos till 3:30 AM! 3 blocks away)
- Lalo! (osteria – fresh pasta and Roman-style pizza, in the building!)
- El Cardenal downtown for traditional breakfast
- Sartoria – Italian in Roma
Mealtimes and reservations
An asterisk and capitals mark my top top favorites. “Our house” refers to Zacatecas 173, Roma Norte.
The main mealtime (comida) is 2–4 PM; dinner is usually later, 9–10 PM. Breakfast is served until 1 PM, and lunch/dinner dishes can usually only be had after 1:30 or even 2 PM. I find it more fun to adjust to the Mexican times, but up to you! For busy places, if you don’t manage to get a reservation on OpenTable you can show up at 1:30 PM and hopefully grab a table before it gets busy; same for dinner, you can try showing up at 7 PM… but for example Máximo gets full of foreigners who have dinner earlier, so you can’t necessarily squeeze in there.
My favorites in each area are at the top of that area’s restaurant list.
Restaurants by area
The full lists are on each neighborhood’s page: Centro Histórico · Roma, Condesa & Juárez · Polanco & Lomas · Santa Fe · the South · Santa María la Ribera & San Rafael · Far North.
Places recognized by outside guides are marked in brackets:
- Michelin – Michelin Guide Mexico 2026: 2 stars, 1 star, Bib Gourmand (very good food at moderate prices), or selected (recommended, no star)
- Time Out – Time Out’s list of the best restaurants in Mexico City
- 50 Best – Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025, with rank
- Eater 38 – Eater’s 38 best restaurants in Mexico City
- Dua Lipa’s list – her Mexico City list on Google Maps
Everything else is my own pick. An asterisk and capitals mark my top favorites.
Map pin colors: 🔴 Michelin star · 🟠 Bib Gourmand · 🟣 Michelin selected · 🔵 my own pick · 🟢 Time Out. A place on more than one list gets the color of the highest one. Tap or click a pin for the details; the numbers match the lists.