Mexico City Restaurants & Cuisine

Bon Appetit ranked it the top travel destination for food lovers in 2008. The New York Times food critic, Mark Bittman, has practically swooned over it. Saveur has done a cover feature on it, calling it “North America’s food capital.” And there’s an entire library with volumes of books dedicated to it in the Centro Histórico.

“It” is Mexico City, where the food scene is as vast, complex and exciting as the city itself. There are the street food stalls, of course, which have been serving up comida corrida (fast food) for decades: heaps of spicy, grill-cooked meat piled atop corn and flour tortillas, garnished with onions, peppers, cheeses and various salsas. Market food stalls have been around even longer, slow-cooking enormous clay pots of soups and stews for hungry workers taking their afternoon lunch break.

But increasingly, Mexico City is also a preferred destination for travelers with a taste for haute cuisine. This phenomenon should be little cause for wonder. Mexicans have some of the most diverse, adventurous palates in the world. Want proof? Just read the ingredients for mole, one of Mexico’s prized plates.

 

• Since Mexico grows the majority of the frush and vegetables that it consumes, fresh fruits and vegetables are easy to find.

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Fresh, Local Ingredients

Furthermore, Mexico produces the majority of food it consumes: vegetables like squash blossoms, zucchini, broccoli and an innumerable variety of chili peppers; fruits, including blueberries, strawberries and papaya; exotic meats, such as ostrich, wild boar, goat and venison, as well as locally raised beef, chicken and pork; and seafood—including jumbo shrimp larger than any you’ve ever seen—that rivals the best port cities.

Mexico also offers a whole range of regional, artisanal cheeses and some homegrown foods that are truly unique: chapulines (roasted grasshoppers) and worm’s eggs mixed with salt to rim cocktail glasses. There’s no lack of local ingredients to stir inventive chefs’ imaginations, and hungry diners are the beneficiaries of so much inventiveness.

Top Culinary Institutes

Mexico City is home to several culinary institutes, including an outpost of Le Cordon Bleu. In addition to turning out a bumper crop of domestic chefs each year, the capital consistently attracts top chefs from abroad, making Mexico City a competitive cooking scene and one of the most exciting food destinations on the planet. So how can you possibly choose from the thousands of options on your plate? The answer: Take advice from a local who has chewed her way around the capital.

Culinary Conventions

First, there are some cultural culinary conventions to learn to make your meal more memorable.

• Mexicans eat their main meal, the comida, in the afternoon, usually between 2 and 4 p.m. Restaurants that don’t serve breakfast are unlikely to open until noon or even a bit later, so time your own meals accordingly. This is a meal to be savored, not rushed, so be sure to block out some quality time for the table.
  

 

• For truly Mexican treat, try ‘chapulines’ (roasted grasshoppers), found at most markets.

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• Second, don’t hesitate to ask questions. Even if your Spanish is fluent, you’re likely to encounter words on menus that are totally unfamiliar; Mexico seems to have its own unique culinary lexicon, not only for dishes and ingredients, but also for cooking styles. In addition, Mexican food tends to be differentiated by region; the mole that’s made in the Puebla style is distinct from the mole made in the Oaxaca style.
  

Fortunately, Mexicans love to talk about food as much as they love to make it, eat it and share it, so you’ll not be at a loss for an enthusiastic local to decode the menu for you if you ask.

Next: Favorite Restaurants in Mexico City