These days, who isn’t obsessed with this city? CDMX is at once sprawling and welcoming, innovative and tradition-bound, beguiling and bewildering, and always wildly delicious. We assembled a dream team of savvy insiders to share their best intel. (You’ll definitely want to save this one)
Mexico City is awash in vivid colors. Photo: Per Images/Stocksy.By Karla Martínez de Salas, María Pellicer, Anya von Bremzen, Eugenia González de Henn, Bertha González Nieves, Barry Yourgrau, Mary Holland, Peter Jon Lindberg, and David Lida /
February 5, 2025
WHAT’S IN
THIS GUIDE
It’s enormous. Overwhelming. Unruly and uncontainable. And on a good day — when you do it right — it’s the most thrilling city on the planet. Follow the advice of Karla Martínez de Salas, editor-in-chief of Vogue México, and give in to the magnificent chaos of CDMX
Skull figurines at the Mercado de Artesanías, a source for folk art in the Centro Histórico. Photo: Anna Petrow.When I first told people I was moving to Mexico City, 10 years ago, some asked if I was excited to be “moving back.” An interesting question, since I grew up in Texas, across the border from Ciudad Juarez — I was close to Mexico, but never lived there myself. My parents had emigrated to the United States in the early ’70s. I grew up going to Juarez for lunch; every summer I went to see my family in San Luis Potosí. But aside from a few family visits, I had little familiarity with Mexico City, and frankly didn’t have the best impression — back then the city was notoriously polluted, and because my parents were not museum-going types, my sightseeing consisted of going to malls.
Fast-forward a few decades: Soon after moving to New York, in 2000, I started dating a guy from Mexico City. I was captivated by his big-city attitude. That summer, I accompanied him on a visit to his hometown, which, after all those years, I scarcely recognized. It was wildly intimidating, yet also intriguing — a puzzle I somehow needed to solve.
The relationship fizzled out, but my curiosity about the city endured. A few years later, I met my future husband — another Mexico City native, or Chilango — and began coming more often. Our visits were mostly over weekends, and consisted of long lunches at Contramar or San Angel Inn, strolls around Polanco, maybe a quick museum visit. My tactic for getting to know a new city is to hit as many museums and galleries as I can, and to observe people going about their days — what they’re wearing, what they’re drawn to. Yet with each successive visit, the city’s mystery deepened. I found myself yearning for more.
Which is how we decided to pack up our life in New York and move to Mexico City. When we arrived in 2015, I was equal parts excited and terrified. How would working in fashion in Mexico compare to working in the fashion capital of the world? How could it? Those first few years in CDMX, I made the mistake of trying to re-create our life in NYC — our working styles, our social lives, our daily routines. But holding onto old habits didn’t make me happy. Eventually I found my way in, by embracing a new attitude toward the city. And I learned some crucial lessons worth sharing, whether you’re here for your first time or your fifth.
• Time is its own concept here. Chilangos are always late. Always! This isn’t considered rude. Rather, lateness is understood to be a product of the city’s chaos and constant traffic. Adopting a flexible notion of time is essential.
• Your wardrobe must also be flexible. The unpredictable weather and absence of air-conditioning and heating have rearranged my own sense of style. Gone are the dresses and skirts I wore in NYC. Here I’m nearly always in jeans, a blouse or knit, and a blazer or jacket; only the fabric changes (heavier wool for “winter” and lighter fabrics for spring, summer, and fall, which are all kind of the same). I insist on comfortable shoes, since I’m often jumping out of a car in gridlock and walking the rest of the way. Speaking of which…
• Walk as much as possible. Mexico City is best experienced on foot, not only because of traffic jams. I always tell visiting friends to decide on just a few things they want to see that day, and commit to one or two neighborhoods. Then let yourself get lost. Mexican culture lives outside, on the streets and sidewalks and in the parks and plazas. Give yourself time and permission to dive in.
• Come here on a Friday. People in Mexico City live for Friday-afternoon lunch — and it really does last all afternoon. For a perfect day, I recommend starting with breakfast at El Cardenal, for the best bolillo and huevos a la mexicana, or Ruta de la Seda for tea and pastries. Then make your way through San Miguel Chapultepec to Kurimanzutto, Mexico’s first contemporary art gallery. Continue on through Condesa, then — if you’re feeling ambitious — into Roma Norte to gallery-hop at Travesía Cuatro, Nordenhake, and Mascota, and to shop at Esperanza Home. We eat late in Mexico, so make your lunch reservation no earlier than 2pm, slow down, and enjoy a Clamato and a shot of tequila to sip.
Sobremesa is a word that lacks an English translation — it’s the act of lingering at the table long after a meal is done, simply talking and drinking with friends. To understand sobremesa is to understand Mexican culture, and the sacredness of a Friday afternoon. Sobremesa is that stretched-out moment where the craziness of the city disappears and the only priority is enjoying the people you’re with. Good food, good drinks, good company — this is the key to savoring Mexico City at its fullest.
Mexico City is long on talented chefs drawing from folkloric traditions and global influences. Anya von Bremzen singles out five favorites from one of the world’s great restaurant scenes
A tostada of grilled pickled mussels with mole del mar and charred onion sauce at Quintonil. Photo: Courtesy jpark.studio/Quintonil.
In 2012 Jorge Vallejo, who’d worked with both René Redzepi and Enrique Olvera, opened an affordable haute-casual spot on a quiet Polanco block, applying Noma-esque flair to Mexican techniques and ingredients. A longtime habitué of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list — now with prices to match — Quintonil remains as creative as ever. Book a seat at the new green marble counter framing the kitchen and indulge in Vallejo’s beautifully wrought tasting menu, which romances Mexico’s complex terroir. Highlights might feature delicate crab in a makrut lime–scented pipián verde, or a clay bowl of pibil duck tamal in an ethereal corn cream. A course called “entomophagy festival” involves handmade tortillas and various insect fillings, along with presentation boxes of Mexico’s edible critters (no, not alive). The crème fraiche ice cream infused with Mayan Melipona honey and frosted with caviar brings you back to the comfort zone.
Thirtysomething chef Ana Dolores was surprised — and delighted — at the recent news of her first Michelin star. Esquina Común, after all, started life in 2021 as a pop-up inside her tiny Roma Norte apartment. The restaurant’s current space in Condesa still feels like a speakeasy: a greenery-fringed rooftop terrace entered via another café and open only on weekends. Chatty female staffers pass around paper napkins — a very un-Michelin gesture — and Dolores’s seasonal, deeply personal dishes on the super-short menu have the charming quality of inspired improvs. She might pile tostadas with different squashes and the season’s last corn; conjure fideo noodles into a giant croqueta stuffed with a rabbit stew; or dream up a festive, flower-strewn composition of smoked plantain, shrimp, pineapple, and coconut. Share the fun with DIY tacos of Wagyu beef, wild mushrooms, and dabs of her complex pear-and-peach mole.
Chef Emiliano Padilla is a young veteran of Noma, not to mention Sweden’s Fäviken, New York’s The Breslin, and Tokyo’s RyuGin — and he’s also a rap artist. Somehow all these experiences come together at his hipster gastro cantina in Roma Norte, Voraz, where laughter bounces off the distressed concrete walls of a former auto-repair shop. And here’s Padilla himself — red hoodie, Converse sneakers — delivering an hoja santa–infused margarita and explaining how it took him 32 tries to create the ultimate tuna tostada (it involves fatty chu-toro and Oaxacan chintextle mole). The open kitchen anticipates all your slightly wicked desires, be it for wheat gorditas filled with fried oysters — a Mexican po’boy? — crispy pig’s-ear slivers you can’t stop munching, or Instagrammable savory churros. When your waiter recommends pairing bone-marrow tacos with a cool German rosé, trust him.
With a curved marble bar and Thonet chairs, Cana, an airy new spot in Colonia Juarez, feels like a Parisian corner bistro by way of downtown Manhattan. Both chef Fabiola Escobosa and sommelier Isabela Freydell are alums of New York standouts like Cosme and Estela, so while the vibes and the prices are down-to-earth, the food and the beverage programs are stellar. An ideal order here must include the crispy kale chicharron dotted with crème fraiche and juicy ikura beads; the uni brioche that tastes like 24-karat comfort food; and the soupy, Spanish-style arroz laced with beautiful seafood. That’s not to mention the city’s most refreshing Palomas (powered by the single-estate Tequila Ocho), intriguing wines, and — to go with the dreamy tapioca panna cotta — Mexican digestifs that Freydell collects from tiny producers.
Even in a city flush with creative young cheffy spots, Gaba, opened in 2023 on the southern edge of Condesa, feels special. After honing his craft at Bestia in L.A. and Arca in Tulum, the California-born Mexican chef Victor Toriz Sánchez seems right in his element in this loud, narrow space. Here he blends Asian, Mexican, and Californian accents in jazzy dishes that are hard to pigeonhole and equally hard to stop eating. Think smoky tartare of coal-singed Wagyu cecina that he ages in duck fat and highlights with an XO sauce with chicatana ants, or tender clams sauced with an aromatic cross between green curry and salsa verde. The concise, deadpan menu might also include grilled kampachi collar in a fermented jalapeño beurre blanc so delicious you’ll have dreams about it.
Trends flash and fade, chefs move, but a long lunch at Nicos is somehow eternal. Still, you might have second thoughts as your Uber chugs along toward the far-flung barrio of Azcapotzalco. Entering a boxy, low-ceilinged room, seemingly lost in some unglamorous mid-century moment, you may not be so reassured. But things look up when a liquor cart approaches and citruses are squeezed for your Mezcalini, presented in a dainty Riedel glass rimmed with marigold salt. The room is now buzzing with regulars; your remarkable lunch is about to begin.
Nicos was opened in 1957 by Señora María Elena Lugo Zermeño and her late husband as a coffee shop for workers in this formerly industrial neighborhood. “But customers wanted to eat,” she recalled to me recently, “so we started serving casero [homey] dishes like chicken in white wine and pork in salsa verde.” Three decades ago, her son, the preservationist chef Gerardo Vázquez Lugo, took over the kitchen. Founder of Mexico’s Slow Food chapter, he’s been infusing traditional Mexican bourgeois home cooking with a sustainable, locavore ethos. “We want people to know that Mexican food is not all street tacos,” he told me. “And Mom’s still the boss here,” he added.
And lunch? It might open, like mine did, with crunchy flautas filled with tender lamb and sprinkled with cheese, both from small family farms, then progress to impeccably fried tiny fish called charales. Even if Nicos’s legendary chiles en nogada aren’t in season, there might be chiles rellenos plumped with delicate fish hash, Veracruz-style — and to follow, a verdant pistachio mole dressing the season’s last figs. Good luck deciding between plush slices of tongue in a zingy white wine escabeche and rabbit in a very colonial chile piquín and sesame sauce. Whatever you order, save space for the stupendously rich sopa seca de natas — a French-inspired, tomatoey layered crepe casserole from a Guadalajaran convent’s 19th-century recipe. The Mother Superior was Vázquez Lugo’s family relative. “How can we move to the future,” he mused over coffee, “without respecting our past?”
Huevos encamisados, a breakfast dish of eggs encased in tortillas. Photo: Courtesy Nicos.
Guacamole prepared tableside. Photo: Araceli Paz.
Sopa seca de natas, from a 19th-century recipe. Photo: Courtesy Nicos.
Lucía Sanromán. Photo: Courtesy MUAC.With its extravagant wealth of museums, dynamic gallery scene, and creative talent flocking in from around the globe — not to mention the complex energy of its cultural heritages — Mexico City has claimed its place as one of the world’s art capitals. Zona Maco, Latin America’s biggest and most important annual art fair, takes place this month (February 5–9); last year’s edition drew 81,000 visitors and over 200 exhibitors.
For Lucía Sanromán, the new curator in chief of the contemporary art museum MUAC, what’s especially distinctive about the art world here is its genuine diversity. “In part that’s thanks to extensive public grants,” she notes, “which help free Mexican artists from the economics of collectors, galleries, and museums. Someone working on the most arcane subjects can manage to exist here.”
Part of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, MUAC is a key player in the ongoing movement to decolonize a Eurocentric viewpoint and introduce disempowered voices. Sanromán, who formerly led the city’s Laboratorio Arte Alameda, a vital experimental space championing female, Indigenous, and non-European artists, is just the right guide to Mexico City’s hopping scene.
How to Navigate Zona Maco
“Zona Maco is very important in Latin America — it’s the first fair that really tried to compete with North America. It’s singlehandedly responsible for exposing the mainstream Mexican art market to the rest of the world. And it created the opportunity for the other Art Week events here: Feria Material and the platform Salón Acme. It is extremely fun, but the competition for fun is vicious — so many things are happening. My advice: Plan your day according to the areas of Mexico City you’ll be in; otherwise you could find yourself in traffic for two and a half hours.”
Museums Beyond the Big Names
“Casa Azul [the Museo Frida Kahlo], the Anthropology Museum, Soumaya, Jumex, Tamayo — they’re classics of course, and the former headquarters of the Secretariat of Public Education, with its great Diego Rivera murals, is now officially a museum. I’d suggest less-touristed gems too, like the lovely Anahuacalli Museum, conceived in rough volcanic stone by Rivera for his pre-Hispanic art collection. The Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros in David Siqueiros’s house in Polanco lets you understand how the great muralist created things; half is a contemporary art space, half displays some of his abstract last works. Siqueiros’s sweeping narrative mural at Chapultepec Castle is so dynamic, and it’s very close by. Laboratorio Arte Alameda, which occupies a former 16th-century church, has featured site-specific works by many artists, including Lukas Avendaño, a Oaxacan muxe or third-gender performance artist, and Tania Candiani, whose works live at the intersection of science and sound — for example, music that’s soothing to wolves. Across the street, in a beautifully restored 18th-century friars’ hospice, Museo Kaluz showcases the magnate Antonio Del Valle’s collection of 19th-century and early Modern art in Mexico. The National Art Museum, hardly visited by tourists, has the most amazing colonial paintings. And then there’s the astonishing Blind People’s Library designed by Mauricio Rocha and Gabriela Carrillo at the monumental La Ciudadela – Library of Mexico. In the plaza nearby, old people come to dance, especially on Saturdays. It’s a specific Mexican phenomenon. They’re fantastic dancers.”
Not to Be Neglected
“Don’t miss the Palacio de Bellas Artes. It’s a fantastically strange endeavor, an Art Deco interior with Indigenous motifs that are Art Deco too. It has a 19th-century kind of maximalist aesthetic but in a minimalist way, with murals that include a copy of the one Diego Rivera made for Rockefeller Center. It’s just a wonderful place.”
Go-To Galleries
“Familiar names like OMR and Labor are always worth the time. Proyectos Monclova features extraordinary well-established artists, including major Mexican ones, but also has spaces for younger artists. Among newer galleries, General Expenses shows multidisciplinary work linked, directly or indirectly, with Mexican and global issues. Biquini Wax is alternative and cool; it’s a collective of multiple art practices. Llano highlights long-term research often related to science, history, and technology, while Peana’s focus is on experimental and emerging work.”
Art-World Hangouts
“The place in the 90s and early 2000s, Covadonga has become the place again. It’s a big, airy, Spanish-style cantina/salon in Polanco. Montejo is a great neighborhood Yucatecan cantina in Condesa. Unión Veri Bari in Tabacalera is a very underground hot-spot club. Best of luck getting in!”
—Barry Yourgrau
CDMX designers look to the female artisans of Oaxaca, Chiapas, and beyond to create thoroughly modern looks deeply rooted in Mexican heritage
“Mexico City’s fashion scene has become increasingly conscious of its social and ecological impact,” says fashion designer Concepción Orvañanos, founder of Mexico City–based label Yakampot. Orvañanos spends much of her time out of the studio, traveling to small communities in Oaxaca and Chiapas to seek out new collaborators. In these rural outposts, she meets artisans who practice the historic craft techniques, from beadwork to weaving, that are integral to her brand.
Orvañanos is one of a cadre of local designers looking forward — and to the past — to create a mindful, and distinctive, CDMX look. Fast fashion is out; elevating the rich traditions of their ancestors is in. “These efforts not only preserve cultural heritage but promote sustainability, innovation, and community empowerment,” says Julian Nazara, cofounder of Casilda Mut. Here, we celebrate six brands creating cool, contemporized items while helping to promote Mexico’s deep-rooted design heritage.
—Mary Holland
Yakampot.
Carla Fernández.
Fábrica Social.Yakampot
Together with artisans, Yakampot pairs Indigenous technique with modern style, creating voluminous dresses and structured jackets in earthy umber and olive — easy to wear to work and to relax, yet artful with elements from traditional clothing.
Carla Fernández
Known for her oversize silhouettes and intricate detailing, Carla Fernández has become a pioneer in the craft fashion space. The Mexico City–based designer preserves and updates the textile legacy of Indigenous communities with leather cutouts and knotted fringes or tassels; not only is she a fashion-show fixture, but she frequently exhibits her work at international museums.
Casilda Mut
Casilda Mut aims to stimulate economic opportunities for female artisans in the Chiapas Highlands. The brand has also become known for its boxy dresses and shirts with geometric motifs and intricate embroidery, inspired by the forested Chiapas countryside.
Costaiia
Founded by Patricia Maria Pietri, Costaiia works with makers to create frilly dresses with balloon sleeves and sharp waistcoats rooted in folklore. The collections take inspiration from myths and folktales, ceremonial masks, and skirts for traditional dances.
Francisco Cancino
Royal blue. Tangerine. Bold colors are integral to this fashion brand’s collections. In collaboration with makers, the designer, who grew up in southern Mexico, creates yellow column dresses with ruffles and jet-black suits with ruby-red tassels.
Fábrica Social
Fábrica Social is a platform for craftswomen around the country where they can sell their work, from hand-embroidered dresses to blouses and bags. It’s as much a center for knowledge as it is for shopping, where clients can learn about how each piece was made.
As the CEO and cofounder of Casa Dragones — and the first woman to be named a Master Tequilera from the Academia Mexicana de Catadores de Tequila — Bertha González Nieves is a connoisseur of Mexico City’s wealth of unique experiences. “It’s a constant source of inspiration for me, a city that shows just how exceptional Mexico is when it comes to art, craftsmanship, mixology, and gastronomy.” She put together a daylong itinerary to best experience the city’s magic.
The garden at Mariane Ibrahim gallery.
Bertha González Nieves. Photo: Koral Carballo/The New York Times/Redux.
Pujol’s famed mole madre.BREAKFAST WITH A VIEW I’m an early riser, so one of my favorite ways to start the day is by catching the sunrise in Xochimilco, the last remnant of the Aztec canals, on a trajinera (flat-bottomed boat). Book with Arca Tierra, which supports regenerative agriculture and leads tours through the area’s beautiful farms. Afterward, I head to Samos, the rooftop restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton. Chef Jonathan Félix focuses on seasonal and sustainable ingredients, and serves a serene breakfast alongside incredible views of Paseo de la Reforma.
ART IN THE MORNING Mexico’s rich artistic heritage is on display at Museo Jumex and Museo Tamayo, captivating landmarks that showcase the best of Mexican and global art, both modern and contemporary. And I will always have a soft spot for Luis Barragán’s Casa Pedregal, owned by a dear friend of mine, César Cervantes. It’s a must for anyone who appreciates design [book in advance at visitas@casapedregal.com].
THE PERFECT LUNCH Lunchtime in Mexico City is more than just a meal — it’s an opportunity to experience the soul of the country’s culinary heritage. Enrique Olvera’s globally renowned tasting menu at Pujol redefines Mexican cuisine, particularly his mole madre — a dish that has been aged and perfected over years. If you can, grab a table in the gorgeous garden.
ART IN THE AFTERNOON At Casa Dragones we collaborate with a number of leading contemporary galleries — it’s always challenging to choose just one to visit in the afternoon. Kurimanzutto always has thought-provoking and visually stunning exhibitions. In Chapultepec Park, Lago Algo combines cutting-edge art with a picturesque lakeside setting. Two Europe-based galleries have opened CDMX outposts: Nordenhake specializes in Minimalist and Conceptual works that challenge traditional perspectives, while Mariane Ibrahim showcases underrepresented voices and explores themes of identity, culture, and migration.
The industrial-chic dining room at Máximo Bistrot.
Xochimilco at dawn with Arca Tierra.
The bar at Limantour.DRINKS BEFORE DARK I like to wind down at Ticuchi, a warm and stylish bar owned by Olvera. The house cocktails (which feature Casa Dragones Tequila Blanco) are creative and the small plates are inspired by Mexican street food.
AND FOR DINNER Em by chef Lucho Martinez is intimate and imaginative, with a tasting menu that celebrates Mexican ingredients with a modern twist — like the tuna tostada topped with a mosaic of avocado slices and caviar. At Máximo Bistrot, farm-to-table philosophy meets refined culinary execution courtesy of chef Eduardo García, in a cozy, welcoming atmosphere — it’s one of my go-to spots.
NIGHTCAP I love to finish off a long day of culture, nature, and eating with a cocktail at one of Mexico City’s award-winning bars. In Roma, Licorería Limantour, led by head bartender José Luis León, offers a playful menu of cocktails inspired by pop culture, like the Pan de Muerto, made with Jack Daniels, butter, and orange marmalade. Underground speakeasy Handshake was recently named the World’s Best Bar [seating is limited: reserve in advance]; the fig martini is a must-try. Another speakeasy, Tokyo Music Bar has a low-key, retro vibe, plus amazing music. They serve our Casa Dragones Reposado Mizunar, the first tequila aged in Mizunara oak, often used for Japanese whisky. It makes for an unforgettable way to close out your day.
Photo: Araceli Paz.Is 3pm the new 10pm? Is Friday lunch the new Saturday night?
I don’t mean that in some old-person way, like Let’s eat early so we’re home in time for Matlock. I mean making time for a long, languorous daytime repast, stretched well beyond any reasonable duration, ideally past sundown.
I mean Let’s get all our friends together and do fucking LUNCH.
This isn’t new, of course. Some of the all-time great restaurants — Lyle’s in London, La Cabrera in Buenos Aires, Da Adolfo in Positano, and, not least, Contramar in Mexico City — thrum in daylight like it’s midnight anywhere else. Some are great for dinner, too…if you must. But come Friday afternoon, when the tables are packed with everyone you know and everyone you want to know? That’s the magic hour.
“Fridays at Contramar are one big all-day party,” says Gabriela Cámara, the indefatigable host/chef/owner behind the city’s most beloved lunch institution. Rafael Micha, cofounder of Habita Hotels, concurs. “Mexico City doesn’t need member’s clubs — we have this!” he told me one recent Friday, gesturing around Contramar’s jam-packed dining room. “All the creatives, all the happy people are here. It’s Mexico’s version of Soho House — the original Soho House. But with far better food,” he added with a laugh.
Rafa and his friends have been doing Viernes a Contramar for as long as they can remember, some since it opened in 1998. (Yes, niños, we had cool restaurants back then too.) The bright, airy dining room; the blue maritime mural; the anything-can-happen vibe — hardly any of it has changed. And on Fridays, as day turns to dusk and lunch stretches into its fourth hour, it’s still the most joyful place in town. Long may it run.
—Peter Jon Lindberg
Further’s well-traveled friends and contributors share their favorites
“Come look for me in the sun-speckled courtyard, enjoying a concha beneath the orange trees of Ignacia Guest House, a 1913 mansion-turned-bed-and-breakfast in Roma. While the outside is encased in jungle-like flora, the inside practically explodes with art, color, and gorgeous design.”
—Mary Holland, Further contributing writer
“The hotel I’ve stayed at more than any other in the world, and my home away from home for many years when I was traveling here for work. ‘Playing house’ at Condesa DF made me want my own home in CDMX. Now that I live a short walk away, I’ll come to meet friends in that gorgeous courtyard or the rooftop — in spring, the best spot in the city to view the jacarandas.”
—Laura Aviva, founder, L’Aviva Home
“The boutique Casa Polanco feels like you’re staying in a cozy, chic home. It only has 19 rooms — my go-to is the namesake Suite Polanco, which has some of the best views. The hotel is also next to Lincoln Park, one of my favorite spots for morning stroll or a relaxing afternoon of people-watching. There’s beautiful modern Mexican art on display by talent like Graciela Iturbide, Ricardo Mazal, Jordi Boldó, and Roberto Polidori, and an exquisite spa that I try to book after making my way back to Mexico City from San Miguel de Allende.”
—Bertha González Nieves, founder, Casa Dragones
“It opened in Polanco 15 years ago, but Las Alcobas epitomizes the cloistered, residential-style luxury that’s in vogue right now. There’s no lobby, just a foyer and a stunning spiral staircase (Yabu Pushelberg did the interiors). The rooms are modestly sized but they’re impeccably designed, with rosewood furniture, Mexican motifs carved into the walls, and phenomenal showers with divine handcrafted soaps. Samuel, the owner, is charm personified.”
—Peter J. Frank, Further Deputy Editor
“It’s set behind a single unmarked door in a converted 1950s apartment building in residential Condesa. Yet the door to Hotel Dama opens widely with a beaming staffer at the ready, recommending dinner at nearby Maizajo or offering tickets to Museo Frida Kahlo. Within are 17 spacious bedrooms with checkerboard floors, giant walk-in showers, leafy balconies, and a whole lotta stillness. Serenity extends to the open-air rooftop restaurant, where vegan huevos rancheros and fresh juice await.”
—Laura Dannen Redman, Further Executive Editor
Mexico’s greatest architect, whose virtuosity with color, light, and simple forms earned him the Pritzker Prize, created his most devotional — and perhaps best — work just outside of town
The Capuchin Convent Chapel. All Photos: © 2025 Barragan Foundation, Switzerland / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
The freestanding cross at the Capuchin Convent Chapel.In the second half of his life, no more than seven houses designed by Luis Barragán were built, including his own (now a UNESCO World Heritage site). The architect condescended to work on the final house he prepared, the delightful Casa Gilardi, only because an exhibition of his work had been proposed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; one of the conditions was that he needed to show blueprints for a current project.
The 1976 MoMA exhibition burnished Barragán’s status as his country’s preeminent architect; four years later he became the first Mexican to win the Pritzker Prize. By this time, Barragán had effectively retired from his profession. He had become wealthy as a land developer, and no longer had to suffer the exigencies of demanding clients.
Barragán had cashed out on his investment in Pedregal, his first major development, back in 1953, leaving him free to follow his heart on further projects. That same year, the architect, a devout Catholic, set out to refurbish a convent and build a chapel in the Tlalpan neighborhood, on the south side of Mexico City. The project was realized for the Capuchinas, a group of Franciscan nuns who never leave their abode and devote themselves to praying for the sinners of the world. It was a labor of love in every sense: Not only did Barragán earn no money for the plan, he paid for much of it himself.
Like a lot of Barragán’s work, the Capuchin Convent Chapel is both minimal and dramatic. If you visit in late morning, when light streams in from the yellow window designed by Barragán’s colleague Mathias Goeritz, there’s a breathtaking simplicity to the shadow cast by the freestanding crucifix. It’s possible to imagine the flickering candlelight of the gold-leaf triptych behind the altar in a Technicolor movie of the 1950s; Alfred Hitchcock or Douglas Sirk could have shot a climactic scene here. Next to the main chapel is a smaller one where the novitiates pray. A wooden lattice, painted yellow, separates the two spaces, and a luminous, otherworldly gleam filters in.
Barragán said that “any work of architecture which does not express serenity is a mistake.” The chapel for the Capuchinas is his maximum expression of that tranquility.
Tours are given by the nuns Mondays through Thursdays; advance reservations required (+52 55 5573 2395).
A handful of Barragán’s other works in CDMX are open for visits. Purchase tickets in advance to see Casa Barragán, the architect’s own home and garden on the edge of Chapultepec Park. Nearby, polychromatic Casa Gilardi, with its notable pool, also requires advance reservations. Thirty minutes from the city is the Cuadra San Cristóbal; while the house itself is closed to the public, the grounds, with its fountains, gardens, and plazas, is worth visiting — email cuadrasancristobal@gmail.com to make arrangements.
—David Lida
A pool at Cuadra San Cristóbal.
Casa Gilardi.
Casa Barragán.Anyone here will tell you that the tastiest food in CDMX comes from corner carts, sidewalk counters, and folding tables set up on the curb. Anya von Bremzen got six discerning locals to share the bites they’ll happily line up for
Illustrations by Joe McKendry
Tacos del Valle
“This trendy new Norteño-style taqueria has interesting spins on tradition. For instance: their pork belly tacos sprinkled with crushed Taki corn chips. Sounds almost perverse but it’s perfect, with layers of flavors that invoke childhood memories.”
—Guillermo Osorno, cultural critic and TV personality
La Esquina del Chilaquil
“This puesto in Condesa is famous for tortas with chilaquiles, with bread that soaks up all the sauces. Fried tortillas inside bread! Insane and delicious and totally Mexican.”
—Elena Reygadas, chef-owner, Rosetta
El Rey del Pavo
“This family-owned place is over a century old and it’s all about turkey: tacos, tortas, consommé. Try torta de pavo with adobo — or the same filling inside a taco.”
—Pepe Sierra, owner, Pastelería Madrid
El Pozole de Moctezuma
“Legendary pozole in a hidden place without even a sign. I order mine verde with a raw egg that gets cooked by the broth, sardines, and a squirt of mezcal. Exquisite!”
—Blanca del Valle Perrochena, president, Museo Kaluz
Los Tres Reyes
“This barbacoa place is open only on weekends; their lamb, straight from the pit, just blows your mind. The tortillas are freshly made and really delicious.”
—Emiliano Padilla, chef-owner, Voraz
La Once Mil
“A new place in Lomas de Chapultepec for ‘posh,’ next-level tacos filled with things like rib eye or pork confit carnitas. There’s always a line but it’s worth it.”
—Rafael Micha, cofounder, Grupo Habita hotels
An ode to the many-layered soundtrack of Mexico City — from the plaintive tune of the organillero to the looping refrain of the junk collector. (Listen to your junkman!)
An organillero in the Centro Histórico. Photo: Araceli Paz.It’s not the pink-and-white taxicabs or the wafting smell of grilled corn that tells me I’m in Mexico City; neither is it the jacaranda trees painting the city purple in springtime. It’s the megaphone atop a pickup truck beneath my hotel window, blaring out a 10-year-old girl’s recorded voice — the unmistakable sound of the junk collector. “We’re buying mattresses, metal drums, refrigerators, stoves, washing machines, microwaves, or any old metal things that you’re selling,” the voice calls in Spanish, a nasal, singsong rhythm that burrows in your ear as it plays on repeat down the streets. The junk collectors’ call can be jarring on first listen — I assumed it was some kind of propaganda, akin to the mobile loudspeakers in Vietnam blurting political messages. But for those who know Mexico’s capital, the noise can be a comfort, a delight even. (Especially if you have a stove or microwave to sell.)
This is one of the many tones that makes up the layered soundtrack of Mexico City. From horns blaring to birds chirping, construction clashing and vehicles revving, there’s an endless supply of noises that creates this syncopated melody. Yet the most distinctive notes come from the street vendors’ siren calls: Tamale sellers yelp from bicycles, knife sharpeners play the panpipes, sweet potato and plantain vendors whistle while trading at night, and garbage collectors ring bells. In busy plazas, organ grinders (street performers otherwise known as organilleros) dressed in beige uniforms play melancholic melodies from hand-cranked mechanical music boxes in exchange for tips. It’s all in harmony and just a touch off-key — so quintessentially Mexico City.
—M.H.
Even with an influx of galleries and globally inspired restaurants, this not-quite-gentrified district has retained its affable local charm
Photographs by Araceli Paz
Santa María La Ribera feels like a small town trapped in the middle of a huge metropolis. More sociable and welcoming — even to outsiders — than other parts of the city, it’s the kind of place where neighbors walk their dogs in the middle of the street, as if sidewalks aren’t necessary, and strike up conversations with strangers. Conceived as a residential area during the late 18th century, Santa María and its neighbor San Rafael were once exclusive areas for wealthy families. The affluent have since moved farther out, to Lomas, Polanco, and Pedregal; their historic mansions remain, filled today with middle-class families that have lived here for generations as well as younger residents priced out of Roma and Condesa. Here are some of the highlights.
—María Pellicer
Kiosco Morisco
This magnificent Moorish kiosk in the middle of Santa María’s main square was originally designed for the 1884 World Cotton Centennial in New Orleans (how it ended up here is a story unto itself) and lends a touch of splendor to daily life, with kids playing on the steps beneath its colorful mosaics while couples dance under the glass-and-wrought-iron roof.
UNAM Museum of Geology
A building of carved volcanic stone that’s also located on the main square, it houses a rich collection of fossils and skeletons displayed in original wooden cabinets that are as beautiful as the pieces they showcase.
La Dalia
Santa María’s principal market, selling fresh produce, prepared foods, clothes, and colorful household items, is the center of the neighborhood action. Seek out the stand that sells only avocados; customers indicate the day they plan to consume it and receive specimens that will ripen just in time.
Tlatelolco
A landmark social housing project — Mexico’s largest apartment complex — developed by architect Mario Pani in the 1960s, Tlatelolco attracts all manner of residents to its well-designed Modernist spaces. The area, whose fascinating history dates to 1337 and includes the 1968 student massacre and the 1985 earthquake, is a must for architecture buffs; begin your exploration at the Centro Cultural Tlatelolco.
Fundación Casa Wabi
A nonprofit founded by Mexican contemporary artist Bosco Sodi and located in a Tadao Ando–designed complex in Puerto Escondido, Casa Wabi exhibits works by upcoming artists at its CDMX outpost. The industrial brick building, which it shares with Sodi’s studio, was designed by architect Alberto Kalach.
Galería Hilario Galguera
Located in adjacent Colonia San Rafael, Galguera represents high-profile international artists (Damien Hirst, Daniel Buren) alongside Mexican luminaries like Sodi, Perla Krauze, and Daniel Lezama.
Biblioteca Vasconcelos
Kalach also designed this vast library (locals call it the Megabiblioteca) famed for its seemingly endless shelves of books hanging in the atrium. At the center is a remarkable sculpture by Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco, Matrix Movil, fashioned from the remains of a whale skeleton.
Cantina El Paraíso
Taste the neighborhood’s real flavor at its cantinas, old-school institutions offering Mexican-Spanish food, beer, and cubas (rum and Coke, a Chilango staple), plus maybe dominos or live music. Paraíso is a paragon of the form, with bare-bones decor but excellent food — offered to clients for free as long as they keep drinking. Whatever your poison, be sure to get a torta de pulpos; made with octopus cooked in its own ink, stuffed in a roll, and topped with chiles en vinagre, it is justly famous.
Vacaciones
A lively, youthful restaurant in San Rafael with an open kitchen and tables that spill out onto the sidewalk, Vacaciones serves a short, ever-changing menu of well-executed seasonal Mediterranean fare — focaccia, handmade pastas, spritzes. It’s not quite like being on vacation in Amalfi, but for Mexico City, it’s close.
La Tonina
This cozy spot in San Rafael serves some of the best flour tortillas in the city. Credit Héctor Garza (aka Tonina Jackson), a professional wrestler and actor who opened it in 1946; Garza hailed from Monterrey, where wheat, rather than corn, dominates. To this day, the soft, handmade tortillas — served with other northern specialties like machaca (dried beef, shredded and stewed), frijoles meneados (refried beans), or chilorio (pork simmered in chile sauce) — are a popular draw.
His bread has captivated palates from San Francisco to Copenhagen. So what is one of the world’s greatest bakers doing in the land of tortillas?
Photographs by Araceli Paz
A potato flauta at Maizajo.
Richard Hart at his home in Mexico City.
The selection at Panadería Rosetta. Courtesy Panadería Rosetta.Even if locals grouse that Condesa and Roma resemble Brooklyn these days, the foreign creatives who’ve been settling in Mexico City bring dynamism and diversity to a metropolis increasingly known for reinventing itself. Among the new residents is British-born Richard Hart, possibly the world’s greatest baker, who headed the ovens at San Francisco’s Tartine before moving to Copenhagen to launch the cult Hart Bageri with René Redzepi in 2018. While still involved with his Nordic location, Hart moved to CDMX in 2022 with his wife, the celebrity rare-tea dealer Henrietta Lovell. On the threshold of launching Green Rhino, his eagerly anticipated new panadería in Roma Norte, the sourdough guru and cookbook author revealed what excites him most about his new hometown.
My children are in California, and I wanted to be close to them. We could have chosen L.A. or San Francisco, but after visiting CDMX many times we’d fallen in love with the culture, the energy, and especially all the wonderful people who really touched our hearts.
And the food scene here is on fire! It reminds me of Copenhagen about 10 years ago: Everyone wanted to be there, everything was happening suddenly. Now lots of new people from all over are coming to CDMX, opening businesses, bringing so much diversity. Meanwhile Mexican chefs are creating excitement around their own cuisine.
People here are completely fixated on bread. When there’s an earthquake they say you have to quickly eat a bolillo [roll]. The classic bakeries here like Pastelería Ideal are so charming, with everything on display and customers loading their trays. But the one for me is Panadería Rosetta from chef Elena Reygadas, who is an absolute queen. She has this focaccia I’m addicted to — savory, herby, but with sweetness from grapes or blueberries. She does traditional stuff too, like her versions of pan de pulque or amaranth bread, or conchas. Her place is packed day and night.
Maizajo is a must! Santiago Muñoz, its owner, started out selling heirloom corn from small producers, then opened this brilliantly successful, bustling concept with a taqueria downstairs and above it, a serious restaurant. I love their vegetarian taco with fried eggplant breaded in crushed-up tostadas. For masa dishes there’s also Expendio de Maíz. It’s so fun! There’s no menu: They give you a dish and ask if you want another, and you just keep ordering, afraid to miss something special. It’s all corn, all completely delicious.
We love Mendl, a new Jewish deli where they smoke their own pastrami and salmon on the roof. The owner, Menechem [Ganz], is also behind Quentin Café, and he sources beans from special producers for the best coffee in town. For drinks it’s Outline: really fun cocktails on tap, and the roof setup and sound system are awesome. And in our neighborhood, Colonia Escandón, we love the tiny six-seat Izakaya Champloo run by this wonderful Mexican-Japanese couple. On Sundays we shop at Mercado El 100 for incredible organic produce — but get there early.
We’ll be exploring Mexican pastries and breads. My team will show me things they have emotional connections to from their childhoods and we’ll make wonderful versions of these: conchas, all kinds of pan dulce, rosca [a sweet, ring-shaped bread] in winter, pan de muertos in fall. And lots of corn things, of course. I want to deep-dive into what people know and love, not necessarily impose some Nordic rye on the customers, unless it fits in. A bakery has to be of a place — I learned this quickly in Denmark.
—A.V.B.
A fresh loaf at Panadería Rosetta. Courtesy Panadería Rosetta.
Lunchtime at Mendl.
Quentin Café.Vogue México’s Eugenia González de Henn selects 15 essential souvenirs you’ll find only here
Botanical-inspired fragrance at Xinú
Silver AA Ring at Mvndo Varon
Lela heart charm from The Boveda (by appointment only)
Made-to-measure oversize shirt from Chava Studio (by appointment only)
Lola vase at Perla Valtierra
Sofa cushions from Chiapas at Colorindio (by appointment only)
Embroidered linen blouse from Korimi
Chocolate-covered pecans from Mexican winemakers RGMX
Linen Vestido Acanto dress from Francisco Cancino
Tree of Life candelabra from Onora Casa
Traditional huipil from Ensamble Artesano
Ayres volcanic rock vase at Ikal
Gooey Bag from Blobb (by appointment only)
Vallarta chair designed by Ricardo Legorreta at Clásicos Mexicanos
Handmade steel knives from Jalisco at Bomboti
Hugo’s co-owner Isabel Castillo, who helped turn CDMX on to natural wine, shares her top spots for daytime and nighttime drinking
A Nocino Sour at Salón Rosetta. Photo: Araceli Paz.
Isabel Castillo at Hugo el Wine Bar. Photo: Maureen M. Evans/Courtesy Isabel Castillo.
Hugo el Wine Bar. Photo: Courtesy Maureen M. Evans/Hugo.When restaurateurs Isabel Castillo and Thierry Choquet opened Hugo el Wine Bar on the Roma Norte–Condesa border as pandemic restrictions were easing, “suddenly everyone showed up,” Castillo recalls. “Every night was a party.” These days “everyone” is still crowding the sidewalk tables of the beloved natural wine bar, sipping funky pet-nats with chef Michael Crespo’s boquerones on toast and his gnocchi with chicken jus. Last October Castillo and Chouquet expanded the mini empire on their Avenida Veracruz block (which already included Café Milou) with a cozy-chic corner restaurant that’s “kinda Italian without being cliché,” as Castillo describes it. Still unnamed — “if you know you know,” she declares — it’s already earned a devoted following for Crespo’s floppy pumpkin ravioli with sage butter, killer cocktails, and a retro soundtrack of nostalgic boleros. When Castillo isn’t looking after her regulars, here’s where she might head for a night out.
“Loup Bar was a natural wine pioneer and still has a list full of jewels — especially from Burgundy — at great prices. Chef Joaquín [Cardoso] worked in Paris at places like Le Chateaubriand and does delicious pastas and fantastic wild mushroom dishes in season.”
“I also love to drink at the bar at Meroma. Rodney [Cusic, co-owner with chef Mercedes Bernal] is a wine geek and pours cool Italian finds from regions like Alto Adige — plus terrific Champagnes. Mercedes’s orecchiette are famous. I also love the mussel escabeche toast, and the kampachi crudo topped with fried parsley.”
“Cocktails? I like how delicate and balanced they are at Ticuchi, and they have amazing mezcals. To eat, their esquites tamal and the scallop aguachile are enough to lure me all the way to Polanco. Plus cool music and that dark moody ambience.”
The bar at Caracol de Mar. Photo: Courtesy Caracol. 
Hanging at Tichuchi. Photo: Araceli Paz.
Meroma. Photo: Courtesy Ana Lorenzana/Meroma.“I’m an old soul, not into loud drinking places, which is why I love Salón Rosetta above Rosetta. It’s the most stunning room in the city — where you can actually hear your friends — and the cocktails come in beautiful custom glassware.”
“I’m also excited about Gabi Camara’s Caracol de Mar, which recently moved to Condesa from Centro. That bar on the sidewalk is dangerous: I can totally see myself spending forever over margaritas and seafood tostadas, watching people go by.”
“Of course, in CDMX you have to drink at a cantina. At El Bosque you start with late lunch and stay all night, slinging margaritas, listening to the trio singing boleros. Order the salt-baked fish, quesadillas con papas, and tacos de lengua. This is where I used to go with my family.”
“For music, Salón Los Angeles is such an authentic experience, so much history and all these old people dancing. Club San Luis in Roma Sur is also great fun, a big place with a full band doing salsa and cumbia. And Barba Azul in Obrera is a scene — super serious dancers in a dark, funky space with these crazy 3D sculptures of women on the walls.”
“After a night of drinking I like to breakfast on eggs with escamoles at Lalo. Or do late-night tacos al pastor at El Huequito, which come with all these cool spicy sauces.”
—A.V.B.
Parcela, a farm and restaurant in Tepoztlán.
Hiking Nevado de Toluca. Photo: Courtesy Voortus.Even locals forget that Mexico City is surrounded by volcanoes; only one of them, Popocatépetl, is active, after all. A five-hour hike up Nevado de Toluca — whose flattened caldera testifies to its extinct status — provides an exhilarating day out. BOOK an excursion with Voortus, which departs early for the 66-mile trip to get there, so you can enjoy the lunar landscape before everyone else. HIKE with short, slow strides to help with the altitude: The trail starts at 14,000 feet, adding challenge to the otherwise easy trail. (The summit is reserved for experts.) SOAK UP the otherworldly views of two crater lakes, Laguna del Sol and Laguna de la Luna, whose surfaces reflect the stark beauty of the surrounding cliffs. REFRESH with a picnic amid the pines on your descent, followed by a brief nap on the provided blankets.
A burrata salad at Parcela.Chilangos looking for a quick escape head to this hippie outpost located 90 minutes from CDMX. The lush, strangely beautiful red-rock mountains — and the spirituality emanating from the cliff-top Aztec pyramid — will remind you of Sedona. ARRIVE by 9am to hike to the 12th-century temple before the crowds arrive; the moderately difficult walk takes about an hour. GRAZE for breakfast — quesadillas, sopes, tlaxcales (corn biscuits) — at the new Mercado Municipal. STROLL through the animated downtown, lined with artisan workshops selling textiles, jewelry, and pottery (Sustancia is a highlight). The recently restored former Dominican convent is a splendid example of 16th-century architecture. EAT a late lunch at Parcela, an organic, farm-to-table restaurant nestled in a vegetable garden. SLEEP at Amomoxtli, a luxury hotel with gorgeous gardens and a pool with a view of the mountains. Sign up for a yoga class the next morning to seal in the mountain’s good vibes.
The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios in Puebla. Photo: Courtesy Banyan Tree Puebla.Less than two hours from the capital, Puebla offers the experience of a well-preserved colonial town (its historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage site) with standout cuisine. VISIT the astonishing Capilla del Rosario, a Baroque riot of carved stone, gold leaf, and painted saints and cherubs. SAMPLE mole poblano, the town’s most celebrated dish, at El Mural de Los Poblanos, where the sauce recipe is a closely guarded secret. BROWSE the Museo Amparo, a beautifully curated, privately held survey of Mexican art history, from pre-Hispanic to contemporary. STROLL downtown, tasting eye-catching confections — colorful jellied borrachitos, pepita-filled tortitas de Santa Clara — at traditional shops like La Gran Fama. STAY at Banyan Tree Puebla, an urban resort set in a series of 19th-century buildings.
—M.P.
THE NOVEL
Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño’s seminal The Savage Detectives (1998) follows a group of youngsters on a quixotic, decades-long quest for a vanished poet, while creating a loosely autobiographical portrait of a generation and, through multiple narrators, capturing the spirit of Mexico City.
THE ROMANCE
In Mexican director Maria Novaro’s Danzón (1991), a telephone operator searches for her missing dance partner in Mexico City and Veracruz. Maria Rojo’s performance as Julia captures like none other the experience of being a woman in Mexico — and the essence of Mexican-ness itself.
THE MUSICAL GENIUSES
Siblings Elizabeth and Hugo Valdivieso, better known as Valgur, produce dreamy electropop that integrates all manner of influences, including religious music from their Oaxacan youth. As exemplified in their 2023 album Armageddon, their sound is at once retro and futuristic, with lyrics in both Spanish and Zapotec.
—M.P.
THE FAMILY DRAMA
Roma takes place in 1970 but the 2018 film still speaks volumes about Mexico City’s complex and stratified society and how middle-class families coexist within the rest of the city. Considered Alfonso Cuarón’s masterpiece, it earned him a Golden Lion at Cannes and Academy Awards for direction, cinematography, and best foreign-language film.
From Aztec temples to Art Nouveau department stores — and seemingly everything in between — Mexico City’s Centro Histórico is a microcosm of its multilayered past
There are those of us who long to get lost in an urban maze. And few places are more labyrinthine than the Centro Histórico, Mexico City’s old downtown. All the centuries of the city’s history, from the Aztecs to the present, live side by side here, and sometimes literally on top of each other. In the space of a few blocks you’ll find the reconstruction of the Aztec temple, an imposing 16th-century mansion, and a clock gifted to Mexico by the Ottoman Empire in 1910. A leather-goods store called La Palestina, which opened its doors in 1884, never removed its hitching post outside (riding horseback through the streets was legal until 1926). Nearby, a shop called Liz Minelli has been selling flashy evening wear since the 1970s, when Liza Minelli was at the height of her stardom. Does she know of its existence?
For most of the city’s history, the Centro was Mexico City. All of it. From the early 1300s, it was Tenochtitlán, the hub of Aztec civilization. In the 1520s, after destroying it, the Spanish rebuilt their colony on top of the rubble. It was only in the late 19th century that the city’s well-to-do, tired of living among the hoi polloi downtown, began to build residential districts away from the Centro.
Even if you’re the kind of flaneur who likes to leave destiny to chance, there are things downtown you don’t want to miss, most of them clustered between the Zócalo, the city’s main plaza, and the Palacio de Bellas Artes.
Many of the Centro’s most striking buildings are from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Mexico, like most of the world, looked toward France for inspiration. Art Nouveau riches abound: the stained-glass windows of the Borceguí shoe store (it has a museum of footwear upstairs); the stunning interiors of the Museo Nacional de Arte; and not least, the lobby of the Gran Hotel Ciudad de México. With its gold ornamentation, stained-glass ceiling, and wrought-iron balconies, it looks very much like one of the original Parisian department stores — indeed, it was a department store until 1969, when it was converted to a hotel.
The Zócalo (Plaza de la Constitución) and the Palacio Nacional. Photo: R.M. Nunes/Adobe Stock. 
Palacio de Bellas Artes. Photo: Daniel Sambraus/Getty. 
Interior of the Palacio Postal. Photo: Araceli Paz. 
Metropolitan Cathedral. Photo: Richard Maschmeyer/Alamy. 
Sanborns Restaurant, with its mural by Pacologue. Photo: Jon Arnold Images Ltd/Alamy. Fin de siècle architecture in Mexico City was a hodgepodge of different styles, and few buildings are more emblematic of this than the main post office, known as El Palacio Postal. An eccentric Italian named Adamo Boari designed the eclectic project — the Wikipedia entry enumerates nine distinct types of architecture — constructing a château of marble (both real and trompe l’oeil), a majestic staircase, decorative molding, and etched brass.
Down the street is the Casa de los Azulejos (House of Tiles), which during the 300-year colonial period was the home of the counts of the Valley of Orizaba. The blue and white Talavera tiles that adorn the facade were installed in 1737. In 1917 the house was rented by Frank and Walter Sanborn, two American brothers, who opened the first Mexican five-and-dime inside. It remains there today, and while few people buy anything in the retail section, Sanborns restaurant is a favorite among the Mexican middle class, who sit between a 16th-century fountain and a mural of peacocks by a Hungarian artist called Pacologue. There’s an even more impressive mural by José Clemente Orozco on the wall of the staircase.
The Centro is enormous. One could easily spend a week there seeing different things each day without repetition. But it’s not a museum. To this day, it’s the most active and vital area of the city. On weekends it’s packed with women in outdoor plazas getting nail or hair extensions, shoppers hunting for bargains, and people eating out everywhere from taco joints (Taquería Tlaquepaque serves formidable tacos al pastor) to white-tablecloth restaurants (La Casa de las Sirenas overlooks the Metropolitan Cathedral). It’s impossible to experience the Centro without feeling utterly alive.
—D.L.
All our recommendations on a Google Map — save it to your phone so you’re ready to hit the town
Karla Martínez de Salas is Head of Content and editor-in-chief of Vogue México & Latin America. She previously oversaw fashion coverage at W Magazine, Interview, and T: The New York Times Style Magazine. She lives in Mexico City.
María Pellicer was born and raised in Mexico City. A longtime travel journalist and editor, she has been in charge of Travesías, Mexico’s leading travel magazine, for more than a decade. She also hosts the weekly travel radio show “Destino Futuro.”
Anya von Bremzen is a three-time James Beard Award–winning author. She has published six acclaimed cookbooks and a memoir, Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking. Her latest book, National Dish, was published in 2023.
Eugenia González de Henn is Contributing European Editor for Vogue México & Latin America. Born in Mexico and currently residing in Berlin, she also writes for Condé Nast Traveler, Yolo Journal, and Architectural Digest.
Bertha González Nieves is the cofounder of the renowned small-batch tequila brand Casa Dragones. Born and raised in Mexico City’s Pedregal de San Angel neighborhood, she now splits her time between Mexico and New York.
Mary Holland is a Further contributing writer. She is Monocle’s New York correspondent and also writes for WSJ. Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, the Financial Times, and HTSI.
Barry Yourgrau’s books of surreal brief fictions include Haunted Traveller: An Imaginary Memoir. He has written about the great Mexican photographer Enrique Metinides.
David Lida is the author of five books including First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, Capital of the 21st Century. He lives in Mexico City, where he also leads architectural walking tours.
Peter Jon Lindberg is Further’s cofounder and Editor-in-Chief.
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