15 Best Restaurants in San Angel, Mexico City

This sunny, easygoing bakery/café---part of a popular Mexico City chainlet---lies conveniently across the street from handsome Parque de La Bombilla, which is the perfect spot to savor some of the exquisite, freshly baked tarts, cookies, and pastries sold here, along with a coffee or tea. For a heartier meal, choose one of the more substantial options, such as the Jamón serrano-Manchego sandwich or vegetable quiche.

Located beside Centro Cultural Helénico, this latest branch of the chainlet of stylish bookstore-restaurants contains three levels designed with massive glass windows, loft mezzanines, and wide bridges and staircases—it's basically a modern tree house for hungry book lovers. The encyclopedic menu of creatively conceived food and drink includes Mexican, American, and European staples, from burgers to breakfast sandwiches to macadamia-nut cheesecake, but what makes this place special is the artful aesthetic.

Although not as historic as the original in El Centro (there are four locations in all), this beloved outpost of one of the city's most highly regarded traditional Mexican restaurants occupies a courtly redbrick mansion with high ceilings and expansive terraces, a setting that's ideal for a leisurely weekend brunch before shopping around nearby Plaza San Jacinto. The menu is extensive and includes consistently well-executed renditions of such regional specialties as chilaquiles rojo with cecina, Oaxacan-style chicken mole, pan de elote with clotted cream, and chiles en nogada (in September). It's open daily, but closes at 6:30 pm. Ask to be seated on the main level, ideally out on the terrace, rather than in the dark and less enchanting downstairs space.

With a chic terrace upstairs and a modern white-on-white interior space on the ground floor, Loretta is one of the few restaurants in the southern half of the city that consistently makes it onto critics' top dining lists. Celebrated chef Abel Hernández presents contemporary takes on classic Provençal, Tuscan, Greek, and Middle Eastern dishes, like pork belly confit–and–heirloom tomato crostini, followed by creative pastas, steaks, moussakas, seafood grills, and a generous selection of vegetable sides.

One of the most beautifully designed and eclectic of the city's many contemporary food hall–style mercados, this bustling complex occupies a stylishly converted colonial home off Plaza del Carmen. The front contains hip boutiques selling sophisticated gourmet goodies, designer sunglasses, and mod housewares, and the open-air rear section is anchored by a bi-level seating area with a retractable roof that's fringed with trendy food stalls dispensing elevated pork buns, American barbecue, sushi, burgers, tortas, pizzas, tacos, and a range of wine, craft beer, and cocktail options. Order at the counters and grab a seat at one of the long communal tables set beneath rows of hanging ferns and Edison bulbs—your food will be brought out to you. Moira's Bakehouse, with its decadent teacakes and hand pies, is a must for dessert—it's located among the boutiques, before you reach the food hall.

Set in the back of a small but posh contemporary shopping arcade overlooking a tranquil formal garden just off Plaza del Carmen, chic Bistro 83 is a go-to for lavish contemporary Euro-Mexican fare, such as escargot sautéed in garlic butter, grilled red snapper with a lemon-caper sauce, and tuna tartare tostadas with a soy-ginger marinade. During the day, enjoy a drawn-out feast on the classy patio.

Just off Plaza San Jacinto, this smart and contemporary café offers a relatively calm respite from the bustle of weekend shoppers and is particularly popular for brunch. The menu focuses on creative thin-crust pizzas, bountiful salads, avocado toast, and panini sandwiches, and the mimosas are always flowing.

You'll find this cozy but warmly lit coffeehouse immediately on your left as you enter trendy Mercado del Carmen—it's separate from the main food hall and thus a bit more intimate and peaceful. The menu features an extensive list of espresso and tea drinks, breakfast and lunch fare (from chilaquiles to sandwiches), and pies, cakes, and other sweets.

Established in 1976 by owners whose grandparents emigrated from Lebanon to Mexico in 1930, this casual spot with red tiles and hammered-tin light fixtures serves some of the most authentic and flavorful Middle Eastern food in the city. A rewarding way to approach a feast here is to share a variety of smaller and larger plates—kibbeh, jocoque, baba ghanoush, fattoush, shawarma, and alambre-style grilled shrimp among them.

Set in a pretty 1920s chalet-style house, this dignified destination for sophisticated modern European–Mexican cuisine is surrounded by the historic redbrick buildings of the Plaza Loreto shopping center. Once you're seated on the shaded side patio or old-world dining rooms—supping on beef tartare with caviar, roasted duck with a mango sauce and wild rice, or ribeye steak with a Roquefort sauce and Lyonnaise potatoes—it's easy to feel like you've been transported to a wealthy friend's hideaway in the French Alps. There's an impressive wine list, and the desserts are worth saving room for.

Tantalizing displays of oysters on the half shell, Alaskan crab legs, jumbo prawns, fish roe, and sashimi anchor the fashionable, high-ceilinged dining room of this bustling seafood restaurant in a modern office tower by Plaza Loreto shopping center. Here at one of the top seafood restaurants on the city's south side, treat yourself to selections from the extensive raw bar as well as grilled octopus, Maine lobster, and soft-shell crab sandwiches.

Dark mahogany furniture, crisp white table linens, exquisite blue-and-white Talavera place settings, and refined service strike a note of restrained opulence at this 18th-century estate whose dining rooms surround a central courtyard with fragrant gardens and a circular fountain. Although you'll find European-influenced classic fare like chateaubriand for two and crispy calves' brains in brown butter, the Mexican delicacies are the stars—consider the crepes of huitlacoche, or a jewel-like dish of escamoles panfried in butter and herbs. The dessert cart, which displays everything from rich chocolate cake to Bavarian cream with strawberries and cajeta (goats-milk caramel), is a must. Even if you don't come for a full meal, try to drop by for cocktails and appetizers in the beautiful courtyard.

With an airy design, comfortable seating, good Wi-Fi, and large windows that let in plenty of light, this branch of the popular local coffee franchise is ideal for meeting up with friends, getting some work done on your laptop, or grabbing a quick snack or meal. Tierra Garat offers an extensive range of espresso drinks but particularly excels with its sweet chai teas, flavored hot chocolates, and frozen drinks—it's a favorite for anyone with a sweet tooth. In addition to this location a bit north of San Ángel's historic center, you'll find about 40 other branches throughout the city, including some especially inviting cafés in Coyoacán, Juárez, Polanco, and Roma Norte.