Mexico City, Mexico

Eating out in Mexico City, Mexico

Dining out seems to be the favorite pastime in the capital, with restaurants, cafés, taquerías, pastry shops, and juice stands on every block. Everybody eats out in Mexico City, regardless of social strata, consequently you can find restaurants of every type and price range scattered across the city. Mexicans take their food seriously, so if you see a full house, take it as a good recommendation. Those same places, however, may be entirely empty if you arrive early - lunch is generally served at 3:00pm and dinner isn't even on anyone's mind before 9:00pm. The choice of cuisine seems limitless, ranging from traditional Mexican to fast-food taco shops, with a slice of Japanese, Chinese, French, Spanish, Italian, and American cooking along the way. Don't miss out on the traditional market food stalls - if you see chiles rellenos (poblano peppers stuffed with cheese or meat) with a walnut cream sauce, be sure to try them! As in most of the world's major cities, dining can be a sophisticated social event. But there are plenty of casual fun places too, like the cantinas that have of the best food and atmosphere around.

Gourmet

Fouquets de Paris is a priceless dining experience with an elegant ambiance and distinguished service that regularly receives statesmen and visiting dignitaries. The breakfast menu combines creative Mexican and international cuisine like crepes with machaca (dried beef) and omelets with morel mushrooms and artichokes. For lunch or dinner, try specialties like the lobster bisque and asparagus in a puff pastry. Mariano Escobedo 700.

Highly Recommended

Cicero Centenario is the grand dame of Mexico's sophisticated café society. This thoroughly authentic dining hall occupies a restored 17th-century mansion in the heart of historic downtown, with tables tucked into private nooks against a backdrop of stained glass, antiques, and candlelight. Menu highlights include Colonial dishes like pollo en pipián verde (chicken in green pumpkin seed sauce), chicharrón (crispy pork chunks) in guacamole sauce, and rose petal ice cream. República de Cuba 79.

Local Flair

El Caminero is a standing-room-only taco house that may seem like nothing special when you see it, except they serve the best tacos you will ever taste! Biftec (beef) and chuleta (pork) are the basic ingredients and the variations are endless. Try them con queso (with cheese), or con tocino (bacon) on soft tortillas. Cebollas (scallions) and bowls of fresh 1-to-5-alarm sauces line the counter for garnishing to taste. Lerma 138.

Romantic

La Ópera Bar is the most opulent of the capital's cantinas, with cavernous dark wood booths, pastoral oil paintings, beveled mirrors, and a Baroque ceiling. The Spanish and Mexican menu equals the excellence of the atmosphere, and every visit should include the incomparable aperitif, the "Aperital Batido." Legend holds that the bullet hole in the roof was left by Pancho Villa when he galloped in on a horse! Cinco de Mayo 10, Colonia Centro.

Going party in Mexico City, Mexico

Nightlife in Mexico City is lively and varied, ranging from supper clubs with excellent floorshows, to mariachi pubs, and street entertainers. "Late" is the key word to understanding the rhythm of nightlife in Mexico City. People generally have cocktails at 7:00pm or 8:00pm, have dinner at 9:00pm and take in a show at 10:00pm or 11:00pm, head to discos at midnight, and then settle in for a nightcap sometime around 3:00am. For your personal safety you should absolutely avoid taking taxis off the street - take official hotel taxis. Check for current events in the Friday edition of The News and The Mexico City Times, both published in English, and Tiempo Libre, a weekly "good-times" Spanish magazine.

Palacio de Bellas Artes

Mexico's famed Ballet Folklórico dances several times a week at the country's finest performance hall. Aztec ritual dances, agricultural dances, a Veracruz fiesta, and a wedding celebration celebrate pre- and post-Hispanic culture, bound together with mariachis, marimba players, singers, and dancers. The architecture is a show of its own!.

Plaza Garibaldi

Every night (and most days) a fiesta livens up this square. Bands of roving mariachis in search of an audience, dressed to the hilt with their big charro hats and silver-embroidered clothes, gather and fill the air with their music to entice peso-bearing patrons. These popular events are as much as part of daily life as meals and work.

Zazzy Disco

A snazzy dance hall featuring the latest technology and lots of it. The totally computerized experience includes 60 video monitors, 2 full screens, and 12 laser beams.

Salon Los Angeles

The glamour days of the silver screen are alive and well in this grand salon, with a suave open dance floor that is always swaying with salsa dancers and such. When famous performers like Celia Cruz come to town, this is where you'll find them.

Feria De México

Head downtown to catch the liveliest club dinner shows, the newest of which is the Feria. The traditional Mexican music and dance is included, along with a beer, in the cost of your combination Mexican and American meal.

La Casa de Las Sirenas

Tequila doesn't come any more varied than this, with 146 premium types for you to try in style amid the flower-decked courtyard of this 18th-century colonial building. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served but the pub is popular for its weekend night scene.

Common events in Mexico City, Mexico

Feast of San Antonio Abad

All over Mexico, household pets and livestock are bedecked with flowers and ribbons, then taken in procession to the local church to be blessed. January.

Día de la Candelaria (Candlemas Day)

The city celebrates with fiestas, parades, bullfights, and lantern-decorated streets. February.

Carnaval

A non-stop party of music, costumes, parades, and feasting is celebrated throughout Mexico. February - March.

Semana Santa (Holy Week)

Special passion plays during this week leading up to Easter Sunday commemorate this religious holiday throughout the country. March - April.

Cinco de Mayo

The anniversary of the 1862 defeat of the French by Mexican troops in Puebla is marked with great fanfare throughout the country. May 5.

Feast of Santiago

This national holiday is the best time to catch a host of charreadas, the Mexican rodeos. July.

Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Religous processions fill the streets in this dignified but joyous nationwide celebration. August 15.

Independence Day

Mexico's President kicks off the festivities with a traditional grito (shout), and the Zócalo crowds with people dancing and shooting off fireworks. September 15-16.

All Souls' Day (Day of the Dead)

The quintessential Mexican holiday commemorates the dearly departed with candy skulls and graveside picnics. November 1-3.

Feast Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe

Mexico's patron saint is feted with processions and native folk dances, particularly at her shrine in Mexico City. December 12.