Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
We've compiled the best of the best in San Rafael and Santa María la Ribera - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Busy and stylish, this is a popular classic in the Santa María la Ribera neighborhood, located in an older building that has retained its original high ceilings and tile work. Known for having slightly higher prices than usual for the area, it’s also recognized for excellent service, taste, and variety of traditional Mexican dishes, but the star is the barbacoa (slow-roasted sheep meat) and pulque.
This peculiar restaurant name (for this latitude) is thanks to the Midwestern owner who started making delicious burgers on a cart from the back of his bike. These gratuitous-in-every-way burgers quickly became well-recognized across the city and its San Rafael location has become one of the busiest restaurants in the neighborhood. Stop in for a beer on the patio, catch a gringo game on the TV, and see if it lives up to the hype.
This charming colonial-era café is open to the street, with regulars, families, and digital nomads regularly making appearances. It’s bustling, maybe a bit too bustling for some folks to focus on work, but the price-to-quality ratio is impressive, as is its selection of Mexican-style hot chocolate, which range from spicy to sweet to bitter. Whether you're looking for molletes, chilaquiles, or pan dulce, this place has it all, served quick and delicious.
This tiny pizzeria has more space on its sidewalk than its interior, which is mostly a kitchen that prepares thin-crust Argentine style pizzas, empanadas, and salads. The service is attentive and the prices are low. You’ll probably have to wait for a table, as there are very few, but the food and staff will make it worth it.
If you’ve been dreaming about Oaxacan cuisine, but don’t have the time to travel there, this authentic restaurant that serves up breakfast, lunch, and early dinners is the next best thing. Service can be a bit chaotic but always friendly, and the quality of the food makes up for any wait. It tends to get very busy for lunch, and that crowd spills out of the eatery's brick walls onto the sidewalk.
One thing you can always count on in Mexico City, and Mexico for that matter, is excellent roasted chicken. While popular with locals, the dish is often overlooked by foreigners in favor of flashy tacos, but you should visit this small, sidewalk eatery and try its delicious marinated chicken; there are also grilled vegetables and salsas to make your own tacos. Grab an order to go (which many people do) or take a seat on one of the benches backed up to the street.
