6 Best Restaurants in San Angel, Mexico City

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.

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.

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.

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.