The Top 100 Restaurants Near El Califa de León
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Rank 1. El Califa de León
Mexican
A narrow counter in San Rafael has stood for fifty years, turning out tacos built on restraint: beef filet seared thin, salted and limed, folded into fresh corn tortillas. The pork chops and ribs rotate through with the same austere logic. Two house salsas complete a philosophy that says nothing should distract from the meat and fire.
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Rank 2. Tacos El Paisa
Mexican
A corner taqueria in San Rafael where the suadero—best ordered late, after hours of braising in its own fat—draws a crowd that eats standing up, perched on curbs and car hoods. The al pastor is reliable, and the small tacos demand quantity; aim for three or four per person. Efficient and perpetually festive.
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Rank 3. Masala y Maiz
Fusion
A cramped Centro dining room where Norma Listman and Saqib Keval splice Indian, African, and Mexican traditions into something genuinely new: samosas stuffed with suadero, Veracruz prawns grilled hard and finished with vanilla butter, chilpachole reimagined with softshell crab. The cooking is confident and unselfconscious, more interested in flavor than fusion credentials.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- MexBest 2025 · Best of the Best: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- MB100 2024 · Mexico's Best 100 Restaurants
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Rank 4. Pink Rambo
Contemporary
A muscular Jesus flexing above the kitchen sets the tone at this Santa María la Ribera cantina, where the cooking is just as irreverent as the décor. Empanadas, shrimp dumplings, fried chicken, and crispy oyster brioche tumble across a small-plates menu with genuine surprise in each bite; the tostadas are deceptively simple, the flan textbook-perfect. Personality without pretense.
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- MexBest 2025 · Mejor Experiencia de Vino: Ganador · Premios MexBest
- MexBest 2023 · Chef Promesa: Nominados · Premios MexBest · Fabiola Escobosa
- MexBest 2024 · Mejor Experiencia de Vino: Nominados · Premios MexBest
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Rank 6. Makan
Singaporean
- MexBest 2024 · Casual Dining: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- MB100 2024 · Mexico's Best 100 Restaurants
- Time Out The best restaurants in Mexico City
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Rank 7. Vacaciones
Italian
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Rank 8. Taverna
Mediterranean
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Rank 9. Supplì
Roman Italian
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Rank 10. BAJEL
Contemporary Mexican
Inside the Sofitel, Bajel pairs an open kitchen with tasting menus that merge French technique and Mexican ingredients, notably a 25-ingredient white mole. The dining room commands views of Reforma while the chef orchestrates both clarity and vegetarian refinement with equal precision.
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Rank 11. La Polar
Jalisco Mexican
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Rank 13. Lempicka Bistro
Mexican/French
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Rank 14. Ultramarinos De Mar
Seafood
A stainless-steel corner counter in Roma Norte where Chef Lucho Martinez's seafood menu spans raw preparations and pastas, anchored by a blue corn tostada with shrimp and a clam chowder that demands every spoonful. The lobster roll, when it appears, tastes like the work of someone who understands that restraint and quality catch make the argument better than flourish.
- MexBest 2025 · Casual Dining: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- MexBest 2024 · Mejor Restaurante Nuevo: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- MB100 2024 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
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Rank 15. Cananea
Sonoran Mexican
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Rank 16. Almara
Fusion Mexican
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Rank 19. Martínez
Contemporary
A small bistro named for its owner, Martínez channels Paris through Mexico City with a concise menu that moves between Mexican, French, and Japanese influences. Young and bustling, it's a place to order at the bar and watch the kitchen work while eating grilled chicken that lands.
- MexBest 2023 · Mejor Restaurante Nuevo: Ganador · Premios MexBest
- MexBest 2025 · Mejor servicio: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- MB100 2024 · Mexico's Best 100 Restaurants
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Rank 23. CANA
Contemporary Mexican
Natural light floods a modest dining room where contemporary Mexican cooking unfolds against crisp white walls and the gentle murmur of other tables. A menu that pivots on seasonal produce—from salt cod croquetas to duck breast with farro—suggests a kitchen more interested in clarity than grandeur.
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Rank 24. El Minutito
Italian-Inspired Wine Bar
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Rank 25. Maza Bistrot
Indian
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Rank 28. Havre 77
French
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Rank 29. Sarde
Contemporary
In a Roma Norte townhouse, Sarde pursues the sea with methodical care: kampachi and mackerel cut in the Japanese style, fish and chips remade with contemporary restraint. The exposed brick dining room and compact bar suggest a place more interested in the quality of what lands on your plate than in announcing itself, which is exactly the point.
- MexBest 2024 · Mejor Restaurante Nuevo: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- MB100 2024 · Mexico's Best 100 Restaurants
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 30. Rosetta
Creative Mexican
Elena Reygadas's Rosetta in Roma Norte draws crowds craving Mexican cooking remade through global technique—cabbage tacos with pistachio puree and a sweet potato tamal with buttermilk sauce exemplify her appetite for unlikely flavor pairings. Dishes arrive meant for sharing, each one a small argument about what Mexican food could become.
- 50 Best 2025 · #46 · The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- MexBest 2023 · Best of the Best: Nominados · Premios MexBest
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Rank 33. Máximo
French-influenced Mexican
Chef Eduardo Garcia's French-inflected Mexican cooking unfolds in a soaring Roma Norte space of white brick and tile, where a tasting menu pivots between caviar-topped beet tartare and abalone tostada with restraint and creativity. Desserts like black truffle ice cream and caviar flan signal a kitchen unafraid of savory flourishes.
- MB100 2024 · Restaurant of the Year
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- 50 Best 2025 · #30 · Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants
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Rank 35. Sartoria
Italian
Sartoria's industrial space fills nightly with young couples drawn to carefully plated Italian pastas, especially delicate tortellacci crowned with creamy burrata. The modest menu prizes ingredient quality over ambition, finishing reliably with tiramisu.
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Rank 36. Contramar
Seafood
A busy Roma street hosts this seafood-focused restaurant where chef Gabriela Cámara has maintained momentum since 1998. Raw scallop tostadas in salsa macha and pulpo a la Gallega—octopus with potato, olive oil, paprika—set the table before pescado a talla, its dual-sided spice rubs marking the kitchen's signature approach. The dessert trolley rounds out a meal that demands reservations.
- MexBest 2025 · Mejor Trayectoria Empresarial: Nominados · Premios MexBest · Gabriela Cámara
- MexBest 2023 · Mejor Servicio: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- MB100 2024 · The 35 Classic Restauraunts
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Rank 37. Em
Contemporary Mexican
An intimate ground-floor room where Chef Lucho Martinez treats Mexican seafood and produce with contemporary refinement: young corn grilled and dressed in coffee-browned butter and yuzu, a tostada layered with Veracruz fish stew and caviar, a mamey dessert composed as Swiss roll and frozen tartlet. Bold flavors arrive with precision, the kind of cooking that rewards a quiet evening for two.
- MexBest 2024 · Fine Dining (Menú Degustación): Ganador · Premios MexBest
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- MexBest 2025 · Fine Dining: Nominados · Premios MexBest
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Rank 38. Pujol
Mexican
Enrique Olvera's kitchen marries Mexican tradition with restless invention through a seasonal tasting menu that builds toward mole madre, a dish of historical weight. Sharp service and a curated wine list of regional producers complete the experience in this polished, perpetually animated room.
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Rank 39. Limosneros
Mexican
In the Centro Histórico, amid salvaged fountains and Puebla talavera, Limosneros resurrects old recipes with contemporary restraint. The tasting menu moves through precisely executed dishes that honor tradition without genuflection; the taco progression—savory through sweet—is the more adventurous choice for those willing to follow the kitchen's logic.
- MB100 2024 · Mexico's Best 100 Restaurants
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Condé Nast Traveler The 36 Best Restaurants in Mexico City
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Rank 40. Restaurante Danubio
Basque Seafood
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Rank 42. La 89
Mexican
A narrow taquería on a Roma Norte side street where carne asada hits the grill to order, emerging with a dark crust and restrained seasoning. Quesabirria arrives crisp-edged and tender, the consommé optional but welcome; tortas are built with equal care on bread that tastes like it matters. Plastic stools and a no-frills room mean you're here for the work, not the comfort.
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Rank 44. Siembra
Modern Mexican
- MexBest 2025 · Experiencia de maíz: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- MB100 2024 · Mexico's Best 100 Restaurants
- Time Out The best restaurants in Mexico City
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Rank 46. Propio
Northern Mexican
- MexBest 2025 · Chef Promesa: Nominados · Premios MexBest · Shary Romo y Alex Chávez
- MB100 2024 · Emerging Chefs of the Year · Alex Chavez y Shary Romo
- MB100 2024 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
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Rank 47. Tenampa
Mexican
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Rank 48. KillBill Sushi
Sushi
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Rank 51. La Opera
Global
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Rank 53. Los Panchos
Mexican
- MexBest 2024 · Mejor Taquería: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- The Infatuation 21 Classic Restaurants in Mexico City
- The Infatuation The Best Tacos in Mexico City
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Rank 54. Taqueria Los Cocuyos
Mexican
At a cauldron near the front counter, a chef breaks down meat with balletic efficiency as the dining room—cavernous and perpetually packed—fills with the smell of decades-old cooking. Cabeza arrives tender enough to melt, al pastor charred and alive, both finished tableside with lime and salsa; suadero, if you arrive late enough to catch it properly braised, is reason alone to stay.
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Rank 55. Ricos Tacos Toluca
Mexican
A cramped corner counter in the Centro Histórico where Toluca-style chorizo—handmade, variable—takes center stage: the obispo sausage arrives with a whisper of char, the tamarindo chorizo with diced texture and subtle sweetness. Few seats mean standing, but two decades of relocation prove the tacos are worth it.
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- MexBest 2023 · Casual Dining: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- MB100 2024 · Mexico's Best 100 Restaurants
- Condé Nast Traveler The 36 Best Restaurants in Mexico City
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Rank 57. Restaurante El Cardenal
Mexican
- MexBest 2024 · Mejor Trayectoria Empresarial: Nominados · Premios MexBest · Marcela Briz
- MB100 2024 · The 35 Classic Restauraunts
- The Infatuation 21 Classic Restaurants in Mexico City
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Rank 58. Galea
Italian
A corner room lined in warm wood, softened by terra-cotta light and the murmur of neighborhood regulars. Galea's Italian menu stays lean—focaccia, handmade pastas offered in half portions, a daily fish in beurre blanc—but each dish carries intention. The panna cotta arrives with a subtle Mexican touch, a small gesture that defines the place: rooted in tradition, alert to where it is.
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Rank 59. Pizza Félix
Neapolitan Pizza
- MexBest El conteo definitivo: Las mejores 6 pizzerías de la CDMX
- Condé Nast Traveler The 36 Best Restaurants in Mexico City
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Rank 60. Chuan Bai Wei
Sichuan Chinese
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- MexBest 2024 · Casual Dining: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- MexBest Dónde comer los mejores mariscos en México
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Rank 62. Marisquería Mi Compa Chava
Pacific Mexican
- MexBest Dónde comer los mejores mariscos en México
- MB100 2024 · Mexico's Best 100 Restaurants
- Condé Nast Traveler The 36 Best Restaurants in Mexico City
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Rank 63. Esquina Común
Mexican
A rooftop in Condesa draped in greenery hosts Chef Ana Dolores González's tasting menu, plated for two with confident technique and personality. The daily fish arrives in green mole with plantain and fava beans; a masa tamal harbors chile-tinged fish with salsa macha. Reservations demand persistence.
- MexBest 2024 · Chef Promesa: Ganador · Premios MexBest · Ana Dolores González
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- MexBest 2025 · Casual Dining: Nominados · Premios MexBest
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Rank 64. Baldío
Mexican
Chef Max MacLean's zero-waste kitchen in Condesa sources from chinampas farms and local fisheries, purifies its own water, and prints on recycled corn husks—but the cooking is what commands attention. Fluke crudo arrives shingled with jicama and star fruit in leche de tigre; heirloom tomatoes meet sikil pak, a Yucatán sauce of toasted pepitas and charred chiles.
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Restaurant Bar – Latin America & Caribbean
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Mexico City
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Rank 65. Lorea
Mexican
A quiet, multilevel room of pale wood and clean lines in Roma Norte where Chef Oswaldo Oliva channels his Spanish past through a single seasonal tasting menu that borrows from Mexico but roams further afield—fried chilies stuffed with eggplant and blue cheese, baby corn in cream with caviar. The counter seat, overlooking an immaculate kitchen, is where the evening reveals itself most clearly.
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Rank 66. Tacos Del Valle
Mexican
A retro diner setup of bar stools and mirrors frames this Roma Norte taqueria's straightforward mission: meat cooked on the trompo, spun near open flame until charred outside and tender within, then plated on corn tortillas for you to dress with three salsas in squeeze bottles. Other tacos arrive more elaborately garnished, but the stripped-down versions reveal the craft.
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Rank 68. Gonzalitos
Northern-style Mexican
In a modest storefront on Calle de Colima, this taqueria executes northern Mexican technique with precision: beef barbacoa arrives juicy and deeply flavored, best ordered dorado-style in a crisped tortilla, though machacado con huevo and tempura chile rellenos prove equally assured. Diners perch at sidewalk counter or cramped indoor tables, watching the small kitchen work.
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Rank 69. Maizajo
Mexican
Upstairs from a standing-room taqueria, Maizajo's dining room pairs industrial chic—I-beams and rebar furniture—with Santiago Muñoz Moctezuma's precise corn cookery, announced by house tostadas and habanero salsa. A blue corn tostada crowned with tuna and black sesame oil sits alongside a poblano tamal sweet with achiote and stewed greens, each plate revealing the grammar of the kernel.
- Condé Nast Traveler 2024 · The best new restaurants in the world
- MexBest 2025 · Mejor Taquería: Ganador · Premios MexBest
- MexBest 2024 · Chef promesa: Nominados · Premios MexBest · Santiago Muñóz
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Rank 70. Castacán
Mexican
In a Roma Norte dining room where the kitchen speaks one language, the staff another, pork dominates with purpose. Cochinita pibil and lechon tacos—one slow-marinated and shredded, the other studded with crackling skin—arrive on proper tortillas with a arsenal of salsas ranging from habanero heat to sesame-tinged restraint. This is cooking that knows what it wants.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Mexico City
- The Infatuation The Best Tacos in Mexico City
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Rank 71. El Tigrillo
Cocktail Bar
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Rank 72. Nicos
Mexican
From a soda stand to Michelin recognition, Nicos serves the founder's son's interpretation of classic Mexican cooking with precision and warmth. Crispy cecina tacos and bright tamarind shrimp exemplify his gift for extracting maximum flavor from elemental ingredients.
- 50 Best 2025 · #84 · Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants
- MB100 2024 · The 35 Classic Restauraunts
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 74. Campobaja
Seafood
Warehouse-high ceilings and timber salvaged from fishing boats set the stage at this Roma Norte seafood restaurant, where Chef Alejandro Zarate channels the straightforward cooking of Ensenada's fish camps. Impeccably sourced catches move through ceviches, aguachiles, and grilled octopus—dishes built for sharing, stripped of pretense, anchored by ingredient quality alone.
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Rank 75. Bella Aurora
Contemporary Italian
A pink-fronted Roman-style trattoria in Roma Norte, Bella Aurora moves gracefully from morning pastries through lunch and dinner without fuss or affectation. Octopus arrives lightly pickled with potato, while conchiglie with tuna ragù, chili, and Kalamata olives shows genuine care in execution. The tiramisu alone justifies lingering over dessert.
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Rank 76. Hugo
Contemporary
A shaded terrace on Roma Norte draws a steady crowd to this wine bar where the bottles matter less than what lands on your plate. The bistro menu favors clean presentations and quality ingredients treated with restraint, letting traditional flavors speak without contemporary affectation. You'll return for the ease of it.
- MexBest 2023 · Chef Promesa: Nominados · Premios MexBest · Michael Crespo
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants in Mexico City
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Rank 77. Meroma
Contemporary
At Meroma in Roma Norte, Mercedes Bernal and Rodney Cusic craft a cosmopolitan menu that moves fluently between Mexican, Italian, and Mediterranean idioms. House-made pasta, tempura zucchini flowers with parmesan, and grilled fish dressed in hoja santa and black sesame read as essays in ingredient quality and precise technique. The sleek dining room matches the ambition on the plate.
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Rank 80. Gaba
Innovative Mexican
A Condesa café that transforms at night: bare concrete and brick give way to Chef Victor Toriz's inventive cooking, where crispy tripe meets Ocosingo cheese and roasted beet, sweetbreads nestle into chileatole cream. Seasonal plates arrive in sharable portions, bold yet approachable, paired with house cocktails and a discerning wine list—the formula of a place that knows how to stay full.
- MexBest 2025 · Chef Promesa: Ganador · Premios MexBest · Víctor Toriz
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Mexico City
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- MexBest 2025 · Mejor Panadería: Ganador · Premios MexBest
- MexBest 2024 · Mejor Panadería: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- MexBest Sándwiches en pan de la casa · Los mejores sándwiches en CDMX: dónde comerlos ahora mismo
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Rank 82. Azul
Mexican
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- Condé Nast Traveler 2024 · The best new restaurants in the world
- MexBest 2025 · Mejor Restaurante Nuevo: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- MB100 2024 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
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Rank 85. MeroToro
Baja Mexican
A tree-lined corner in Condesa where Chef Jair Téllez plates the straightforward pleasures of Baja—ceviche tostadas, soft-shell crab, braised oxtail—in a dining room whose contemporary warmth matches its ambition. The cooking asks nothing of you but attention, and gives back clarity.
- MexBest 2025 · Mejor Trayectoria Empresarial: Nominados · Premios MexBest · Jair Téllez
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants in Mexico City
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Rank 86. Çuina
Mexican
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Rank 87. Siembra Tortillería
Modern Mexican
A sidewalk operation in Polanco where Karina Mejía and Israel Montero turn heirloom corn tortillas into vehicles for charred fish al pastor and arrachera crowned with crispy potatoes. The kitchen moves fast and portions run generous, which explains why the counter stays crowded and the tacos disappear quickly.
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Rank 88. Expendio de Maíz
Mexican
A cramped sidewalk kitchen in Roma Norte where heirloom corn, nixtamalized in-house, becomes tortillas and sopes molded to order and dressed with seasonal ingredients and tableside salsas that crackle with heat. Four communal tables, no menu, cash only, and a waitlist that forms immediately—a place where the cook decides what you eat, and you're better for it.
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Rank 89. LINA
Contemporary Mexican
Chef Mariana Villegas Martínez works an open kitchen in this Roma Norte seafront, where contemporary Mexican cooking emerges from seasonal ingredients and careful technique rather than flourish. A charred squash with smoky pine nut sauce and chicken with roasted peaches and mole coloradito show the thoughtfulness beneath the straightforward plating. Warmth runs through both the room and the plate.
- MexBest 2024 · Chef promesa: Nominados · Premios MexBest · Mariana Villegas
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Time Out The best restaurants in Mexico City
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Rank 92. Jowong
Korean
Jowong's streamlined Korean cooking unfolds across seafoam-green banquettes with vibrant banchan and tableside prime-rib barbecue that speaks for itself. The gimbap and banana cake show the same meticulous care that defines every plate.
- MexBest 2024 · Mejor Restaurante Nuevo: Ganador · Premios MexBest
- MexBest 2024 · Mejor Bartender: Nominados · Premios MexBest · Jun Kwon
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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Chef Ana Somsri Raksamran's courtyard restaurant, sheltered by bamboo and hanging vines, delivers regionally varied Thai cooking with herbs harvested to order. The gaeng kiew wan arrives bright and herbaceous; the mango sticky rice with coconut ice cream justifies the pilgrimage alone.
- MB100 2024 · Mexico's Best 100 Restaurants
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Condé Nast Traveler The 36 Best Restaurants in Mexico City
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Rank 94. Aleli Rooftop
Mexican
A rooftop in Roma Norte where smoke from the open grill drifts through the evening air. Aleli keeps its traditional Mexican menu focused—brocheta de camarón, zarandeado fish, charred potato bread—letting quality ingredients and careful technique speak. Perch at the bar to watch the cook work, order a cocktail, and find yourself pleased by both the food and what you're paying for it.
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Rank 95. Ardente Pizzeria Napoletana (Condesa)
Neapolitan Pizza
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Rank 96. The Lamb
British
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- MexBest El Rubén · Los mejores sándwiches en CDMX: dónde comerlos ahora mismo
- MexBest BLT · Los mejores sándwiches en CDMX: dónde comerlos ahora mismo
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Rank 99. La Cocina del Bizco
Spanish
- MexBest 2025 · Casual Dining: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- Time Out The best restaurants in Mexico City
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- MexBest 2025 · Mejor Wine Bar: Nominados · Premios MexBest
- The Infatuation The Best Bars in Mexico City