There aren't many places that are as vibrant, diversified, or simply huge as Mexico City. Where should one start when organizing a trip to a city that is rich in history and where citizens embrace change as part of who they are? Whether your interests are in shopping, dining, the arts, or design, Michael Snyder breaks down the most important colonies to visit.
I assumed that Mexico City could find room for one more person among the 21 million people who already called its metro region home when I arrived there in 2017, more or less sight unseen. Like many tourists before me, I arrived with hazy notions about the country's thriving culinary and art cultures, crooked glamour and casual cool, and its extensive colonial and modern architectural environment. I anticipated encountering periods of draining chaos and occasionally strangling fog. But courteous parks and perfect weather, crisp autumn mornings and spring-like afternoons, and bursts of rain, hail, and thunder that were replaced just in time by marigold sunsets bursting across the horizon reinvigorated me. Mexico City appears to have the ability to present a different side to every one of its citizens.
That is a result of Mexico City's development as a transformational master throughout the last five centuries. North America's largest city, which is spread out across a seismic, high-altitude plateau, has endured colonial conquest, years of flooding, a bloody war of independence, a bloodier revolution, and a catastrophic earthquake that killed over 9,000 people and largely destroyed the central borough of Cuauhtémoc in 1985. Over 40 buildings were destroyed and many more were damaged by another earthquake that rocked the city on the exact anniversary of the first one, 32 years earlier. Within a few weeks, the city recovered from that as well. Residents, or "Chilangos," continue to struggle with poor infrastructure, bad government, and unstable security. Many people would like to go back to the villages they left two or three generations ago if given the chance. But a lot more people, including myself, wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
The various wonders of the city cannot be discovered in a single visit. A walkable, manageable microcosm of the city's wild, smart total, sticking to the lush areas in and around the Delegación Cuauhtémoc provides a great introduction for a first-time visitor. These are the eight neighborhoods that every visitor to the city should become familiar with, from the cockeyed grandeur of the Centro Histórico to the stealth galleries of Santa Mara la Ribera and the glitzy cafés of Condesa.
The Historic Center
I left my home on the opposite side of Mexico City's magnificent Zócalo late one Sunday morning to go to the Mercado San Juan. Although it wasn't a very long walk, it covered a wide range of the past, the present, and potential futures, like most paths through the Centro Histórico. There are lavish colonial mansions, crooked Baroque churches, Diego Rivera murals at the Secretariat of Public Education and the Palacio Nacional, as well as the majestic ruins of the Templo Mayor, the center of the political and religious universe of the Aztec Empire.
Mexico City was located in the Centro until the late 1800s. After that, aristocrats preoccupied with modernity started leaving their ancestral residences around the turn of the century and relocating to the newly developed suburbs in the west and south. The Centro was practically abandoned after the earthquake of 1985. It was still a significant location for protest and celebration, but it wasn't somewhere you lingered.
I passed sellers selling rambutans and mangoes, plastic boxes of microgreens, and enormous Baja clams as I approached the open entryway of the Mercado San Juan. But I wasn't here to go shopping (for that I go to Mercado la Merced, the bigger, crazier, more beautiful wholesale market on my side of the Centro). Instead, I had come to Don Vegas to dine, an eight-seat market stall that serves some of Mexico City's greatest fish.
Only an hour after Chef Luis Valle, who is from the coastal state of Sinaloa in the northwest, opened his business, a boisterous line had formed in the aisle, singing along to the banda music coming from a loudspeaker hung dangerously over the tiny kitchen. "How many tostadas with crab?" Valle raised a yell above the music. 15 commands were shouted out loud.
I snuck behind the counter to help squeeze some limes and chat with Valle, who is always a pleasure to be around. I inquired as to how many people he would be feeding today. "Roughly 400," he said. I inquired as to his coping mechanisms. He chuckled, "I don't!" before turning around and yelling to the audience, "How many scallops?"
It would have been difficult to find such a buzz around a restaurant in this area of town even ten years ago. However, pop-up events have started to take place on roofs, in cellars, and at dilapidated cantinas like the peculiar and stunning La Faena, which is embellished with dusty shadow boxes of toreadors' costumes. Former business buildings have now become home to edgy art galleries. Weekend crowds gather at Bósforo, the best mezcal spot in town more than 15 years after it first opened, while the unnamed restaurant next door serves excellent Oaxacan food by flickering candles.
The Centro is still a location that belongs to everyone, even though a new, younger generation is now drawn there. In the Zócalo, protests are regularly held by activists. Stores selling anything from spices to light fixtures and enormous handcrafted candles embellished with lacy wax flowers draw shoppers from all around the city. Government employees enjoy afternoon beers at century-old cantinas (visit La Pera for gilded old-world splendor or Salón Tenampa for some of the greatest tequila in the city). Even the outrageously pricey Mercado San Juan, where Luis Valle sells his seafood, has a rowdy weekend celebration. There is no place more democratic or more attractive in this enormous, stratified city.
Condesa & Roma
A trickle of young, fashionable people filtered in and out of a large glass door that swung open onto Calle Puebla at the northern end of Colonia Roma. They went up a flight of stairs that curved, past high, white gallery walls, and emerged onto a sunny roof terrace framed by treetops. Monserrat Castera showed me around the newest iteration of her pop-up shop, Momo Room, one of a rising number of mobile retail locations currently at the forefront of Mexico's fashion scene, as she walked me from the open patio into a small, glass-walled room in the corner with a beer in her hand.
She added that Juan Rulfo, a writer from the middle of the 20th century whose works are largely regarded as some of the best produced in Mexico, served as the inspiration for this iteration. Two of Rulfo's most significant works are set in a fictional Colima beach town. Castera interspersed images of Colima, burlap sacks of the state's renowned sea salt, and handcrafted straw hats among the items chosen by regional designers. In addition, there were amusing sunglasses from the French-Mexican group Stromboli Associates, handcrafted leather and wood box bags from the Guadalajara-based Aurelia, and embroidered linen kimonos from the regional brand Korimi Kids that were stained with indigo and cochineal. Each of these designers lacked a physical store. What would the point be, after all, in a city where collaboration is the name of the game and where there are countless outstanding venues perfect for transient group exhibitions?
Many people attributed Mexico City's selection as the World Design Capital for 2018 to a style that engages the country's diverse creative traditions, ranging from textiles and pottery to the great Modernist boom of the 1950s. Although that sensibility has been present in Mexico for many years, Roma and Condesa, two of the capital's most design-conscious areas, have made it a new fashion trend. It may be seen in establishments like the eccentric clothes boutique Hi-Bye and in the boutiques that line the picturesque Calle Colima's uneven walkways.
Many people left Roma after the earthquake in 1985, and it took more than ten years for creatives to start relocating into the neighborhood's elegantly decaying Beaux-Arts houses. Condesa, which in the 1930s and 1940s was the city's most international neighborhood, had a shorter decline and had recovered by the mid-1990s. Condesa is currently the grand dame of Mexico City colonies, sophisticated and elegant without ever being pretentious thanks to its charming Art Deco and Mission-style apartments and even prettier occupants. Condesa and Roma were among the regions that suffered the worst damage after the 2017 earthquake, but this time both quickly recovered. You might not even be aware that anything happened here if it weren't for a few vacant buildings scattered throughout the region with deep cracks snaking like vines through their white plaster exteriors.
Additionally, while the dialogue between tradition and innovation first appeared in restaurant kitchens at the start of the twenty-first century in establishments like Enrique Olvera's Pujol in the posh Polanco neighborhood, Roma and Condesa have taken the lead in bringing it to less formal but no less ambitious settings. Mercedes Bernal and Rodney Cusic, a husband-and-wife duo, produce some of the neighborhood's most sophisticated cooking at Maroma. Rather than drawing inspiration from conventional dishes, they use local products to create a tastefully varied menu. Young eaters queue up for a lunch of fish tacos and craft beer at El Partita, a family-run taco restaurant that became popular as the neighborhood grew.
Additionally, a young cook by the name of Jess Salas Tornés produces dependably great and intriguing meals at the chaotic, unnamed open kitchen next door, bringing the flavors, methods, and quirky informality of the countryside right into the center of the city.
San Rafael and Santa Maria La Ribera
In Santa Mara la Ribera, a normally peaceful residential area northwest of the Centro, I climbed a series of terrazzo stairs leading to a bustling, darkly lighted terrace not long after I moved to Mexico City. Santa Mara, the Centro's first planned suburb, was glamorous in its prime at the turn of the 20th century but was overshadowed by areas like Roma and Condesa by the 1950s. But on that frigid night, it was difficult to think of a more opulent setting.
Since the city's massive weeklong art fair, Zonamaco, debuted 20 years ago, Mexico City has established itself as a must-visit destination for established figures on the international art scene as well as emerging artists seeking to produce and exhibit their work in an exciting, pocket-friendly setting. A few evenings before the gathering on the patio, Art Week, which annually features Zonamaco and its intrepid younger sibling, the Material Art Fair, had begun. I was surrounded by a group of regional gallerists, international and Mexican artists, and various influential people from throughout the world. They had come to commemorate the recent opening of Casa Wabi's branch in Mexico City. Casa Wabi is an artists' retreat in Oaxaca, on the southern coast of Mexico, that was designed by Tadao Ando. The neon sign for a low-cost hotel across the street twinkled with fairy lights as mezcal was served freely.
More than a dozen galleries and art places may be found in Santa Mara and the nearby San Rafael neighborhood combined. Most are like Casa Wabi: alternative, unofficial locations for young Mexican artists. Some represent globally renowned artists. A few days ago, I went to the gallery to witness a display of ceramic pieces made by a Swiss resident who lives in the Oaxaca center, together with Midcentury Modern furniture that the design store Decada was selling. A photographer from the northern state of Sonora displayed images of boundless desert horizons accented by pieces of industrial architecture in a small area on the bottom level. As I sat one morning on a balcony overlooking a typical street that was waking to the working day, Casa Wabi Foundation head Carla Sodi stated, "Mexico City is a nursery for the rest of the country. These artists will eventually return to their homes and sow those seeds.
Santa Mara and San Rafael have consistently been understated collections of Mexican style. Old couples dance beneath the spectacular glass dome of the Moorish Kiosk, also built in Santa Mara's beautiful Alameda, or central park, as families go up and down the marble stairs of the wonderfully old-fashioned Geology Museum. The Museo Universitario del Chopo, a significant hub for modern art, has Art Nouveau towers that tower over the street where the city's punk and goth movements first emerged in the early 1980s. At San Rafael's northern border, the remnants of Cine Opera, a long-gone Art Deco theatre, stand guard. Additionally, the south of San Rafael is bordered by the abstract minimalism of the Museo Experimental El Eco, which was constructed in the 1950s by renowned designer and artist Mathias Goeritz.
However, despite the presence of these monuments, these areas continue to be typical middle-class barrios. My favorite tamale shop in all of Mexico City is Cintli, located near Santa Mara. The neighborhood bar Salón Pars sells plenty of tequila and beer, and La Polar in San Rafael serves piping hot bowls of birria, a traditional beef stew, while rowdy mariachi bands perform far into the night.
Colonia Cuauhtémoc and Juarez
The glass and steel buildings that line Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City's grand ceremonial promenade, erupt from the low-lying concrete grid-like volcanic peaks, standing as monuments to international prosperity from the site of the city's former lake. The Bosque de Chapultepec, the largest park in the city, and the three museums that are gathered at its northern end — the Museum of Anthropology, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Tamayo Museum for contemporary art — are all connected by Reforma.
The international population of the city was primarily concentrated in the areas that surround Reforma, Colonia Cuauhtémoc to the north, and Juarez to the south, throughout much of the previous century. The presence of embassies, banks, and streets with names like Ganges, Danubio, and Rhin, as well as London, Hamburg, and Berlin, attracted wealthy Mexican families, foreigners, and diplomats to the area. These regions have served as an expression of Mexico's aspirations for the world since their creation in the early 20th century. They continue to.
The Ryo Kan guesthouse, which debuted in Cuauhtémoc in 2018, embraces the international character of the area by bringing the cozy serenity of the traditional Japanese inns to the center of the Mexican city. While other brand-new boutique hotels in the city gush over Mexico's mid-century elegance, Ryo Kan is a meditation in light oak and terrazzo that is calm and understated, compact, and effective. "Our use of natural materials, our pottery, and our textiles are only a few of the similarities between Japan and Mexico. We sought for those analogies, "says Regina Galvanduque, the project's main architect for Ryo Kan.
One of the new Japanese-inspired businesses in Cuauhtémoc's quiet, tree-lined alleys is Ryo Kan. The Edo Kobayashi restaurant company, founded by Edo López, has built up a modest empire there since 2010. It includes the izakaya and ramen restaurant Rokai, the tiny bar Le Tachinomi Desu, which serves sake and natural wines, and the listening bar Ginza Music Bar, which was inspired by Tokyo.
It's difficult not to be transported if you take a short stroll south into Colonia Juarez's ancient gay area, Zona Rosa. Old buildings were constructed using an illogical (and curiously appealing) mash-up of architectural styles from France, Italy, Britain, and Spain. However, the façades of these old houses are now obscured by signs for cheap cafés, Korean lunch restaurants, and neon-lit gay clubs.
The garage-like structure of Cicatriz, an all-day café owned by a sister-brother pair of American ex-pats, Scarlett and Jake Lindeman, draws throngs in the evenings onto Plaza Washington's wide sidewalk. The majority of its patrons, who frequent the establishment for fried chicken sandwiches, natural wines, and coffee and drinks, wouldn't seem out of place in New York, Los Angeles, London, or Paris. This is because many of them are from the newest wave of immigrant communities in Juarez.
Los Santos Chapultepec
Bowls of various spices had been placed on the long communal table that runs down the middle of Masala y Maz. Some of the spices, like cumin, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper, are well-known to Mexican diners, while others, like coriander seed, ginger, and star anise, are less well-known. Chefs Saqib Keval, who was born in northern California to an Indian family from East Africa, and Norma Listman, who is originally from the adjacent town of Texcoco, circulated and greeted guests. Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik, the restaurant's first artist in residence, started her speech on the history of Indian chai from her seat in the middle of the table. After that, the topic turned to the spices in front of us and how some of them ended up in Mexican households.
A few months prior, Masala y Maz had started serving customers in San Miguel Chapultepec, a Colonia with a peaceful elegance that lies between Condesa and the Bosque de Chapultepec. It was clear right away that this was a place fascinated with hybridity: a residence for artists, a full-service restaurant with lofty goals, and a coffee shop selling freshly made doughnuts out of a window that connected the kitchen to the street. It was a local event with a global outlook that evening, one that included a workshop for a small group of curious people.
The cuisine at Masala y Maz, in Listman and Keval's opinion, is a representation of the mestizaje, or cultural blending, that has been a hallmark of Mexican culture ever since the Spanish invasion. Instead of tortillas, South Indian uttapam flatbreads are used in place of huevos rancheros here. Served with jicama and rosewater, giant prawns are covered in Ethiopian berbere. In Patra de hoja santa, an adaptation of an Indian snack made of spiced chickpea batter, the customary taro leaf is replaced with the regional symbol of southern Mexico, hoja santa.
San Miguel was an unusual location for this kind of eatery. Peaceful and quiet, the region is best known for its proximity to the Bosque de Chapultepec, its lovely cobblestoned pathways that flank its southern side, and for El Mirador de Chapultepec, a popular white-tablecloth cantina that has long been a favorite among city leaders. It's also renowned for being close to several important design organizations, such as the well-known gallery Kurimanzutto. Just outside the colony's western boundary is Casa Luis Barragán, the former residence of Mexico's Pritzker-winning 20th-century architectural master Luis Barragán, and the renowned Archivo de Diseo y Arquitectura exhibition venue is located just next door.
San Miguel is the ideal location for strolls past spectacular private residences concealed behind modest Neocolonial façades, for spending hours in secluded areas of the Bosque de Chapultepec, or for sipping locally brewed hibiscus mead, a specialty at Masala y Maz. It's also the ideal setting to consider something that Chilangos have understood for ages: that Mexico City is more than just the largest city in North America or the capital of the Spanish-speaking world. Ciudad de México is and has always been the great metropolis of the Americas. It is a city of immigration and creativity, established and rebuilt with a fanatical hunger for the new, blasted by tragedy, supported by passion and practicality.
Plan the Ideal Vacation in Mexico City
Be sure to stay in these areas of the ancient Cuauhtémoc borough for a manageable microcosm of this enormous metropolis. Choose one to serve as your home base, then spend the day exploring the others.
Moving About
Mexico City, despite its vastness, is rather simple to traverse, especially if you stick in the centre neighborhoods. It's a terrific city for walking because the temps are pleasant all year long. The Metro is the most effective method for traveling greater distances, however, rush hour is best avoided. Uber is a good alternative as well.
Hotels in Centro Histórico
Downtown Mexico, housed in a 17th-century palace, boasts a stylish rooftop bar and pool (doubles from $285).
Food and Drink
Don Vergas (Calle Motolinia 32; entrées $7–$32) serves some of the greatest seafood in the city; get there early to avoid the throng. The restaurant has since relocated to this new spot, also in the Centro Histórico, from the Mercado San Juan. Break up a day of sightseeing by stopping by a classic cantina like La Pera (10 Cinco de Mayo) or La Faena (49 Venustiano Carranza). Visit the well-known mezcal bar Bósforo (31 Luis Moya) for dinner before trying the posh, unnamed restaurant next door (entrées $8–$12).
Activities
In Condesa, browse the quirky clothing of Hi-Bye and purchase a bottle of mezcal at Sabrá Diós (15 Avda. Veracruz). Store pop-ups like Momo Room should be kept an eye out for.
Hotels Santa Mara la Ribera and San Rafael
In a convenient, yet still undiscovered location, the boutique hotel El Patio 77 (doubles from $125) offers a tranquil base of operations.
Food and Drink
City (C. Manzanillo 33), a simple storefront in Santa Mara la Ribera, serves the greatest tamales in the area. Great classic cantinas are Salón Pars (152 Jaime Torres Bodet) and La Polar (birria $7), both of which produce excellent birria (beef stew).
Activities
Don't miss Casa Wabi, a marvel of Mexican mid-century design, and the Museo Experimental El Eco for contemporary art.
Hotels in Juarez and Colonia Cuauhtémoc
The city's business district is calmed by Japanese peacefulness thanks to Ryo Kan (doubles from $150).
Food and Drink
These areas are home to some of Mexico City's top foreign eateries, ranging from the small plates at the natural wine bar Le Tachinomi Desu (small plates $5–$8) to the outstanding omakase at Sushi Kyo (set menus starting at $75). For modernized versions of traditional Mexican fare, head to Salón Ros (218 Rio Lerma; entrees $8–$30), while Cicatriz (entrées $3–$6) is a terrific choice for a salad or an evening beverage.
Activities
Mesoamerican antiquities are extraordinarily well-preserved at the Anthropology Museum. While the Museo de Arte Moderno concentrates, as its name suggests, on modern art, the Museo Tamayo, located next door, exhibits modern, contemporary, and folk art.
Eat and Drink at San Miguel Chapultepec
Masala & Maz's menu, which features small dishes for $5 to $9, examines the similarities between the food of Mexico, India, and East Africa, whereas El Mirador de Chapultepec is one of the city's traditional cantinas and serves shared portions for $7 to $10.
Activities
For a visit to Casa Luis Barragán, the architect who won the Pritzker Prize, make reservations far in advance. Tours can be scheduled at Casa Gilardi, the last residence Barragán constructed before his passing. The Archivo de Diseo y Arquitectura, a tiny exhibition space and a reading room devoted to Mexican design with a lovely garden in the back, is just next to the Barragán residence. Kurimanzutto, which opened in 1999 and is located in the tranquil center of the neighborhood, is still one of the most significant galleries in North America.