Whether you’re in the mood for patriotic chiles en nogada, savory squash blossom quesadillas, or even the nutty crunch of fried ant larvae, you can find your meal in Mexico City.
Mexico’s bustling capital has long been considered a mecca for delicious cuisine from all over the country. Many dishes can be traced to their pre-Hispanic roots, and gourmet chefs cite the country’s long tradition of markets and street food as inspiration. Here are eight tempting dishes from Mexico City, along with a list of the best places to find them.
1. Tacos
Tacos in Mexico City. Photo courtesy of LWY via Flickr.
The city’s most beloved street food dates back to pre-Hispanic times, when indigenous people ate tacos of small fish from the lakes in the Valley of Mexico. Today tacos are everywhere: at markets and outside metro stations, on street corners, and in fine restaurants. Consumption is an art form: locals line up to eat them by hand, so meticulously that rarely a crumb hits the counter.
Variety is endless. Among the city’s most popular are tacos al pastor, thin strips of seasoned pork shaved off a gyro-style rotisserie. Tacos sudados are another local favorite—don’t be put off by the name, literally “sweaty tacos”—these soft tortillas and spicy meat sit in a covered basket to keep them warm and tender. Bolder offerings include tripe, blood sausage, liver, and tongue.
Where to get them:
For classic, tasty tacos, head to El Güero (Amsterdam 135) in Colonia Condesa. Located on a corner of leafy Avenida Amsterdam, this humble place has been serving up tacos for more than 40 years. The inexpensive menu changes daily, even offering vegetarian and vegan dishes—recent options include tacos of swiss chard, cauliflower, and kale. Order your taco with an agua fresca—orange with pineapple or guava with lime.
For a splurge, try the roasted duck tacos at elegant family eatery El Cardenal in the city’s historic center.
2. Quesadillas
Quesadillas at a Food Stand. Photo courtesy of megananne via Flickr.
Quesadillas in Mexico City are a breed of their own. A far cry from their plain tortilla-and-cheese cousins, most don’t even come with cheese unless it’s specifically requested.
Instead, they contain fillings like potato with chorizo; tinga, shredded meat in a smoky tomato sauce; sautéed squash blossoms; and huitlacoche, a flavorful corn fungus sometimes called the Aztec truffle. Typically made with corn tortillas, quesadillas can be deep-fried or toasted to perfection on the rounded comal griddle.
Where to get them:
Like tacos, quesadillas are street food and can be found all over Mexico City. There is a particularly good stand at the Tuesday tianguis in La Condesa (Calle Pachuca between Juan de la Barrera and Veracruz), a scenic market worth a visit in its own right. Other days of the week, try the quesadillas outside the Mercado Medellín (Calle Medellín between Coahuila and Campeche in Colonia Roma).
3. Torta ahogada
Torta Ahogada. Photo courtesy of El Gran Dee via Flickr.
Originally from the state of Jalisco, this comfort food is the king of Mexican sandwiches. Served on a crusty bolillo roll, the torta ahogada is a delicious mess of crispy roasted pork, onions, beans, tomato, and sometimes avocado. It’s bathed generously in a spicy sauce of tomato and chile de árbol, hence its name, which means “drowned sandwich.”
Other torta variations include chicken, turkey, salt cod, sausage, and queso Oaxaca, the addictive string cheese from southern Mexico. Because they’re made on site, you can request your torta meatless or light on the chile. Enjoy your sandwich with a cool horchata, a sweet creamy beverage made with rice, vanilla, and cinnamon.
Where to get them:
You’ll see torterías all over the city, especially at markets. For excellent tortas ahogadas, head to aptly named Las Ahogadas in Colonia Roma, where the famous sandwich is the house specialty.
For a gourmet twist, try the torta ahogada at Sobrinos. This upscale bistro offers innovative takes on Mexican classics—their version of the torta replaces pork with duck and serves it up on a toasted baguette.
4. Chiles en nogada
Chiles en Nogada. Photo courtesy of Daniel Dionne via Flickr.
It’s hard to find fault with chiles en nogada: Mexico’s most patriotic dish is as beautiful as it is appetizing. The fact that it’s served only in September, in honor of the country’s independence, makes it all the more cherished and desired.
Originally from Puebla, this dish consists of mild poblano chiles stuffed with picadillo, a flavorful mixture of ground beef and spices subtly complemented by bits of dried fruit. The chiles are doused in a creamy walnut sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. The effect is a complex mix of sweet and savory, spicy and refreshing. The colors mirror those of the Mexican flag—green for the chile, white for the walnut sauce, and red for the pomegranate.
If you’re feeling the national spirit, order your chiles with a bandera. This drink is served in three small glasses—one of tequila, one of lime juice, and the last of sangrita, juice made from pomegranate, orange, lime, and hot sauce. Like chiles en nogada, the bandera shares its colors with the Mexican flag.
Where to get them:
For quality chiles en nogada, try Fonda Mi Lupita in the city center. For 80 pesos, this simple place offers chiles from a family recipe. They don’t take any shortcuts: the meat is chopped by hand, the sauce bursting with walnuts and cinnamon, and the picadillo sweetened with nutmeg and clove.
5. Cochinita pibil
In this dish from the Yucatán Península, hearty chunks of pork are marinated for hours in a juice of bitter oranges, and then slow-roasted in a banana leaf and topped with pickled red onion. Cochinita pibil was originally cooked over hot stones underground; in fact, pibil is a Mayan word meaning “buried.” Try it in a taco, torta, or panucho, a toasted tortilla with beans.
The dish gets its distinctive orange color from the peppery, earthy achiote seed, a traditional ingredient throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Over the years it’s been used not only to season food but as body paint, lipstick, even bug repellent.
Where to get it:
For the city’s best cochinita pibil head to El Turix (Emilio Castelar 212, Polanco), where 10 pesos will buy you a taco filled with pork that’s slow-roasted to tender perfection. Add chile habanero for extra spice and enjoy your meal with a cold beer.
6. Escamoles
Escamoles from El Cardenal. Photo courtesy of Kent Wang.
Insects were an important feature of pre-Hispanic cuisine, recognized as rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals. Today chapulines, grasshoppers toasted in garlic, lime, chile and salt, are ubiquitous in the southern state of Oaxaca. Caterpillars and locusts are not uncommon in other parts of the country.
Escamoles, ant larvae from the maguey plant, are perhaps the tastiest. These tiny eggs are sautéed in butter, onion and cilantro, then served with guacamole in a warm tortilla. Their crunchy texture makes a stronger impression than their subtle, nutty taste. Sometimes called Aztec caviar, rich, buttery escamoles have converted many an insect-eating skeptic.
Where to get them:
Escamoles are considered a local delicacy and can often be found in the city’s finer restaurants. Try them as an appetizer at romantic San Angel Inn, or venture to Restaurante Chon in the city center, devoted entirely to authentic pre-Hispanic cuisine.
7. Tamales
Tamales from Flor de Lis. Photo courtesy of Krista via Flickr.
Tamales can be traced back as far as 8000 B.C., when indigenous Mexicans packed this easily portable food to sustain hunters, soldiers, and travelers. Unwrapping each tamal is like opening a gift: these squares of corn paste are stuffed with treats of all kinds and steamed in a cornhusk or banana leaf. Typical fillings include chicken, pork, chiles, cheese, and various sauces, while sweet varieties contain raisins and other dried fruit.
Tamales are most often served at home during the holiday season, Las Posadas, or to celebrate the Day of the Dead. It’s common to enjoy them with atole, a sweet corn beverage flavored with cinnamon, vanilla, and sometimes chocolate.
Where to get them:
You don’t have to wait for the holiday season to enjoy tamales in Mexico City. They’re available all over D.F. from carts on the street, where vendors sell them from huge tamaleras, steel pots specially designed to keep the tamales warm and soft. Some pots attach to the vendor’s bike, so he can roam the neighborhood advertising his goods with the blaring recording: tamales Oaxaqueños, tamales calientitos….
To enjoy your tamales indoors, head to Flor de Lis, a homey restaurant in La Condesa that serves up some of the city’s best.
8. Mole poblano
Mole, a celebrated cornerstone of Mexican cuisine, is a term applied to as many as 37 sauces throughout the country. In Nahuatl the word simply means sauce, and color and texture vary widely—some thin as broth, some thick as gravy, moles may be red, black, yellow, or green.
Puebla’s mole poblano is the most famous; this rich, peppery sauce has chocolate undertones and is usually eaten with turkey or chicken. Legends of its origin tell of happy accidents—a monk knocking a tray of spices into a pot, nuns improvising with ingredients on hand to prepare a feast for the archbishop.
This labor-intensive dish typically contains as many as twenty ingredients, and is so closely associated with special events that the expression ir a un mole (“to go to a mole”) has come to mean “to go to a wedding.”
Where to get it:
Try the mole at Cafe de Tacuba in the city center. This traditional restaurant is a favorite for Sunday lunches, its walls lined with oil paintings and colorful talavera tile.
For an original take on this classic dish head to Cafe Azul y Oro, an inexpensive gourmet restaurant located on the campus of Mexico’s largest university. Their signature dish is a crunchy duck ravioli served with mole and blackberries.
Read more food and travel posts or find out about more things to do in Mexico
-Kate Newman
May 28, 2012 at 4:07 AM
Truly all the dishes looks delicious !!!