Mexico City is a sprawling food paradise.
In this Mexico City travel guide for food lovers I’m going to share with you the best restaurants (mostly street food) that I tried during my visit.
Get ready for the most incredible Mexican food!
Food
NOTE: All these restaurants are featured in my Mexican food videos.
Without a doubt, Mexico City is among the greatest cities in the world for food.
However, the thought of navigating this gigantic congested city can be daunting.
But I’m here to tell you, in the week and a half I spent prowling the streets of Mexico City searching for tacos and other delicious things, I was pleasantly surprised at how friendly, clean, and even comfortable the city is (of course, it depends on the area of the city).
Along with feeling safe (I stayed in Roma Norte), the people I met and food I tasted will be something I remember forever.
Mexico City is a food paradise – you’ll find street food on nearly every corner of the city, and an endless quantity of restaurants serving regional Mexican food from every part of the country.
In this list of best restaurants, I only included places I tried and can recommend personally. Most of them are street food.
Videos
Most of the recommendations in this Mexican food guide are also included in my series of videos.
(Or you can watch them on YouTube here)
T-shirts available now!
El Vilsito
El Vilsito is one of the most famous taqueria’s in Mexico City for a reason – their Al Pastor is on another level. Marcos, the Al Pastor master, has been shaving meat off the trompo for over 18 years, and he’ll serve you one of the best tacos al pastor you’ll ever taste. I tried a Gringa, a flour tortilla with cheese, al pastor meat, and pineapple on top. It was a life-changer.
Address: Avenida Universidad, Narvarte Poniente, 03020 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Open hours: Monday – Thursday 8 pm – 3 am, Friday – Saturday 8 pm – 5 am, Sunday 4 pm – 12 am
Prices: Pastor – 16 MXN
Taqueria El Abanico
This is a Mexico City tacos institution that my buddy Lalo from La Ruta de la Garnacha took me to when we were on our ultimate tacos tour of Mexico City. While Taqueria El Abanico has the full works of different tacos, their carnitas are the best.
Address: Gutiérrez Nájera s/n, Tránsito, 06820 Cuauhtémoc, CDMX, Mexico
Open hours: 10 am – 6 pm daily
Prices: 20 MXN per giant carnitas taco
Taqueria Los Güeros
Yes, you will eat a lot of tacos when you’re in Mexico City, they never get boring. Taqueria Los Güeros again serves all sorts of tacos, but we tried their tacos de tripa, slow cooked pork intestines fried and sizzling on a tortilla. Amazing.
Address: Lorenzo Boturini No. 1702, Col:Aeronautica Militar, 15980 México, D.F. Mexico
Open hours: 11 am – 3 am daily
Prices: 13 MXN per taco
El Pescadito de Sonora
Originating from Hermosillo, in the northern state of Sonora, El Pescadito de Sonora is a Mexico City restaurant that serves some of the greatest fish and shrimp tacos you’ll ever taste. Get the tacotote, chili pepper, marlin, cheese, and shrimp.
Address: Calle Atlixco 38, Condesa, 06140 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Open hours: Monday – Friday 11 am – 6 pm, Saturday – Sunday 10 am – 6 pm
Prices: Monstrous tacos for 35 MXN
Tacos Los Juanes
This is a street food stall Lalo brought me for excellent tacos again. Their Al Pastor and their tacos de cabeza are the champs. A fantastic neighborhood street food tacos stall.
Address: On the corner of Guadalajara and Puebla streets, in Roma, Mexico City
Open hours: Sunday – Thursday 7 pm – 4 am, Friday – Saturday 7 pm – 6 am
Prices: 10 MXN per taco
Los Cocyuos
Located in the center of Mexico City, Los Cocyuos is a closet sized taco stall window. He serves a mix of different tacos including all sorts of cabeza and suadero. They are small in size, but delicious.
Address: Calle de Bolívar 54-56, Centro Histórico, Centro, 06000 Cuauhtémoc, CDMX, Mexico
Open hours: Monday – Friday 10 am – 5:45 pm, Saturday – Sunday 12 pm – 5:45 pm
Prices: About 17 MXN each
El Esquina de Chilaquiles
This legendary Mexican street food stall in Condesa serves tortas, sandwiches filled with fried chicken cutlets, chilaquiles, and loaded with salsa. It’s quite heavy to eat, but so good. I went with the salsa verde.
Address: Alfonso Reyes 139 Col. Condesa 06140 México, D.F. Mexico
Open hours: 8 am – 12 pm daily
Prices: 40 MXN
Mariscos Orizaba
This simple Mexican street food stall serves all sorts of mariscos. I tried a couple versions of their seafood tostadas, but after tasting their shrimp tostada, I was so happy, that I didn’t want to try anything else. Their shrimp tostadas are dream-worthy.
Address: Calle Liverpool 96, Juárez, 06600 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Open hours: Monday – Saturday 10 am – 7 pm
Prices: Depending on what you get, but about 30 – 40 MXN per tostada
Birria Estilo Jalisco
This is another awesome little Mexican street food spot, where lots of neighborhood locals are regular customers. The friendly owner makes Jalisco style birria, a meat stew that’s packed with flavor. Though often made with goat meat, he told me his version is with beef.
Address: Colima 171, Roma Nte., 06700 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico (Corner of Colima and Orizaba)
Open hours: About 12 noon – 7 pm
Prices: Depending if you get a bowl of birria or tacos, I ordered the bowl for 85 MXN
Tlacoyo and Quesadillas Colima
Walking around where I was staying in the Roma Norte district of Mexico City, this particular corner was always buzzing at lunch with customers ordering blue corn tlacoyos and quesadilla, as well as tacos de guisados. I don’t think you can order anything wrong here, but their tlacoyos are incredible.
Address: Colima 115, Roma Nte., 06700 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico (On the corner of Colima and Merida)
Open hours: About 10 am – 5 pm or so
Prices: 16 MXN
Mercado La Merced
One of the biggest and most vibrant central markets in Mexico City is Mercado La Merced, and you’ll find a bedazzling display of all things Mexican food. Take a walk in the food section for a culinary adventure that you’ll never forget.
Address: Calle Rosario s/n, Merced Balbuena, 15810 Venustiano Carranza, CDMX, Mexico
Open hours: Monday – Saturday 5 am – 7 pm, Sunday 6 am – 5 pm
Los Sifones
Thanks to Eater for this recommendation. Los Sifones is a real family style Mexican restaurant that serves outstanding food. I went there particularly to try their molcajete caliente, a stone mortar sizzling with meat, cheese, lava salsa, and avocado. It was a stunner.
Address: Av. Division del Nte. 2804, Parque San Andrés, 04040 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Open hours: Monday – Friday 1 pm – 12 am, Saturday – Sunday 10 am – 12 am
Prices: Expect to pay around 150 – 300 MXN per person
Churrería El Moro
Churrería El Moro is by all means the most famous place (maybe the best) to eat churros in the world. Yes, they were spectacular. And you can enjoy them 24 hours a day. I’m not big on sweets, but a few of their churros were irresistible.
Address: Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas 42, Centro, 06000 Cuauhtemoc, CDMX, Mexico
Open hours: 24 hours
Be sure to watch the full list of Mexico food videos here.
Accommodation
You have plenty of options when it comes to accommodation in Mexico City.
Since having a baby, my wife and I usually stick with apartment rentals, because we have more space. For our trip to Mexico City, I rented an apartment in Roma Norte on Airbnb (you can click this link to get $35 off your first booking), and we had a fantastic stay.
Roma Norte is a safe, trendy, and very pleasant to walk around, neighborhood in Mexico City, and it makes a perfect base. Read more about Roma Norte on my friend Jeremy’s blog.
Conclusion
When it comes to food, one of the greatest things about Mexico City is that you’ll find Mexican regional food from around the country.
From five star high end restaurants to family eateries to street food stalls on every block in the city, Mexico City is a food paradise.
I focused much of my time and stomach on street food in Mexico City, and I was happy and excited everyday.
Hope this Mexico City travel guide gives you some ideas about things you must-eat when you’re in Mexico City. Thank you for reading!
Camera gear I use: I filmed all the videos and photos using a LUMIX GH5and this main lens and microphone. You can see all my gear here.
T-shirts: T-shirts available in the store.