11 Best Restaurants in San Rafael and Santa María la Ribera, Mexico City

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.

Although its name is barely visible on the sun-faded awnings, this neighborhood taquería is busy on most nights. It’s a true local’s spot and its bright lights are visible from the street; you’ll know it from the number of people mostly patiently waiting to place their orders (food is available to go as well).

One of the hottest restaurants in the city, this spot serves gourmet touches on Mexican classics with playful inventiveness and traditional ingredients. The base of all plates here, most of which are vegetarian, is mushrooms; even the drinks and the desserts have a fungi element to them. The cuisine is experimental, yet familiar, as mushrooms have an ancient culinary history in Mexico. 

It’s not hyperbole to say that there are few interiors in the city as pink as the decor within this diner just near the San Cosme metro station. Cochinita Power specializes in Yucatecan food (read: pork and habanero salsas) with a set-up somewhere between a food cart and a restaurant, but without the hustle and bustle of standing and eating on the street. When you're ready to order, your server will arrive with a paper menu to mark your choices on. There’s not much to choose from: it’s really pork, pork, and more pork. But the food is tasty and cheap, and the service is great and speedy if you’re on the go.

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. 

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.