Updated April 2023

The first time I fell in love with a place was when I studied abroad in London as a teenager. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that if I find myself thinking “I could live here” while traveling, it’s more about how that place makes me feel than anything else. If you have been following along with my blog, you’ve probably heard me mentioning an extended trip to Mexico City. But I have yet to actually explain in any detail why I fell in love with CDMX.

For any would-be visitors, Mexico City has so much to offer it’ll have you feeling all of the feels. Stick with me, and you’ll be itching to go check it out for yourself. These are some of the top reasons why, for me, Mexico City is increíble.

• Culinary Excellence
• Museums Abound
• City that never sleeps
• And all that Jazz
• La Cultura, La Historia
• La Gente

If you’d like a comprehensive list of places to try and places to stay, go to the home page and subscribe to my blog to receive via email.

Culinary Excellence in Mexico City

My very first meal in CDMX was at a Mexican-European fusion place called Lardo in La Condesa neighborhood. It was very close to my AirBnB, so as soon as I had put down my bags I walked over. Since it was my first meal of the day, I knew that I was going to order a lot of food.

The waiter gave me a menu in Spanish. After poring over it trying to make sure I understood what my options were, the only thing I knew I wanted to order was baba ghanoush. My waiter realized that giving me a menu in English would probably be helpful. Between his broken English and my broken Spanish he recommended I also try the barbacoa. It came with fresh made pita from their wood burning oven, rather than tortillas. So tasty! The baba ghanoush was also very unique. They served it with different herbs and fresh slices of grapefruit. I rounded everything off with a glass of wine and after that meal, I knew that I was going to really enjoy eating my way through Mexico City.

Here are some restaurant highlights

Mexican

• El Pescadito is great for fish and shrimp tacos, with plenty of yummy condiments to top them off
• Expendio de Maíz is super small, with only about five tables, but Chef Jesuscito treats you like you’re a guest in his home. He serves traditional Mexican food with a twist and fresh ingredients. No menu at this place; they will just bring you whatever they’re serving that day until you’ve said that you’ve had enough food.
• Páramo is a rooftop restaurant that is two doors down from Expendio. We ordered ceviche and just asked the waiter to bring us an assortment of tacos.
• Los Cocuyos is a great place for unpretentious tacos in El Centro. Try the suadero and the longaniza.
• Orinoco and El Calífa are both chains, but both are tasty. Try the chicharron taco at Orinoco and the pastor at El Calífa.
• Limosneros is a cool restaurant in El Centro that elevates Mexican classics. I tried escamoles there for the first time, which is ant larvae!

Asian

• Yoru Handroll and Sushi Bar; best sushi I had in CDMX. I splurged and did the tasting menu so I could try a bunch of things. A highlight was the handroll with foie gras. AMAZING! [UPDATE: unfortunately the last time I visited the place was not good. The service was poor and the food was not well prepared]
• Galanga is a Thai restaurant. It’s a bit pricey, but was delicious. Try the duck curry.
• Dooriban; a Korean restaurant. I don’t know much about Korean food but I thought the kimchi bokkeumbap was tastey.

Other/International

• Elly’s; a Mediterranean restaurant in Juarez. Very unique dishes
• Casa Portuguesa in Polanco; we only stopped here for a few appetizers and a drink, but they were tasty. Try the prawns and pulpo.
• Alba is a restaurant in Juarez. It does creative takes on food. The picanha ( a cut of beef), which had a flavor that I had never experienced before and their fresh bread and spicy sauce, blew me away.

Museums Abound

Mexico City has a lot of well-done museums! When I visited Museo de Antropología I was pleasantly surprised by the level of detail and smart layout. The museum is a series of salons that can be entered and exited from a main courtyard. This layout makes it easy to go exactly to the era that you want, instead of walking through a bunch of subject areas that you may not be interested in.

• Museo Nacional de Antropología was probably my favorite due to the depth of knowledge
• Chapultepec Castle is located in Parque Chapultepec. The line to get in was sooo long, which I was informed is normal. As I was standing in line, I got to talking with the guy in front of me, who was also visiting solo, and we ended up exploring the castle together. It was really beautiful, with lovely views.
• Bellas Artes was the first place I saw any of Diego Rivera’s works. Very cool building.
• Frida Museum, also known as the blue house (casa azule), was very interesting to see the place she grew up.
• Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL) was surprisingly good to me. Although unremarkable from the outside, the inside of the building is stunning. And there’s some cool art ranging from sculptures, paintings, to more modern installations.
• La Biblioteca Vasconselos is not a museum; it’s a library. But it is a super cool space that’s worth a visit if you have some extra time. Beware though, the library did not have wifi.

Mexico City that never sleeps; Move Over New York

Mexicans tend to keep late hours in general, considering that it’s normal to not even start thinking about dinner until after 8pm. For this reason, the city keeps buzzing late into the night during the week. I personally am not a night owl, but it was nice to easily find late night eats on the occasional super late night out.

Salsa Dancing

As far as the nightlife scene goes, one thing that I really did get into was salsa dancing. I love the big band sound of salsa music, and to me moving in sync and being twirled around a dance floor by a partner is pure joy. I actually took a six-week workshop at a dance school, Salsa Candela. It was cool because everyone danced with everyone, and mostly everyone in the class was Mexican. I definitely came out of the other end with more confidence, and tested out my skills (with varying levels of success, lol) at a few of the clubs in town.

My favorite salsa club was probably Mama Rumba, which often has a live band. The people come here to dance, so it can be a little intimidating, but everyone is nice. And I found that the second floor is a little more low key if you’re not an advanced dancer. Other great spots include Mambo Cafe Insurgentes, which I joked reminded me of something out of Grand Theft Auto Vice City, and Club San Luis, both also having live music. Cantina Salón Rios is my most recent addition to the salsa list — it’s a restaurant/bar on the first floor with a dance floor on the second floor.

Tasty Drinks

If you fancy a great cocktail while having a night out on the town, there are plenty of options for that as well. Limantour, Handshake, and Fifty Mils at the Four Seasons were all great options. I have to admit that mostly all of my grown and sexy cocktail spot knowledge comes from a friend I made while attending his AirBnb experience. I tried his experience because I thought it would be a good way to check out nice bars without having to do it alone; I didn’t realize how much I was going to learn in the process! Pro tip: if you see a cocktail that is made with maracuya (passion fruit) and mezcal, order it. This combination became one of my faves.

Mexico City has Jazz?

I love jazz. I know it’s not for everyone, but if you’re like me and enjoy live jazz music, you’ll be happy to know that there are some great places in the city to get a fix. The first jazz joint that I visited was Zinco’s in El Centro. The night I went they featured a Latin Jazz band, and the band’s interplay with the audience was delightful. They had people up and out of their seats, dancing in the aisles, including me and my friend. Zinco’s also was the first place that I tried carajillo, a coffee cocktail, which became one of my go-to’s when I was out and about.

For a more intimate vibe, check out Casa Franca in Roma Norte. To be seated in the main salon near the stage, make a reservation and get there early. The cocktails weren’t very good, but every time I went there the bands were great. I never experienced any dancing in the aisles at this place, but being so close to the music, I felt like I could close my eyes and be inside the music and get swept away in it. One night I went there, the singer and I made eye contact and I swear we had a connection 😀 <3 .

La Cultura, La Historia

There aren’t many other cities with as great a mythos as Mexico City. You’ve heard the story about the eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its mouth being the sign of where the city should be built. And Mexicans are proud of their culture and their history. I can’t tell you how many conversations I got into with Chilangos waxing poetic about their city and their country.  There is no shortage of interesting sites and architecture that bring that history to life.

Mexico City, established on the ruins of the Mexica capital, Tenochtitlan, was built on a lake. And you can see evidence of that if you visit Templo Mayor in El Centro (which I thought was just wild). The day I was on my way to visit the ruins, I listened to this NPR Throughline podcast episode about the conquest of Tenochtitlan. Check it out if you like history — it really brings the story to life.

Just Outside the City

And although it’s not in Mexico City, the pyramids at Teotihuacán are just a day trip away, and definitely worth it. This site was the largest pre-Colombian urban center before the reign of the Mexica, and I toured it with the brothers, Hugo and Gabriel, through their Airbnb Experience. They are super knowledgeable and passionate, and one of the awesome things about their experience is that after the tour, they take you to their abuelita’s house for homemade mole, pulque, and other agave-based drinks. One of the best Experiences I’ve tried. On a return visit to CDMX, I did an Airbnb Experience to take a hot air balloon over the pyramids at sunrise…a very beautiful and amazing experience.

Other places to visit to get a taste of the culture include Xochimilco, which has a a series of canals where Mexicans like to take out boats called trajineras. These excursions generally include drinks and music. And you can also enjoy mariachis playing music on passing boats. Coyoacán is another area of the city with its own vibe, and is actually the neighborhood where the Frida Kahlo Blue House is located.

La Gente

Over the course of my stay, I can’t tell you how many random conversations I got into with locals (with varying levels of success depending on how on-point my Spanish was that day) who just wanted to chat, tell me about their country, and give me recommendations. La gente are nice, and pretty open. And there’s just an overall vibe to the city. There was just an energy there, electric with all the possibilities and movement that comes from a ton of people being in one place, but also very chill — people taking the time to enjoy the park, or a slow meal. I met some awesome people, and made some great friends. All of which contributed to my time in Mexico being magical.

People often ask me for recommendations based on my trip. If you’re interested in a more comprehensive list of places I visited, restaurants to try (with food recommendations) and to avoid, and suggestions for where to stay, go to the home page and subscribe to my blog and you will receive the list.