Mexico City is my favourite place to go on vacation. It feels like that perfect blend of relaxation, city life and best of all: great food! It is home to some of the best restaurants in North America! If you’re looking for something new to try in Mexico City that offers your Instagram feed the perfect smorgasbord of scenery, tastes, and textures – this list has got you covered!
Filigrana is my new favourite brunch spot so I had to update this list to feature it. Walking inside, you are immediately in awe of the environment. The glass walls allow the beautiful morning sun to filter in, creating rainbows of light on the floor. You are immediately greeted by friendly servers and before you’ve ever ordered are brought over to their pastry tray with some of the most inventive and delicious pastries! I had to try at least one even though I knew more food was on the way. Filigrana specialized in Mexican fusion with dishes that combine a variety of different cultures. The tortillas served alongside your meal are made literally on sight and you can see the tortillas makers around the corner from the washroom for some in-house entertainment.
Be sure to sample the licuado de mamey, which is a smoothie made with the Mexican native mamey fruit! So creamy and delicious. For your meal I recommend highly the tostadas, chilaquiles and, of course, some delicious freshly made guacamole served with their fresh tortillas. What is so convenient about Filigrana is the fact you can make easy reservations in advance on Opentable. Especially if you’re visiting on a weekend with a larger group reservations are absolutely mandatory! But they’re not too hard to find if you book up well enough in advance.
Panadería Rosetta is a café that combines the best of French and European traditions with Mexican ones. The café offers a daily selection of bread, so depending on what day you come by, there is always something extra special to try. They offer both sweet and savoury bread as well as sandwiches, cakes, muffins and more! Everything hidden away in their little glass cases is to die for. Their baked good are so delicious in fact that this bakery delivers their goods to dozens of cafes around town. But I like coming right to the source!
While they have some table service, I love coming to Panadería Rosetta to stock up on various treats and then carry them over to a nearby park to enjoy my spread. Mexico City is home to a plethora of public parks, and they make the perfect spot for a morning picnic! I love nothing more than Sunday brunch in the park as Sunday is when everyone brings out their dogs to play. It’s so much fun to just sit back and watch the adorable little pups playing.
Restaurante El Cardenal is an institution in Mexico City with multiple different locations. The San Ángel location is their newest expansion, and it’s by far my favourite location! El Cardenal was founded in 1969, and the family founders wanted to bring their love of traditional Mexican cuisine to an upscale setting. One of the most luxurious parts of dining inside El Cardenal in San Ángel is the gorgeous architecture. The restaurant is set inside an old colonial mansion. The stained glass windows and gleaming wood floors make just sitting inside such a joy to experience.
To start the perfect breakfast, begin with hot chocolate, not coffee! Their unique hot chocolate is made with famous Doña Oliva chocolate and is like drinking a cup of history. Hot chocolate originated in Mexico and was an essential part of the Aztec culture from 1400 AD. My favourite part about the experience of eating here was the pastry tray. When you come inside a waiter brings you over an enormous tray of sweet pastries. And you can choose, with your own eyes, which pastry you’d want to start off the meal right with.
Another traditional breakfast dish you’ll only find in Mexico is the Egg omelette with escamoles. Escamoles are colloquially called “Mexican caviar,” and are edible ant larvae. Escamoles have been consumed in Mexico since the age of the Aztecs and are high in nutritional value. It’s definitely one of the most unique and classic dishes on the menu. But if that’s not your thing they have many other traditional options for those who aren’t that adventurous.
La Güera Tortas de Chilaquiles is one of those local hot spots that is finally getting its due with the international crowds. But sadly, this means the secret is out, and you NEED to get here early for a chance at these fantastic sandwiches. This popup street food stand is set up every morning on the corner of Tamaulipas and Alfonso Reyes in La Condesa. We stumbled upon this place as it was only a few blocks away from our hotel. One piece of advice I almost always follow when travelling is that when you see line up for food, get in line. Especially if the people in line are locals. And I wasn’t disappointed.
A tortas de chilaquiles is a massive breakfast sandwich made to order. When you approach the table their little makeshift assembly line will get to work putting together your sandwich. Inside that perfectly crispy yet pillowy-soft bun are huge handfuls of shredded chicken, fried chicken cutlet, or cochinita pibil (pork). When they ask which meat you want, just point if you don’t know what they’re called. And honestly, it’s all delicious but my preference is always the pibil. On top of the meat, they will slather a layer of crema, crumbled queso fresco, onions and spicy peppers. All for only 35 PESOS!!! That’s less than $2! And the sandwich is enormous, I almost always split the order with my husband.
The only caveat? If you plan to come here on the weekend, be prepared to line up early (like 7 am early). Although the stand won’t start serving until 8am, you’ll see the line before you arrive and you’ll just have to wait patiently. I try to come on the weekdays when things are a little slower.
Cafe De Tacuba is a slice of history carved into the fabric of the Historic District. The café tends to get extremely busy during brunch hours, but it’s worth the wait if you want to try their honey and caramel-layered pancakes with cinnamon. Café de Tacuba has been a hot spot here in the Historic District since 1912. The restaurant gained real notoriety in 1922 when Diego Rivera held his wedding reception to novelist Guadalupe Marín here. Sadly, Rivera would divorce Marín and marry one of the most famous Mexican artists, Frida Khalo. Another notable event that took place here was the assassination of the local governor of Veracruz, Manlio Fabio Altamirano Flores. You might think such an event would put people off, but it only increased the draw.
But it’s not just the history that brings people here. Aside from the fantastic food is the incredible interior design. The interior is covered in fantastical paintings from the pre-Hispanic period. Vibrant mosaics and stained glass windows encircling the space make you feel like dining inside a museum. It’s truly a joy to eat here!
If you want to go to brunch and be guaranteed a smile, then you must visit Lalo! Lalo! is another popular brunch spot located in the Roma neighbourhood. Lalo! is the nickname of the owner and acclaimed chef Eduardo Garcia. Brunch is bustling here, so be prepared to wait a while to get a table but trust me, it’s worth it
Painted on the cafe walls are these incredible colourful, feel-good drawings by Belgian graffiti artist Blue Warrior. They say you eat with your eyes, and being surrounded by these positive and happy-inducing images; you can’t help but eat while filled with pure joy. The most popular items on the menu are their huevos con chorizo and the Huevos fritos con salsa ranchera.
If you’re looking for an uncomplicated yet authentic brunch inside one of the most lively markets, you need to make your way over to Mercado Medellín. The Colonia Roma neighbourhood is also known as “Little Havana” because of the large number of Cuban and Latin American immigrants that live in the area. With this comes an incredible selection of coffee. Inside the market, there are a few different coffee vendors selling the beans and crafting expertly brewed cups of coffee.
On Saturday and Sunday mornings, this market is flush with locals buying food for the week. Fresh fruit and veggie stalls are overflowing with incredible finds in as many colours as the rainbow. There are over 500 stalls in total that sprawl over the vast city block-sized marketplace. Towards the back of the market, past the vendors, you’ll find the food court. The food court is as uncomplicated as you can get, but you’ll have the chance to eat a real typical Mexican breakfast. This includes many dishes with eggs, like Huevos Rancheros, eggs in salsa, eggs with chorizo, chilaquiles, and breakfast tacos. Don’t be scared; the food here is fantastic, not everything has to be posh and pristine. The tacos I had from the ladies cooking on the sidewalk right outside the market were honestly the best breakfast tacos I’ve had in my entire life!
Los Amantes Café & Bistro in Coyoacan is a little out of the way if you’re staying in the centre city, but WELL worth the effort to get out there. PLUS, I always recommend spending at least a half-day in the beautiful and colourful neighbourhood of Coyoacan so you can make the most of your trip over here. Situated inside a quaint and cozy corner of Coyoacan, Los Amantes cafe is another tribute to talented grandmothers. The chef’s grandmother taught her as a young child all about the virtues of each ingredient and how to mix them to create the perfect harmony of sweet, savoury and sensational!
Their brunch menu is super trendy and primarily consists of different kinds of bread typically served with local fresh fruits, preserves and cheeses—each item complimenting the next. There were so many fruits I didn’t even recognize, and it was a joy to experience the menu without asking any questions until I was finished! It turns out the Mamey fruit is my new favourite treat!
Lardo is a beautiful brunch spot in the La Condesa neighbourhood. It’s located inside the old apartment buildings built by THE Condesa that the district is named after. I love how the restaurants are almost hidden away behind the crawling plants that cover the facade of the building. This area of town is so busy on the weekend, and the ambience outside the restaurant is just intoxicating. The menu features hip Mexican-European fusion food, which is as delicious to eat as it is mesmerizing to look at.
Don’t leave without trying the Fried egg, chile con carne and avocado. The Mexican deconstructed version of avocado toast. My husband is obsessed with their selection of granola, and their baked granola served with red berries, and almond milk is a playful take on cereal. Reservations are recommended at this place since it’s one of the most popular spots in Condesa.
Pastelería Ideal, located in the heart of the Historic Centre, is a local haunt where you’ll find people clamouring to buy up everything for their sweet tooth! This bakery is so famous that you might have even seen its iconic blue and white pastry boxes all over the city. Many business and cafes buy up their daily pastries from this shop every morning.
The bakery was founded in 1927 and has been opened in this very spot ever since. They have since opened up three other locations, but this is the original. This bakery has everything from traditional Mexican bread and pastries, cakes and cookies to Parisian puff pastry, viennoiseries, and more! All of this is served up on huge platters towering with treats. Just grab a try and use the tongs provided to serve yourself up some pastries. Once you’re done piling up (they make great breakfast pastries, too), take your collection to the counter. There they will pack them up for you and give you a ticket to pay. After you’ve paid, they’ll wrap your baked good, all perfectly wrapped up to go. Enjoy them back at your hotel or over in the famous Alameda Park!
I hope you enjoyed this list of my favourite exciting, hip and delicious brunch spot in Mexico City. Hopefully, you manage to make your way out to visit a few of them on your next trip to Mexico City. Let me know in the comment if you have any other favourite spots that you never skip when visiting CDMX!
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