Best Restaurants in Mexico City 2025
The food scene is Mexico City is booming in 2025. Restaurant experiences here compete at the top level alongside more well known culinary cities such as Paris, New York and Tokyo – and at prices that are 30% less. The chefs are offering bold innovation rooted in local tradition incorporating eco‑friendliness in settings of striking design. I spent time in Mexico City almost 20 years ago working with the great band Cafe Tacuba, and I had the pleasure of returning earlier this year to taste and experience the city. It is hard to fathom just how far restaurant quality has ascended in just two decades.
Pujols is the reigning king as the first to receive two Michelin stars, but today there is much more competition for the crown from Quintonil, also now with two-stars, and being the favorite of many (including me). Yet I believe the real creativity is happening in the smaller, chef-started eateries popping up all over the city. Here are my recommendations for your next visit:
– Jay Boberg
Esquina Común
Fernando Montes de Oca 86, Colonia Condesa, Cuauhtémoc, 06140
On the rooftop of a building in Condesa lies a gem. Chef Ana Dolores-González blends Mexican, Spanish and Peruvian influences for a stunning, reasonably portioned 6-course tasting menu that changes monthly. The restaurant is small (30 seats) and creates the open air ambiance of dining on your best friend’s terrace. Chef Ana’s partner, Carlos Péris Puelles, handles the front of house and curates the strong (for the region) wine list. This was my first visit and it was our best discovery of the trip. I have hopes of including Esquina Común in our ’26 slate of Chef Dinners at the winery – action speaks louder than words.
Contramar
Durango 200, Colonia Roma, Alcaldía Cuauhtémoc, CP. 06700
Far and away the best lunch in Mexico City is at Contramar – a seafood restaurant in Roma Norte launched back in 1998 by Gabriela Cómara. The restaurant is packed all day and all night but it is at lunch that the chic and the connected locals turn out in droves. I have had the joy of eating here several times across the years and it never disappoints. Chef Cómara stresses ultra fresh seafood sourced daily from coastal fisheries. The tuna tostada is the most famous dish and the Pescado a la Talla (butterflied whole fish) is my personal favorite. The chef created a red chili adobo rub and a green herb rub that are each spread on half the fish – just divine. You can buy the two rubs from the restaurant (I did) and transform your grilled fish at home. This place is not to be missed.
Masala & Maíz
C. Artículo 123 116, Colonia Centro, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06040
Mexican and Indian traditional cooking merge in an unlikely and completely successful way at this small, simple restaurant located in La Roma. The brainchild of Chef Elena Reygadas and Chefs Jorge and Maria José, their food combines Indian spices with Mexican ingredients to create a fusion food that is totally original. You will be surprised as each dish comes out from the kitchen. Be sure to order a bunch of things and share so you get to experience as much of the seasonal menu as possible. This was my favorite discovery from my last trip to Mexico City in 2022 and it has stood the test of time (and reservations are harder to get).
El Auténtico Pato Manila
Culiacan 91, Código 2, Hipódromo, Cuauhtémoc, 06100
Street food is a big thing in Mexico City. Everyone you meet offers up their favorite street taco stand along with stories about how they didn’t even get sick. I have avoided these taco stands based on my cost/benefit decision that it is not worth risking all of my dining on the trip just to taste a supposedly great taco stand. But there is an authentic – though different – street taco that you can try with impunity: a duck taco from El Auténtico Pato Manila. You say, What? A duck taco? Two versions of a street duck taco: the Taco Kim in the Peking duck style and the Taco Manila bringing the carnitas approach to duck. Located in the Colonia Hipódromo neighborhood this is a quick bite not to be missed.
Martinez
Puebla 90, Roma Nte., Cuauhtémoc, 06700
Michelin-starred Chef Lucho Martinez launched this new, elegant restaurant in Roma Norte last year. The food is refined and stylish – cooking at a very high level mixing a bit of Japanese and French influences in to his Mexican cuisine. It is one of the most beautiful and romantic restaurants I have been to in Mexico City with prices that are more than reasonable. It is quiet and conversations are possible – a somewhat unique attribute in Mexico City.