56 Best Restaurants in Roma, Mexico City

This old-time cantina a block from the eastern edge of Roma opened in 1950 and continues to attract crowds of both locals and tourists-in-the-know. There's nothing fancy about the brightly lit dining room, but the authentic Spanish food is up there with the best in the city and includes slow-cooked octopus, chorizo with cabrales cheese, Spanish omelets with asparagus, and chamorro (a fall-off-the-bone pork shank braised in a heady achiote sauce).

This fashionably casual spot owned by the talented chefs at neighboring Marmota is a great option for anything from sipping espresso drinks while you work to noshing on creative Mediterranean-meets-Pacific Northwest bar snacks while you mingle with friends. Highlights from the kitchen include house-made potato chips with creme fraiche and caviar, one of the best Caesar salads in town, Portuguese tinned sardines, burrata with figs and tomatoes, and a selection of cheeses with figs and honey.

When you're seeking a calm break from the bustle of the big city, have a seat in this dainty and diminutive tearoom with white painted walls, a brick ceiling, and shelves piled high with beautiful teacups, kettles, and bins of tea. You'll find an impressive array of tea blends as well as yerba mate, and a staff who prepares every drink with great care—in fact, the shop offers classes in tea tasting.

For all the buzzy seafood restaurants in Roma, not one serves a better aguachile than this casual, affordable spot decorated like an old fishing shanty, with mermaid wall sconces, mounted fish, and seaside bric-a-brac. Everything here—including fish-and-chips, smoked-marlin tostadas, octopus-chorizo tacos, and salmon burgers—is fresh and boldly flavored, and you can add even more spice by choosing a few salsas from the extensive condiment bar (some of these are muy picantes, so ask for advice if you're wary).

This festive and always packed spot has been a mainstay for sweet tooths since 1935. The best plan is to share an order or two of long, crispy churros with at least two dipping sauces (condensed milk, chocolate, and—maybe the best—cajeta are your options), along with a churro ice-cream sandwich. The interior has white-tile walls with intricate blue patterns, simple light-wood tables, and bright lighting. There are milk shakes and hot chocolate drinks, too, in case you're somehow still craving sugar. There are numerous additional locations around the city, and the owners also run a lively roast-chicken-focused fast-casual restaurant, Pollos Poncho, a block away on Álvaro Obregón.

Come before 1 pm or make an online reservation to avoid the long wait at this airy seafood haven, a power-lunch spot for the creative and celebrity sets since it opened in 1998 (there's often less of a wait for the casual outside tables). While the people-watching is prime, your attention will be on the food: start with the famed tuna tartare tostadas, then try some fish cooked al pastor or a bowl of clam chowder, minced soft-shell crab or octopus tacos, or the huge butterflied pescado Contramar with red chile. Be sure to save room for dessert, too (the banana pie is memorable). And there are few better places to enjoy the Mexican tradition of sobremesa, lingering over drinks and conversation after a meal.

Tucked inside the small El Mercado Amazónico on the east edge of Roma, this tiny offbeat Asian-Mexican-fusion taqueria features duck in every one of its handful of dishes, all of them addictively good. In addition to both Mexican- and Asian-style taco preparations (the Peking duck–inspired "Kim" version is especially tasty), you can enjoy ginger-duck-filled wontons and spring rolls as well as duck tortas. There's also a selection of house salsas (red wine-hibiscus, tamarind, and Thai sweet chile), and they offer a handful of artisan beers. The original location in Condesa is also excellent, and there are two others, one in Polanco and one in Coyoacán.

This laid-back restaurant has been serving Hidalgo-style lamb barbacoa to grateful Mexico City residents since the 1990s. Friday through Monday afternoon only, fresh lamb from owner Moisés Rodríguez’s Hidalgo farm is roasted for 12 hours over mesquite and oak in an underground pit, then served in charred agave leaves. An order of barbacoa comes with everything you need to make tacos you'll remember for days; be sure to order the consommé, flavored with meat drippings, chile, and lime, and wash it all down with a glass of pulque. Though this is a barbacoa favorite, the mixiotes (pit-barbecued meats)—another Hidalguense specialty—are fantastic as well.

Occupying the intimate, refined space that was the original location of renowned Máximo Bistrot, this romantic farm-to-table restaurant is the brainchild of celebrated chef Lucho Martínez, an alum of both Máximo and Quintonil. Em's exciting menu varies according to the chef's inspiration and the season's bounty, but you might start with steak tartare with black truffles and a pain perdue brioche before graduating to braised short ribs with a rich peanut-based mole sauce or a fragrant, earthy porcini mushroom risotto.

The owners of this tiny Roma kitchen with volcanic-rock floors and walls are devoted to preserving Mexico's ancient culinary traditions, including the nixtamalización process of grinding corn into tortilla dough, which is used to create exquisite yet simple breakfast and lunch fare that changes day to day, according to what's in season. You might enjoy anything from corn tacos filled with fresh cheese, hoja santa (a peppery Mexican herb), and squash blossom, to a blue-corn tortilla topped with avocado, ants, and salsa. They also carry a beer made from corn, produced by the city's Dängo craft brewery.

Partly founded by Quinonil's celebrity chef Jorge Vallejo, Fonda Fina serves modernly interpreted Mexican classics, such as raw tuna tostadas with citrus oil and a gaujillo-chile vinaigrette or a casserole of beef cheeks braised in a green mole sauce with smoked cauliflower. One popular way to choose your meal here is to mix and match your protein (rib-eye, octopus, and pork among them) with any of several vegetable garnishes and about 10 salsa options—the servers are happy to recommend tasty pairings. The creative cocktails are excellent, too.

Fans of Thai food who are frustrated by the lack of options in the capital can flock to this stellar restaurant set inside a dramatic, spacious 19th-century mansion. The artfully prepared dishes here can hold their own with any you'll find in North America—it's best to share a few dishes, such as duck in a red curry of pineapple, eggplant, and lychee; a southern-style pad Thai with soft-shell crab, tamarind sauce, and coconut milk; and the dessert of fried bananas with house-made chrysanthemum ice cream.

This itty-bitty taqueria on a less swanky block of famous Calle Colima has a big following for its hearty tacos prepared in the style of Monterrey. There are just a few options on the decidedly meaty menu, all of them delicious, with the chiccharón with tangy salsa verde a particular standout. 

You can opt for either of the two distinct experiences in this stylish Calle Colima restaurant: dining in the early 20th-century town house that overlooks the busy street below or sitting in the much more casual and social covered outdoor section with a green living wall. The menu changes seasonally but might feature crab tostadas with grapefruit, ginger, and arugula or fillet of beef with pureed potatoes and a soy-caramel emulsion. The cocktails here are first-rate, too.

This younger sibling to Galanga offers a more varied menu that includes both Thai and Vietnamese fare at slightly lower prices, but as with the original restaurant, the food is flavorful, expertly prepared, and delicious. The solarium-style space creates the feel of dining in an art nouveau birdcage, and there's outdoor seating on a side patio as well. Next door, the same owners run the hip and inviting Somsaa Wine & Tea Room inside a gracious old house---here you'll find an extensive array of drinks as well as flavorful desserts and creative Southeastern small plates.

Savor deftly crafted modern Japanese fare—yakitori skewers, oden and ramen bowls, tempura, udon noodle, raw shellfish, and sushi and sashimi—in this inviting, contemporary space with a variety of seating options, including private tatami rooms. The menu stand-outs are many, including a serrano-wagyu beef roll and shrimp mapo tofu. There's an impressive selection of cocktails, wines, and artisan beers to match the food.

The creative cuisine served in this chic restaurant with sidewalk tables overlooking pretty Plaza Río de Janeiro is inspired by the time the chef-owners spent in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Typical fare from the regularly changing menu includes wild boar sausage with pickled blackberries or clams steamed with white wine, panceta, spring peas, and parsley. The sister restaurant next door, Cafe Trucha, serves lighter fare throughout the day. 

One of the capital's most sought-after dining experiences has moved from its unassuming original digs to a much more spacious and rather swanky space. Chef Eduardo García crafts complex French-Mediterranean-Mexican dishes like sea scallops with a raspberry "aguachile," lobster risotto, and tagliatelle pasta with a wild boar ragout—nothing outlandish but always perfectly executed. For an opulent feast, book the tasting menu with wine pairings (MP5,350).

The mid-century-modern design of this fashionable, trendy, and yet somehow still unpretentious restaurant feels distinct from its grandiose Porfirian neighbors, and so does the seasonally inspired small-plate-focused cuisine, which is heavy on fresh vegetables, hand-made pastas, and seafood. A foie gras terrine is served with a zesty apple-shiso-rhubarb-port sauce, while tender, slow-roasted lamb is served with crushed falafel, braised eggplant, labneh, fried pistachios, and a green zhug sauce. For the price, this is some of the most complexly flavored, beautifully presented food in the city. If there's a wait, enjoy a cocktail in the little downstairs bar.

This rambling, seemingly always-packed restaurant is one of the city's pioneers in genuinely sophisticated, authentic modern Asian (mostly Japanese) cuisine. The food, which is artfully presented in small plates, bowls, and bamboo steamers, spans Thailand, Japan, and China, with highlights being several varieties of ramen, shimp pad thai, hamachi sashimi, sushi rolls, and Chinese sausage.

Just a block away from the famous restaurant that inspired it, this wildly popular bakery is worth the often long wait for a table to savor a fantastic breakfast, lunch, or even a sweet treat to break up your day. The flaky pastries here are second to none—try the blueberry-lavender scones, guava rolls, or mamey-filled berliners. The savory items are just as mouthwatering, including ricotta-spinach croissants and Croque monsieurs. Traditional Mexican atole is served, plus fine espresso and tea drinks, and there's a pantry that sells gourmet groceries, from olive oil to rosemary focaccia.

One of the tiniest yet most beautifully designed restaurants in Roma, this strangely wonderful bistro serves boldly flavored contemporary Mexican cuisine from a short, always-changing menu created by an alum of Pujol and El Bulli. Options might include a tostada topped with smoked leeks, recado negro (a charred Yucatecan chile paste) and avocado mousse, or an infladita (a fried, puffed tortilla) filled with crabmeat and corn and topped with a puree of spring peas and mint. It's a good idea to reserve a few days ahead. 

Regarded as one of the best female chefs in the world, Elena Reygadas worked for years at London's Michelin-starred Italian restaurant Locando Locatelli before moving back to her hometown to open Rosetta in a stunning early 1900s belle epoque mansion. Despite the perfect risottos and handmade pastas in varying shapes, what her cuisine primarily takes from Italy is reliance on local and seasonal ingredients (the olive oil is from Baja California, the burrata cheese made in the town of Atlixco)—but much of the food has a creative Mexican heart. Breads both sweet and savory are baked in-house, and sold from Panadería Rosetta bakery, which has two locations nearby.

There are few more satisfying experiences after a night of dancing and drinking than devouring a plate of tacos at this taqueria with a spacious dining room on Avenida Álvaro Obregón. Fillings include trompo (al pastor), chicharrón with spicy house-made salsa, and beef; a side of the crunchy fried papas orinoco potatoes is a must. Orinoco is open until at least 3:30 am most nights and until 5 am on weekends, and there can sometimes be a long wait for a table. There are a few other locations throughout the city, including the original location on the border between Roma and Condesa.

Equal parts artisan bakery, leisurely hangout, and all-day café, this airy space on a picturesque Roma corner has two large and lushly landscaped dining areas and serves an array of enticing international treats. Start the day with blueberry pancakes or a hearty plate of chilaquiles verdes; later in the day, consider a classic bacon-gouda cheeseburger on a fluffy brioche bun or a slice of the flavorful vegetarian lasagna. Smoothies and craft beers are among the standouts from the extensive beverage menu.

You'll find one of Roma's prettiest dining rooms—with high brick walls and lush greenery set around a two-story interior courtyard with plenty of natural sunlight—in this moderately upscale and somewhat unassuming restaurant that turns out excellent globally influenced bistro fare. Consider the Vietnamese shrimp dumplings in a fragrant soy-shiitake sauce or tuna tartare tostadas to start, before choosing among the soft-shell-crab tacos, grilled Pacific snapper, or rabbit carnitas among the mains. There's a very nice cocktail and wine list, too.

A lovely, inviting spot for a light meal, Casa Cardinal employs a team of well-trained baristas devoted to producing some of the finest coffee drinks in the neighborhood, using the method of your choice (Aeropress, Japanese siphon, Chemex pour-over, and a few others—plus very good mochas). There's always cool music playing, and you can dine inside or out at one of the sidewalk tables. There's a location in Condesa, too.

Always packed with locals---including plenty of expats from other parts of the Americas---watching fútbol on TV or enjoying the live music, this welcoming two-story Roma Sur mercado contains more than a dozen food stalls set around a central dining area with communal tables. Cuisines from mostly Central and South America are featured, including Brazilian feijoada, Peruvian ceviche, and Salvadoran arepes. There's an extensive selection of juices, soft drinks, beers, and cocktails, too.