The Five Best Restaurants in Mexico City
Enrique Olvera’s flagship restaurant, Pujol, the birthplace of modern Mexican gastronomy, opened in 2000. Since then, it’s attracted local cooks with big ambitions, and the chef’s protégés form a talented army that’s made the city’s food scene an irresistible lure. Olvera discusses the most exciting food in the capital.
Publico Comedor
Olvera says this breakfast and lunch spot in the upscale Polanco neighborhood “tastes like home.” The space is a modern oasis, with exposed brick and air plants that dangle from a faraway ceiling. Beat the midday rush to get Olvera’s favorite dish: a peppery meatball stew with tortillas and rice that’s “served with so much roasted tomato and chipotle sauce, it’s almost like ordering soup,” he says. “It’s how my mom made it.” (Av. Moliere 50, +52 55 4000-1288, publi.co)
Máximo Bistrot
“Máximo is one of the hottest restaurants in the city,” Olvera says, “so the crowd is lively and upbeat—a lot of young artist types.” What’s drawing them? A focus on sustainability that extends beyond local produce; even the napkins are fair trade. Chef Eduardo García sharpened his skills at Pujol, so it’s no surprise Olvera is a fan: “He makes a killer tiradito with guacamole, but the menu changes constantly based on what he finds.” (Tonalá 133, +52 55 5264-4291; maximobistrot.com.mx)
MeroToro
Even in the capital, awareness of regional cuisines is still growing, which makes this menu of Baja-style crudos and barbacoa stews an outlier. Chef Jair Téllez got his start at age 13 cooking at a Tijuana racetrack. “People don’t associate his cooking with Mexico,” Olvera says. “It’s not traditional or contemporary, it’s just from the soul.” Order the vuelve a la vida, a ceviche-like hangover cure modernized with tomato broth. (Av. Amsterdam 204, +52 55 5564-7799; merotoro.mx)
–Enrique Olvera
Carlota
This design-forward spot in one of Mexico City’s prettiest new hotels has a vegetable-centric menu by Joaquin Cardoso and Sofía Cortina, another Olvera alumnus. Olvera recommends sitting poolside and getting one of the “simple but extremely flavorful” salads, which change daily, and a glass of natural wine. (Río Amazonas 73, +52 55 5511-6300; hotelcarlota.com)
Sushi Kyo
There’s no way to know about this place, Olvera says, “unless you really love food.” This minimalist, 13-seat sushi counter is hidden in a back room of the buzzy seafood spot Havre 77, in Juárez’s tourist-heavy Zona Rosa. There, you can get an omakase featuring fish from Baja and Southern California, prepared by a “quality-obsessed” Japanese chef. (Havre 77, +52 55 5511-8027, @SushiyaKyo)
