20 Best Restaurants in Centro Histórico, Mexico City

An oasis in the middle of the chaos of Centro Histórico, you'll find excellent service and elegant versions of traditional Mexican dishes here. A variety of dishes from around the country are expertly prepared under the watchful eye of renowned chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita.

An essential, if touristy, breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack stop downtown, this Mexican classic opened in 1912 in a section of an old convent. At the entrance to the main dining room are huge 18th-century oil paintings depicting the invention of mole poblano, a complex sauce featuring a variety of chiles and chocolate that was created by the nuns in the Santa Rosa Convent in Puebla. A student group dressed in medieval capes and hats usually serenades diners Wednesday through Sunday afternoon.

For more than 60 years, the shop Aquí es Oaxaca has anchored this block of Calle Santísima that serves as Centro's unofficial Little Oaxaca, selling tamales as well as the mole pastes and cured meats known in the region. When visitors started asking for full meals, Casa Nela was born, and so up a distressingly narrow flight of spiral stairs you'll find Oaxacan classics served in surprisingly peaceful surroundings.

Centro's most famous tacos are available all day from this hole-in-the-wall puesto (stall), but are best experienced in the early hours of the morning after several rounds of beer. The tacos here are all beef and are small, so plan on trying at least three. The most famous is the braised suadero, but if you're feeling adventurous the taco de tripa (intestine) is really unmissable.

So named for its location blocking access to a narrow staircase, this tiny stall is known for its deep-fried quesadillas, a notch above others in the neighborhood. Be prepared for a line any time you visit.

Think of this as Mexico City's equivalent of your favorite all-day diner: open from 7 am to 4 am every day of the year, La Pagoda is the best of several (admittedly very similar) old school cafés lined up along the northern side of Avenida 5 de Mayo. The food is far from extraordinary, but the atmosphere is beyond charming, with its long bar and bright lights, service that borders on the maternal (expect to be called mi amor or mi vida at least once), solid breakfast dishes served all day, and a perfect café con leche to snap you out of a late-night or early-morning stupor.

An institution known for its classic Mexican cooking, today El Cardenal has locations all over the city, but the branch to try is on Calle Palma, in a three-story building in the florid style of the late 19th century. Inside, the atmosphere (think beige walls and white tablecloths) and food are old school; the best time to come is breakfast, when trays of pan dulces make for a pleasant prelude to eggs or chilaquiles. Another location in the neighborhood can be found at Marconi 2.

Open since 1955, Café Bagdad occupies a long narrow room in an 18th-century house on the Plaza de la Aguilita, one of several plazas in Centro's rundown and hectic but charming eastern side. Coffee beans are toasted and ground on-site and simple but hearty comida corrida (all-inclusive meals that include soup of the day, rice, beans, tortillas, and fruit juice) comes at an affordable MP80.

The oldest portions of this 16th-century mansion were built using stones torn down from the Templo Mayor, which lies just feet away. At lunchtime, you may want to reserve a table on the atmospheric second-floor terrace overlooking the Zócalo, cathedral, and national palace, or simply stop at the ground floor patio for a drink in the shade of the towering cathedral across the street. The menu is a mishmash of international (Cornish game hen) and Mexican (cilantro soup).

When Los Girasoles ("the sunflowers") opened more than 30 years ago in Centro, it became the first in a wave of modern Mexican restaurants to take on a neighborhood dominated by century-old classics. Now it remains a good place to sip a cold beer and enjoy pre-Hispanic delicacies like escamoles (ant eggs), gusanos de maguey (agave worms), and chapulines (fried grasshoppers). Set in a restored colonial home, its front patio has the best view around of one of the city's most grandiose plazas, its edges lined by extravagant belle epoque giants.

Just a handful of blocks from the entrance to La Merced, Roldán 37 may well be Centro's most surprising restaurant. Set over two floors in a 200-year-old house, the restaurant, run by chef Rómulo Mendoza, is an elegant oasis of high ceilings, French doors, and lovingly prepared family recipes, some drawn from Mendoza's grandmother's handwritten cookbook, which he keeps out of sight but on the premises. If you find yourself overwhelmed by the pace and crowds on this side of Centro, Roldán 37 is the place to stop for a bite and a breather.

In 1917, the Sanborn brothers took over the iconic Casa de los Azulejos building to expand their drugstore business and now the popular stores-cum-restaurants, owned by billionaire Carlos Slim, populate every major town in Mexico. The menu plays it safe with decent Mexican standards and international options like burgers, soups, and club sandwiches, but the long, winding counter is one of the best places around for a solo coffee and breakfast, while happy hour deals at the endearingly old-fashioned upstairs bar are hard to beat.

According to some food historians, tacos de canasta (literally "basket tacos") are the original taco and a street food par excellence as closely associated with the capital's unique culinary culture as tacos al pastor. Mostly made in the neighboring state of Tlaxcala and carried into the city in baskets (hence the name), tacos de canasta are cheap and tasty, slicked with fat and moisture from their journey, and stuffed with simple fillings like beans, potatoes, or chicken in adobo. You'll find tacos de canasta on just about every corner here, but Los Especiales, just off the Zócalo, is justly famous. Get in line, snag an order of five, chow down, and be on your way.

The restaurant attached to the culinary school at the Claustro Sor Juana is one of Centro's best-kept secrets and one of its few options for fine dining. The cooking here leans toward the traditional with well-executed moles and classic antojitos like corundas and gorditas, but the space, tucked inside the school's quiet campus, is old-world elegant and the service is impeccable.