By If you’re a diehard foodie with a love for art and culture, Mexico City is the place for you. This city is magical and beautiful for so many reasons, and with my third trip back, I found myself discovering even more while revisiting past favorites.
It’s time to share a proper guide on where to stay, eat, and explore.
Visit
A home in perfect harmony with nature. Javier Senosiain’s Casa Organica speaks for itself, but you gotta see it in person.
Transitional spaces, emphasis on light, color, shadow, texture and form; incorporating landscapes with architecture – just a few of Luis Barragán’s intentions after buying up the street and constructing his own casa. Pro tip: book well in advance as tickets are hard to get.
(La Casa Azul – The Blue House): The ultimate, intimate universe of Frida and where she lived for most of her life, first with her family and then with her husband Diego Riviera. Walk through and see some of her art, including unfinished works and her very last piece, along with photographs of herself and others she took, furniture, and more.
A private museum right next to Jumex that includes centuries of unique art works, mostly from the 19th and 20th century.
Food
There’s no shortage of great food in Mexico City. Walk through La Condesa, Roma Norte and Polanco, and you’ll see hip, beautiful restaurants packed with people enjoying unique dishes and conversation. Below is a list of my favorites and recommendations.
A meal to remember! From paratha quesadillas to Kenyan-style samosas, and fresh snapper seasoned with Indian spices and served with tortillas to make fish tacos. Plus, hand-selected natural wines. @masalaymaiz was an unforgettable dining experience – a restaurant that tackles colonization and worker injustice through the food it serves. Combining food cultures of South East Asia, East Africa, and Mexico, their menu is a cultural blend that resulted from shared histories of trade, migration, and colonization. The food is phenomenal, with a story behind it.
Paramo
The perfect place for your first night in the city, where the food and ambience are a taste of the real Mexico. Mix with locals sipping tequila and eating tacos until 2am. Note that the restaurant doesn’t take reservations, so go early or expect a 1-2 hour wait to be seated, while servers bring you drinks while you wait.
Talk about fine dining. Rosetta is set in a large mansion and combines tastes of Italian and Mexican ingredients. The menu is meat-heavy, so note if you’re a vegetarian like me. That said, the homemade pastas are incredible and the corn tamales are a must to start with.
I’ve visited this restaurant on all 3 of my trips to Mexico City for a reason – the seafood is incredibly fresh and it’s a fun scene. Pro-tip: tostadas over ceviche
Just as you walk in, you know you’re going to love this place. From the rock ’n’ roll decor to the vinyl collection, music, and Mediterranean food selection. Order the mezze platter to start and from there you can’t go wrong with anything on this menu.
Dooriban
The new kid on the block, an authentic Korean restaurant with amazing kimchi, natural wines, soju, and a New York City vibe.
One of the hardest restaurants to get a reservation at and I can only imagine for good reason. I still haven’t been but am dying to try their 9-course taco omakase special. PS – I tried booking a reservation a month in advance and that still wasn’t enough time.
Quick but tasty for a casual walk-in brunch/lunch.
Drink
A natural wine bar with light bites, perfect for just that and spending some time. Also great people watching.
Catch sunset over the rooftop of this cute hotel while enjoying hand-crafted cocktails. They also serve good sushi if you’re hungry.
Go here after dinner, after a couple cocktails, and keep the party going. Enjoy more drinks while you dance the night away.
Stay
The architectural sites alone are worth the visit to Mexico City, so I chose to stay at a boutique design hotel rather than a luxury chain to experience the details. I discovered Casa Octavia through a rabbit hole of late night web browsing and knew it was the place I was looking for. Minimal in design and color, and centrally located in Condesa, this hotel made for the perfect stay. The staff is friendly and attentive, and the breakfast consisted of locally sourced foods & ingredients and fresh bread from the neighborhood bakery, which was to die for. FYI, there’s a cute rooftop for low key relaxation and sunsets.
Shop
Cute vintage store in Condesa with a great selection of vintage Chanel, deadstock army jackets, band tees and more. Unlike everything else in Mexico City, this place is pricey.
El tempo
I loved the ceramic handmade plates and cups from our hotel so much that I asked the staff where they bought everything and then went there and did some shopping. I brought back amazing one-of-a-kind pieces for my kitchen from this store!
If you have any specific questions about this post, feel free to leave me a comment. Hope you enjoyed it and hasta luego!
Wow!
The visuals here!
So many colors!
Very well done!
💜🙂💜