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Mexico restaurants
Cast aside your preconceptions when approaching Mexico's restaurant scene: It's far more exciting than your average taqueria. Chefs in Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, and Acapulco blend international, regional, and pre-Hispanic ingredients and techniques, creating an ever-evolving nouvelle Mexican cuisine. Check out Izote and Aguila y Sol in Mexico City and chef Thierry Blouet's Café des Artistes in Puerto Vallarta for innovative fare, and look for cafés around any city's main plaza or historic center for authentic Mexican regional dishes.
Indeed, there is no such thing as "Mexican food," given the variety of regional differences: In the Yucatán, seafood is baked in banana leaves; in Zihuatanejo, it's wrapped in corn tortillas to make fish tacos. In Acapulco, chefs use a sweetish cocktail sauce in their ceviches instead of the simple lime and cilantro marinade used elsewhere. Look for posole (a hominy stew) on the Pacific Coast and cochinita pibil (marinated pork) on the Caribbean. Be sure to sample at least one dish prepared with traditional mole, a concoction containing Mexican chocolate, cinnamon bark, nuts, seeds, several types of chiles, and often raisins. Most restaurants in tourist areas use purified water for food preparation. If you're wary, stick with fully cooked dishes.
This location used to house Havana's, a semisecret, oft-packed Latin club, and replacing it was no easy feat. But chef Drew Deckman has claimed the palapa on a...more
see the Baja California guideAt Don Emiliano's, elegant women with slicked-back chignons and courtly gentlemen in tailored guayaberas gossip in rapid Spanish as they judge haute Mexican...more
see the Baja California guide
Owner Carmen Porras relied on memories of her grandmother's kitchen to create El Arrayán's clever style. At this café, votives flicker beneath...more
see the Puerto Vallarta guideThe Virgin of Guadalupe murals San José's not-so secret Mexican standout teeter on kitschy, but the excellent cooking and wine and tequila selection more...more
see the Baja California guideChef Juan Zuno's fans vie for prime sunset seats at this redo of a 50-year-old favorite on Playa de los Muertos. Duck carnitas, miso sea bass, and...more
see the Puerto Vallarta guideThis high-end French eatery is popular with Continental types, who come for traditional Parisian dishes such as French onion soup, salmon à la provençale,...more
see the San Miguel de Allende guideFrom hearty bacon and eggs with bracing coffee at noon to Caesar salads, grilled sea bass, and potent Margaritas at night, this quirky café serves a...more
see the San Miguel de Allende guideSpice up the chips-and-guac routine with a trip to El Tábano, a welcome addition to the comida-starved southern end of Tulum's hotel zone. Homemade bread...more
see the Riviera Maya guideFormerly a vegetarian restaurant, El Tomato has switched dramatically to Argentine-Italian fusion cuisine, meaning quality grilled beef is the new highlight...more
see the San Miguel de Allende guideSuccess has been kind to Flora's, a busy farm just north of San José that supplies local chefs with organic fruits and veggies. The Field Kitchen, once a...more
see the Baja California guide
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