Mexico City: A Food Mecca
- lrhill9530
- Mar 20, 2025
- 33 min read
Updated: Mar 28, 2025
I knew before our first trip to Mexico City that it was a food mecca, where you could find incredible food from all over the world, and that it had many wonderful & famous restaurants; however, I didn't feel like we adequately experiences all of the different foods, international cuisines and restaurants during our first visit. This time I again planned out where we were going to eat each day, & even made reservations for most of the restaurants online before we left for Mexico. Making the reservations a head of time turned out to be a good thing. Our dining experiences this time were a gastronomical tour onto itself.
Restaurante Bulla Condesa on Avenida Mazatlan
The first night we didn't reach our condominium until after 7:00 pm, so we walked to a local restaurant that Pat had found during his research prior to our journey, Restaurante Bulla Condesa, which was in our neighborhood on Avenida Mazatlan. It is a Spanish restaurant, specializing in Spanish dishes, tapas, and Spanish wines. It has indoor dining, as well as a wonderful sidewalk terrace. e chose to eat outdoors, which as the perfect choice: it was warm, romantic, and we were able to watch life on the street and on the Promenade.
Nonna's Cucina on Hipódromo Condesa's Famous Avenida Ámsterdam
The second night , I had made reservations for Nonna's Cucina, located on Hipódromo Condesa's famous Avenida Ámsterdam. It was rated as La Condesa's Top Italian restaurant in 2024. We had a wonderful evening: the food, service , and the ambience were all amazing. We chose to eat outside in their covered terrace. Interestingly, the entire restaurant (walls & ceiling) is simply made of square terra cotta blocks; take a close look at the construction in the pictures that follow.
Michelin-Star Restaurante Rosetta in La Roma Norte
Prior to my first visit to Mexico City, I had read about Restaurante Rosetta and Chef Elena Reygadas, who owns Restaurante Rosetta, and is Mexico's most famous female chef. Restaurante Rosetta is known for its Mexican cuisine with Mediterranean influences (mainly Italian). It serves seasonal à la carte options. Rosetta is reknown for its handmade pastas and breads. According to Reygadas, the dough had been fermented for 9 years, as of 2018.
Elena Reygadas studied literature at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) before she became a chef – a profession she took an interest in by chance while working odd jobs, following graduation. She then studied gastronomy at the International Culinary Center, a French Culinary Institute in New York, and thereafter spent 4 years working at Giorgio Locatelli's Italian restaurant, Locanda Locatelli, in London. She returned to her native Mexico City, after the birth of her first daughter, determined to open her own restaurant. At first, she opened a pop-up restaurant in La Roma. Then, in February 2010, she opened Restaurante Rosetta in a stately historic Porfirian mansion on Colima Street. She purchased furniture obtained at markets and second-hand; the interior decorations resemble outdoor spaces. The original mosaic floor was replaced with wood flooring and the walls were painted pastel colors. Reydadas turned the interior courtyard into one of several dining rooms with tumbling leafy vines and carefully-placed lighting.
She received the 2014 Latin America's Best Female Chef Award from the San Pellegrino World's 50 Best organization. The British magazine, Restaurant, has twice ranked Restaurant Rosetta on its list of the World's Best Restaurants (at number 34 in 2024, & number 49 in 2023), and Reygadas received their Best Female Chef of 2023 award. Her work across different aspects of gastronomic culture is part of what earned her the title of The World’s Best Female Chef 2023. Rosetta was also awarded one Michelin star in 2024 in the first Michelin Dining Guide, covering restaurants in Mexico. The lack of pretension characteristic of Reygadas’ spaces and food is a direct reflection of her own attitude towards the acclaims she has received; she is not one to sit on her laurels.
What really stands out about Elena Reygadas is the number of different projects she is involved in. Across the street from Restaurante Rosetta, lines sprawl every morning on the sidewalk in front of the original Rosetta Panadería, with neighbors and tourists grabbing coffee and loaves of bread to go or patiently waiting for one of the few seats inside. Her love of bread and baking was born at the International Culinary Center. The panadería was originally inside the restaurant. Early on, neighbors would come knock at the door in the morning to ask for breads. The place that would become the original panadería was a small gallery across the street from the restaurant. Reygadas told the owner of the building that she would be interested in the space, should it become available. The space finally became available, and Reygadas opened the original Rosetta Panadería in 2012. She now has 4 panaderías scattered around the city; we visited to one of them.
Reygadas also leads several notable, but more casual eateries in Mexico City, including Lardo, Café Nin, and Bella Aurora. In 2012, she also opened Lardo, which offers offering small plates, fresh pastas, ice creams, great wines, and some pizzas. She had always wanted to do something with an open kitchen, which makes for a much more relaxed restaurant and a more stable menu. A friend that she worked with in London told her that he had fallen in love with Mexico, and said he wanted to do a project with her, so they became partners in Lardo.
In 2017, she opened Cafe Nin, an all-day cafe near Avenida Paseo de la Reforma that serves much of Panadería’s offerings, along with plated dishes. She just recently finished writing a book, and is scheduled to open a pizzeria. Reygadas explains that her expansion efforts have always been very organic: that she is not very strategic, and that she just follows her instinct.
She further explains that she is still in the kitchen, & never wants to be out of the kitchen, but her focus ebbs and flows, depending on the current project on which she is working. She now has a staff of 210 people. They do everything in-house: they have a person who goes to the market every day, as well as accounting &human resources personnel...all of the invisible sides of restaurants.
She is also very involved in the community and giving back. She works with Casa Gallina in Santa Maria de Rivera, where she teaches classes to women running fondas, giving them ideas on how to get better without changing who they are. She participates in Gastromotiva and in Table des Chef. She is now sending food to women refugees from Central America, one of the 4 houses of refugees in Mexico City. She is also working with a literature program for children, called Bunko, which encourages children to read more. Bunko just opened a place in Colonia Roma. The idea is to do a dinner for them once a month to raise money. Reygadas explains that it is very important to help the poor, but also very important to put attention on education. This woman is amazing, & one of my Mexican idols!
Michelin-Star Restaurante Nicos in the Azcapotzalco Barrio of Mexico City
I had read about the fantastic story of Restaurant Nicos in 2020 when doing my research for our 2022 trip to Mexico City. Just as far as stories go, it is truly amazing.
Restaurante Nicos got its beginnings back in 1957, when María Elena Lugo Zermeño and then-boyfriend Raymundo Vázquez, opened a café in an industrial neighborhood of northern Mexico City. In fact, they did not even serve meals in the beginning; the café’s main attraction was a traditional coffee machine from renowned Italian brand, La Pavoni. The local factory workers became Nicos’ first regulars, visiting during their break for good coffee and a chat with Raymundo. Neither María Elena nor her soon-to-be husband had any hospitality experience – she had just left a career as an executive secretary, while he came from a family of marble workers. The patrons began noticing the meals that María Elena prepared for the staff, traditional Mexican dishes made from her family’s recipes. Gradually María and Raymundo opened a small cafeteria in the middle-class Colonia Clavería neighborhood, offering family recipes passed down through the generations.
After almost 40 years with María Elena in the kitchen and Raymundo in the dining room, the couple’s 4th child, Gerardo Vázquez Lugo, joined Restaurante Nicos as head chef in 1996, changing careers after a promising start as an architect to follow the family dream of preserving traditional Mexican recipes. The architect-turned-chef decided to take the neighborhood restaurant his parents had run for decades to the next culinary level, yet without losing touch with his roots. He spent years researching traditional recipes and digging into culinary history across the country. He has been called a culinary archaeologist.
Restaurant Nicos has been named to San Pellegrino’s “Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants” every year since 2015, and it earned a Michelin star in 2024 in the first Michelin Guide, covering restaurants in Mexico. Chef Gerardo Vázquez Lugo and his mother have persevered in their mission to make Nicos a reference point in Mexican gastronomy; they collected their Diners Club® Lifetime Achievement Award for Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018 in Bogotá, Colombia, for their family’s shared accomplishments in bringing Mexican cuisine to a global level.
The restaurant is still located on an unassuming street in Mexico City’s Azcapotzalco neighborhood; its working-class neighborhood and decidedly non-trendy interior design set it apart from many of its peers on such lists. It is a definite detour from the regular gastro-tourism trail that snakes through Mexico City’s Roma, Polanco, and Condesa neighborhoods. But Gerardo Vazquez, head chef of Restaurante Nicos, says the restaurant’s isolated locality has developed into one of its most important characteristics. Despite its distance from the tourism corridors, or perhaps because of it, this restaurant has become a must-stop destination for anyone looking for delicious, traditional Mexican cuisine in the city. Vazquez knows exactly from where all of his ingredients are sourced. Once you taste any of the food there, you begin to understand why Restaurant Nico's has been named to San Pellegrino’s “Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants” every year since 2015, and earned its first Michelin Star in 2024. Add to that, truly outstanding service in a city that is known for attentive waitstaff, plus details like a roving mezcal cart and table-side preparation of many of the dishes. The waitress (one of the few waitresses versus waiters that we encountered in the fine dining restaurants of Mexico City) made us feel very special in the most authentic, unfawning manner. She was attentive, helpful, and friendly in the most authentic way. We had other excellent waiters in our gastronomical tour of Mexico City, but their manner was that of a practiced professional. I can't explain it, but she was authentically amazing!
And yet, true to their roots, Restaurante Nicos still offers breakfast and lunch to the locals, in addition to dinner. I want to return for a breakfast, a lunch, and another dinner on our next trip to Mexico ( and for dinner, I want to have Old-Fashioned Guadalajara-Style Marinated Rabbit: the rabbit is from the Sierra de Querétaro, in a marinade made with ancho chili, piloncillo & cocoa, an ancient recipe from the Capuchin nunnery in Guadalajara in the 19th century!)
Lunch at the Museo Nacional de la Antropología's Sala Gastronómica
Literally hidden beneath the city’s most famous museum, the Museo Nacional de la Antropología, is the most amazing little restaurant, unlike any cafe or restaurant that I have ever experienced inside a big museum, called Sala Gastronómica. It is billed as one of "Mexico City’s best kept secrets", and it lived up to that description in more ways than one. Again, I read about it before my visit to Mexico while preparing for my visit to the National Museum of Anthropology. It was described as a "culinary journey through the 6 different regions of Mexico, through ingredients, flavors, textures, and aromas that will take you on an authentic gastronomic experience." Similar to the museum itself, the menu is divided into the 6 different regions: Baja Mexico, Central Mexico, Pacific Mexico, Northern Mexico, Southern Mexico, and the Riviera Maya. They serve both breakfast & lunch; we wanted lunch.
I decided that it would provide an excellent break after several hours of exploring the famous Museo Nacional de la Antropología, especially since the Bosque is very strict about where you can have food and drinks within its grounds (it is a bit like a food & drink desert with the exception of the food stalls around Lago Chapultepec and the restaurant & cafeteria in the basement of the Museo Nacional de la Antropología, and they enforce it: the guards found water bottles in both of our backpacks at the entrance of the Castillo Chapultepec & summarily dumped them out), so I made reservations for the Sala Gastronómica at 11:00 am. Unfortunately, the serving of lunch does not commence until 1:00 pm, but, after much pleading, they were kind enough to let us switch our reservations to 1:00 pm). What I did not know beforehand is that the place that runs the restaurant with the fancy waiters, the expansive menu, & a beautiful outdoor terrace, also runs the cafetería next door with a menu board that sells water, juices, sodas, pastries, sandwiches, and salads to go...and a very long line. Only those who make reservations are allowed to sit in the beautiful terrace and order from the restaurant's vast menu. If you do not have reservations, then you must eat at the cafetería. Because we had 2 hours to kill before our revised lunch reservation time, we got to partake of both experiences: we stood in the long cafetería line for a bottle of water, a large agua de jamaica, and a pan de chocolat to share. Not bad food....just your typical cafetería or café fare.
Though I was a little taken aback by the difference between the cafetería and restaurant treatment, and the fact that only those with advance reservations could eat at the restaurant, our lunch experience did not disappoint. We shared 3 grilled Octopus tacos ( a first for us) and a beet and goat cheese salad. The waitstaff was wonderful, as was dining on the outdoor terrace. Word to the wise: Make advance reservations unless you want food from the cafeteria, & remember that they do not begin serving lunch until 1:00 pm!
Lakeside Dinner at Lago Algo in El Bosque Chapultepec
On the day that we explored Seccion II of El Bosque Chapultepec and Complejo Cultural de Los Pinos, we ended the day with eating dinner at Lago Algo, a high-end Mexican dining venue in a sleek piece of modern architecture with a swooping, saddle-shaped roof that sits on the edge of and overlooks Lago Mayor, one of 3 small lakes in the Bosque. It is in the second section of El Bosque Chapultepec. I had made advance reservations before we left the States, which definitely paid off. We had a lakeside front row seat with a magnificent view of the of the lake, its abundant waterfowl, and the towering Montezuma Cypress trees that surround it! It was the perfect ending to a 2-day exploration of El Bosque Chapultepec!
The 1964 structure was designed by architect Alfonso Ramírez Ponce, when he was just 23 years old, as part of a city-wide redevelopment plan launched ahead of the 1968 Olympics. It has an open floor plan, concrete walls, and floor-to-ceiling windows with a spacious outdoor patio area. Alfonso Ramírez Ponce topped the entire structure off with a swooping, saddle-shaped roof, which gives it a distinct presence.
The building has always housed a restaurant in one form or another, starting as a posh supper club, where movie stars, like the legendary María Félix, dined and danced, while bow-tied waiters pushed around towering dessert carts.
Casual Italian Dinner at the Neighborhood's Pasta Comedia
One night we walked to a small Italian restaurant, run by a Lebanese couple in our neighborhood, called Pasta Comedia, which specialized in authentic handmade Neapolitan pizzas. We split a margherita pizza and a salad. Because of the open front of the restaurant facing the street, we were lucky enough to be serenaded by a wandering musician, playing the guitar (during our dinner)...a delightfully common occurrence in Mexico.
Dinner at El Dietz (10), a Parrilla Argentina, Across the Street From Our Apartment
One night we had dinner at El Diez (10), an Argentinean Parrilla, that was literally across the street from our apartment. We could see it from our living room and bedroom windows. I asked the waiter why the restaurant was named El Diez (10), & why there were pictures of great soccer players on the walls. He explained that the number 10 jersey is often associated with playmakers and creative, attacking midfielder on a soccer team , & that the pictures were of great Argentinean soccer players, who wore the number 10 jersey. Some of the most famous players to wear jersey number 10 include Pelé, Maradona, Messi, Ronaldinho, and Zidane. Unlike any jersey number in any other sport, the No. 10 jersey in soccer carries with it a certain caché, a sense of prestige, and a sign of respect. Usually, you want your best all-around, offensive-minded players at the forward position, so lots of creative playmakers were assigned the No. 10. Historically, goalkeepers wore No. ,1 and forwards wore No. 10 and 11, with wingers, typically wearing No. 7. When soccer players wear the number 10 jersey, it instantly marks them as a key creator for their team. Often, they will be the most technically proficient and creatively-minded player on the pitch, and with that level of talent comes great responsibility and pressure. A No. 10 is almost always an attacking midfielder. Their job is to act as the team's attacking playmaker, and to give support and service to the main striker. What you learn about soccer at an Argentinean Parrilla in La Condesa!!
Lunch Inside La Gruta (Grotto) Teotihuacán
On the day we traveled to see the ruins of Teotihuacán, we had the most amazing dining experience....we ate in the famous La Gruta (Grotto) Teotihuacán. I had seen pictures of restaurants in caves or grottos in the Mediterranean, and had always dreamed of being able to have such an experience. Little did I know that it would happen while exploring the pyramids of Teotihuacán. It is a bit touristy, but I am so glad that we did it.
This little-known subterranean restaurant is only 650 feet from the famous archaeological site. La Gruta is near Entrance 5, which is just behind the Pyramid of the Sun. The restaurant is inside a large grotto. Prior to descending the long stone staircase to the grotto floor, guests are taken to the terrace waiting area, where they are encouraged to wash their hands and use the restroom (as there are no bathrooms in the grotto). Guests then descend the stone staircase to a room filled with brightly painted tables and chairs of every color; however, the cave itself has a bare minimum of decorations, and relies on its natural beauty. By day, the sun pours in through the upper reaches of the cave, while at night, illumination is provided by hundreds of candles stationed along the cavern walls cast a warm glow about the cool, echoey space. Calming traditional indigenous music of drums and flutes plays in the background. Another detail not to be missed is the waiters' clothing, which is hand-embroidered by a community of women in Mazahua; the designs are inspired by the image of the Mexica (Aztec) Corn God, Centéotl.
The restaurant, La Gruta Teotihuacán, has been around for over 110 years. It all began on April 9, 1906 when President Porfirio Díaz, who was touring the nearby pyramids of Teotihuacán, visited the cavern, which then served as a wine cellar, and requested to eat inside. The experience was so incredible, that the dictator's idea inspired its owners, Filiberto Cedillo and Asunción Arce, to open a restaurant inside the volcanic cave on their property. Since then, 3 generations of the family have taken the reins of this project, which has evolved over time.
Since 1906, visitors to the ancient ruins of Teotihuacán have found their way to cool off and enjoy the restaurant's traditional Mexican and Pre-Columbian dishes. This site has been visited by celebrities, such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Jorge Luis Borges, John F. Kennedy, & Queen Elizabeth II of England, who dined here during her first visit to Mexico in 1975. At first , only the elite were privileged enough to dine in the grotto.
The restaurant has a capacity for 700 guests. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner – every day of the year! La Gruta is open everyday from 8:00 am - 6:00 pm. In the background, they play calming indigenous instrumental music of drums and flutes. It is advisable to make a reservation, especially if you are dining during peak hours or with a large group. Warning: Do not be late, though, as reservations are held for only 10 minutes. As it is a cave, the temperature is a constant cool temperature (no matter how roasting it might be on the surface); it is advisable to take a light jacket to keep warm while dining there. On weekends, La Gruta hosts Mexican folk and pre-Columbian dance performances (3:30 pm on Saturdays, and 1:30 pm, 3:30 pm, & 5:30 pm on Sundays).
La Gruta's menu boasts an extensive selection of pre-Hispanic specialties, such as: tlacoyitos (corn cakes smothered in anise-flavored green sauce), the more adventurous escamoles al epazote (ant larvae with wormseed herb), and traditional pit barbecued meats ranging from rabbit to goat and lamb. Many of the dishes are made with the vegetables and flowers grown in the on-site garden located at the rear of the restaurant. On the menu, you will find a wide selection of Mexican specialties, You might want to try the trio of nixtamalized corn sopecitos or the Quetzalcoatl salad, featuring locally harvested nopales. The barbacoa, from free-grazing local sheep, is cooked in underground ovens for 12 hours, a pre-Hispanic barbeque technique that enhances the lamb’s flavor and softens the texture. It is the most traditional dish in the region, and one of the most popular choices on the menu. "We make the barbacoa right there on-site, with our longtime, local, 4th-generation barbecue chefs," explained Head Chef Carlos Cedillo. Turkey mole is also one of La Gruta's favorite dishes. This mole comes from the secret recipe of founder Asunción Arce, who created the dish in 1927. It is a thick mole with a perfect combination of sweet and spicy, accompanied by beans and fluffy rice.
The Teotihuacan Valley is a volcanic valley, so there are many grottos, and this is one of the largest. Thanks to the temperature difference, grottos and caves, like this, were used by the ancient people of Teotihuacán as a warehouse and storage facility for maiz, grains, rice, and beans. They stored everything they could conserve for planting here. It was considered Mother Earth's womb. Legend also has it that La Gruta was also a place, where the indigenous people would pray and purify themselves. When presented with the bill, patrons are given a candle. According to legend, lighting a candle and placing it in a niche in the rock wall is a symbol of rebirth.
La Gruta has its own farm where they cultivate greens, mushrooms, flowers, and herbs used for flavor and garnish. The restaurant also works with Gerónimo Nieto of San Francisco Mazapa to harvest the corn used in their home-made tortillas and pan de elote. They also support local artisans, like in the making of staff uniforms.
Head Chef Carlos Cedillo, grandson of the founders, Filiberto Cedillo and Asunción Arce, has been working hand-in-hand with his mother and brother at the helm of La Gruta restaurant for 10 years. Since then, they have been working on re-engineering the restaurant and inventing new culinary creations. The chef seeks to honor the memory of his grandparents, Filiberto Cedillo and Asunción Arce, just as he remembered them: his grandmother in the kitchen and his grandfather in the service of the guests. These memories carry with them founding values, all centered on local supply. His grandmother was in charge of the kitchen, and with it, the gardens, where she planted and harvested her own ingredients. “The garden was a necessity and a circularity of resources. We began the path toward sustainability on a bigger scale 8 years ago,” explains chef Carlos Cedillo in an interview with " Culinaria Mexicana." The garden began to emerge as the first zero-mile proposal. This means that the ingredients harvested in the garden are the same ones used in the dish. At the same time, the dishes & menu must be designed to utilize these ingredients.
As a lover of cooking and service, Carlos Cedillo decided to study gastronomy; he worked for a time at Restaurante Nicos with Chef Gerardo Vázquez Lugo. His brother decided to pursue a master's degree in sustainability. At the same time, Cedillo began researching Kilometer Zero, the Slow Food movement, and various sustainable practices.
Last year, the La Gruta team attended Basque Culinary in Spain, a diploma program where they presented the restaurant's case and addressed topics related to sustainability. Chef Cedillo discussed how the restaurant not only focuses on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's), but also concentrates on people, the planet, and the process. Cedillo also discussed the importance of viewing sustainability as an investment, not a cost. It is essential to have a social, environmental, and economic investment that is profitable in all 3 areas.
What began as a memory from their grandparents became a cornerstone of the restaurant's history. Today, the garden consists of biointensive chambers: a prickly pear plantation, a maguey plantation, and a cornfield. The restaurant's head chef and director, Carlos Cedillo, focuses on organic and sustainable cuisine. At least 70% of the ingredients come from 33 local producers, including the corn, which is the star product on the menu. The sheep for the barbacoa, for example, are free-range animals. The chef explained how proud and grateful he is for the nomination La Gruta Teotihuacán restaurant received for the 2025 Gastrolab Awards.
I would like to return to La Gruta Teotihuacán to taste their breakfast menu, and to experience one of their weekend Mexican folk and pre-Columbian dance performances.
My 71st Birthday Celebration at the Polanco District's Entremar
We celebrated my 71st birthday at the Polanco District's famous seafood restaurant, Entremar, which sits above the park in Plaza Uruguay. I had made reservations before we left the States, so we got one of the best seats in the house (according to the Michelin Dining Guide for Mexico), overlooking the Plaza Uruguay. This was our first foray into the high-end Polanco district.
When Mexico City’s rich and famous want to shop, they head for the upmarket district of Polanco. With its exclusive shops and luxury boutiques, this exquisite shopping district is often compared to California's Beverly Hills or the Champs Elysees in Paris. Lining the upscale streets are international brands as well as some of those that are unique to Mexico. Some of the names you will come across are the very epitome of luxury shopping and include Cartier, Burberry, and Tiffany. The main thoroughfare is Presidente Masaryk Avenue, which is Mexico City's equivalent of Rodeo Drive. This is where the ultra-cool and the ultra-rich do their fashion shopping in what is considered to be the most prestigious street in the city. Antara is an upscale open-air shopping center in the Nuevo Polanco section of the upscale district of Polanco, Mexico City. Antara is a top scale fashion mall in the heart of Polanco with stores, such as Burberry, Tory Burch, and Carolina Herrera.
Palacio de Hierro is an upscale chain of department stores . It has has 2 flagship stores: one the original historic flagship in the Centro Histórico of Mexico City and the "Palacio de los Palacios" (Palace of the Palaces) store in the Polanco district, which reopened in 2016 after an extensive renovation costing $300,000,000.00 USD.
Avenida Masaryk hosts many boutiques of international brands including Abercrombie & Fitch, Adidas, Audi, BMW, Cartier, Chopard, Creed, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Gucci, Hermès, Hugo Boss, Lexus, Louis Vuitton, MaxMara, Massimo Dutti, Montblanc, The North Face, Salvatore Ferragamo, Starbucks, Sunglass Hut, Tiffany & Co, Timberland, Volvo, Zara, and Zegna.
Pasaje Polanco, originally Pasaje Comercial, is an architecturally significant open-air shopping court with apartments on the upper levels along Avenida Masaryk in the Polanquito section of the Polanco neighborhood. It opened in 1938; Francisco J. Serrano was the architect. It is in Colonial Californiano style: a Mexican interpretation of the California interpretation of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and Mission Revival architecture. It consists of an interior courtyard around which there are shops, restaurants, and cafés, with apartments on the upper floors. Shops on the Masaryk Avenue side also have entrances on that street, one of the city's most famous streets for luxury shopping.
Pasaje Polanco is reminiscent of some much older urban shopping areas that functioned as a covered passageway between streets. In Mexico City, a few still retain the name “Pasaje,” especially in the city center. For the most part, as the 20th century progressed, the passageways were lost or replaced by stand-alone shopping centers.
The complex opened in 1938. It was designed by architect and engineer Francisco Serrano, who later gained recognition for his especially Post-Art-Deco residential towers in La Condesa. He is probably most famous for the Faculty of Engineering building on the UNAM University City Campus. With Pasaje Polanco, flirting with the obvious West Hollywood style, Serrano achieved a remarkable unity. The complex has remained popular—as has its residential use—since it opened. For a commercial-residential property, it still has individual tenants, namely independent restaurants. Much of the street level, on 3 sides, is still given over to single-owner restaurants that still operate beneath the 4 residential apartment buildings of the Passage.
The iconic sundial is original. It was designed by Serrano himself. The passage is no longer fully open from north to south, but for those who pass by, it remains a charming and pleasant place to visit.
Though I cannot see us doing much shopping in Polanco, I do think that we will return to sample more of their fine restaurants.
A Mid-Day Snack at A Gin Joint in La Roma Norte
On the day that we first explored La Roma Norte & its Famous Avenida Álvaro Obregón, we stopped at the Gin Gin Kitchen Bar for a mid-day snack. Gin Gin Kitchen Bar is a gin joint in the style of Pre-Prohibition cocktails, with an emphasis on quality: locally-sourced herbs to muddle, house-made syrups & top tier liquors. Pat had read about Gin Gin's prior to our trip to Mexico City. There are 5 Gin Gin Kitchen Bars scattered throughout Mexico City. They are known as leaders in the world of gin and mixology. They often have live music in the evenings. The Roma Norte's Gin Gin Kitchen Bar is also known for its skeletal wall. As it was mid-day when we stopped by, we were about the only customers, and we only share a bottle of sparkling mineral water and Montaditas de Burrata (Cherry tomatoes with olive oil, burrata, and cilantro sprouts on homemade bread)
During our first trip to Mexico City in 2022, I fell in love with Mexico's rooftop bars & restaurants. In fact, I found a list of the city's Top 50 rooftop restaurants and bars, and am determined to work my way through the list in my lifetime. The unusual thing about rooftop restaurants & bars in Mexico City is finding them. You will find a small sign, like the one below, & then the search begins for the indistinguishable stairway, leading to the rooftop. During this trip to Mexico City, we visited 2 more rooftop restaurants & bars in the La Roma Norte district.
Dinner at at La Roma Norte's Balmori Rooftop Bar & Restaurant
One evening, we had dinner at La Roma Norte's Balmori Rooftop Bar & Restaurant. It is touted as a stylish rooftop restaurant with a bar, spotlighting avant-garde global dishes, cocktails, & DJ's. It offers a tranquil oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of the city with a unique design combining plants, trees, and a retractable roof. The terrace at Balmori is designed as a daytime space to relax, listen to good music, eat well, and even have a working lunch while enjoying an ice-cold beer. In the evening, it comes alive. Balmori is stunningly done is light pink, tangerine orange, and green.
A Most Unusual Experience While Attempting to Enter Supra Roma Rooftop Restaurant & Bar
One evening we visited at the Supra Roma Rooftop Restaurant & Bar, which was a very unusual experience. We found the small sign for it streetside, which led to an entrance area with with lots of plants, like the entrance to an American corporate building, where they have a guard at a desk, ready to direct you to the correct floor. However, there were several guards at this desk, and the first thing they asked was where we were going. We told them to the Supra Roma Rooftop Bar. They then asked if we had reservations (which, we did; I had made reservations for most every place we had dinner in Mexico Citr when we were still in the States). The guards then called upstairs to confirm that we did, indeed, have reservations for 6:00 pm. They then directed us to a tiny elevator, which took us 14 floors to the rooftop. It was definitely a cultural and bohemian rooftop destination, with 360º views of the city.
Their drinks were excellent, and their food was good. The restaurant was very crowded, but hardly anyone was in the bar area yet. We were the only people of our age bracket( above 60 years old) in the entire place; perhaps that is why the guards were discouraging us from visiting this hot spot. There were hookahs all around the bar area. The view of the city is beautiful from Supra Roma Rooftop Restaurant & Bar, but unfortunately this was one of the few days during our 2-week visit where there was a thunder storm, and Mexico City was especially smoggy that day. I would love to go back here on a clear sunny day.
Supra, which in Latin means 'beyond', is a cultural and elevated destination designed to be a sensory experience through music, consciousness, art, gastronomy, and mixology, according to its hype. This bohemian and unique rooftop bar,14 floors above Roma Norte, mixes earthy tones, comfortable lounge areas, dining tables, and lush greenery, all surrounded with amazing 360º views of Mexico City.
Blending tastes of Mexico and the Middle East in a rich and diverse menu, it is filled with both tacos and kebabs, beers, wines, tequila, mezcal, world-spirits, and original mixology cocktails, as well as hookahs. Popular among both international travelers and locals, Supra mixes and atmosphere that is both casual and trendy, where live DJ sessions and mindful events go hand in hand.
Dinner at Neighborhood Haunt, Restaurante Ciena
One night, we ate dinner at the neighborhood restaurant, Ciena, which was our breakfast haunt for the first few days after we arrived in La Condesa. It was located on the same street as our apartment (Calle Alfonso Reyes), and only about 3 blocks down. We went here often enough that the waiters knew us. This place seemed to cater to a lot of expats and foreigners, & their prices reflected that also. Breakfast here would run you $12.00 USD a person, just like it would in the States. Their waiters had a pretty good command of English. They would bring Pat the English menu, & me the Spanish menu...& they knew to speak to me in Spanish, so I could practice my Spanish. Ciena has an nice indoor dining area, as well as a wonderful sidewalk cafe, which is where we would sit for breakfast, so we could watch the neighborhood come alive in the morning. The one night that we had dinner there, we ate inside (just to try it out). We shared a fresh whole red snapper dinner; it was very good, but not cheap.
Our Last Dinner in Mexico City: at the Elegant Ristorante Belforno, Right in Our Neighborhood
On our last night in Mexico City, we chose to eat at Belforno Ristorante, an Italian restaurant in our neighborhood (in fact, on our street, Calle Alfonso Reyes!). We passed it many times during our 2-week visit to La Condesa, most often on our way to Neveria Roxy for our daily nieves and helados. We examined their menu closely, talked to the maître d', and peeked into the restaurant before deciding to eat there our last night...& it did not disappoint!
It was quite fancy; the food was really good, as was the service. Pat & I shared a Caprese Belfornia (with Mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, pistachio pesto, & fresh basil), Caprese & Prosciutto Ravioli (with Burrata & ricotta fillings with tomato sauce & prosciutto, and a piece of Tiramisu. Pat had the best glass of wine of the entire trip here: a Sangiovese, which is an classic Italian wine, similar to a Pinot Noir. We also shared a bottle of Agua de Piedra, my new-found favorite sparking mineral water.
Belforno serves artisanal dishes, from fresh pastas to exquisite pizzas. Their focaccias, their fresh-bread, & their pizzas are all baked in their fancy wood-fired oven. They also have a large selection of Italian artisanal wines. The diversity of native grapes is the essence of Italian artisanal wines; each variety tells a unique story of the Italian terroir: Chianti Classico, Bartolo, Sagiovese, & Nebbiolo, to name a few.
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