I have visited Mexico City multiple times in the last five years (another Mexico City guide here). It’s an incredible city and probably the best in North America. At 8,000 feet of elevation, the summertime is technically the rainy season. But not like you see in Vietnam or Thailand. It basically just rains a little every day. Sometimes a lot. But not really so much that it ruins a trip. In fact, it was about 20° cooler than the insane humid summer we’re having in Michigan.
I’m going to recap the things I did and places I stayed in this city guide. I took two friends and both proclaimed it was one of their best trips yet…
Getting there
One of my favorite parts about visiting Mexico City is that there’s a direct Delta flight from Detroit every day. Customs are incredibly easy and it’s only about a 25 minute Uber from CDMX airport to the city center. Also, the Uber game is on point. Never a long wait, incredibly fair prices, and very professional and kind drivers. I think it’s important to make up for the affordability with heavy tipping. Mexico City in general is dealing with tons of gentrification and rising prices. Tourism can still be a good thing, even for the locals. Just make a point to support locally owned businesses and artists. Hire local guides and drivers and tip generously.
Accommodations
We stayed at Casa Decu in Condesa for the first few nights for a wildly reasonable $85/night. I always make a point to stay within walking distance to Parque México. I like to spend the first few mornings of my trip hanging out around the park and absorbing the energy of the neighborhood. Many of these boutique hotels do not have elevators so if you have any mobility issues, you might wanna double check before booking.
Condesa has a ton of spots for a quick lunch if you arrive to your hotel early. I despise plane food so I usually land pretty damn hungry and I would say the first meal of my trip is usually the least curated. I’m basically eating the first taco and drinking the first beer I see.
Mexico City: Activities & Eating
The first dinner is a different story. We hit up Máximo Bistrot for another fantastic visit. I think Maximo is as good as it gets. They recently received a Michelin star which has made the dining room full of food tourists and list checkers, which is a little disappointing, but the food just crushes. Chef Eduardo “Lalo” Garcia is pure gold and you should trust anything he touches. Honorable mention: we popped into Hiya Wine Bar for some fun plates and drinks - definitely worth a visit.
The next day we booked another tour with the one and only Anais Martinez. I’ve booked some kind of tour with Anais every visit. It’s a must-do and you should book it as early into your trip as possible so you can have some tips for the rest of your trip.
Some new spots on this trip were Gala Panaderia for coffee and pastries and a trip through the intense meat market at Mercado de San Juan Pugibet. As a chef, I can handle a lot. But the meat portion of this market is very intense and I do not recommend for amateurs. This is your warning.
But outside the market there’s all sorts of taco carts where you can enjoy different style and cuts of meat. Like tripe or pig head. Another new spot was Taller de Ostiones for Micheladas and raw seafood.
That night we ate a fantastic tasting menu at Quintonil. Quintonil really does an incredible job of planting its flag in the fine dining world while telling the stories of Mexico through it’s ingredients, heritage, people and terroir.
I’ve had many tasting menus throughout the country but this one felt the most sincere and world class without ever feeling flabby or pretentious. Service was impeccable. No notes. Easily worth the price (think $500-$750/person).
After dinner we had cocktails at Baltra Bar before calling it a night and walking back to the hotel. I should add here that we made three separate visits on this trip to Tokyo Music Bar for delicious cocktails and some hi-fi vinyl. I’m partial to listening bars and found this place to be all the right things.
On our third day Anais made the suggestion that we take a morning stroll through the massive park Chapultepec (over 2100 acres!) to have breakfast at Lago Algo. It was a great suggestion as the walk and the fresh menu knocked any hangover out of us.
That night we had a great dinner at Voraz which was a welcome à la carte change after a long and curated meal at Quintonil the night before.
Oaxaca
Early the next day we headed back to the airport to fly to Oaxaca City. This was my second time staying at this fantastic Airbnb House of Miracles. The location is unbeatable and you can request a breakfast from Rufina, the housekeeper, who in short, kicks ass. We were coincidentally visiting during Guelaguetza so the city center was absolutely packed and full of celebration. Parades. Fireworks. Rooftop parties. It was wild.
One of my favorite meals on this visit was a simple and casual lunch at La Olla. Chef Pilar Cabrera has run the restaurant for over 30 years and is a pillar in the community. She also runs this cooking school.
The peak of our Oaxacan visit was a tour with Omar Alonso, aka Oaxacking The absolute best part of the tour was breakfast at DESAYUNADOR DE LA TÍA. We visited Lalocura Mezcaleria, which if you’ve only had mezcal in America, is quite an eye opening experience. Mezcal is as important to Oaxaca as champagne is to France. And true mezcal is as clean and agricultural as any native beverage anywhere. It’s a must that if you visit Oaxaca, you visit a mezcaleria.
We hung out at the Crudo bar quite a bit and spent the mornings walking and shopping and enjoying the city. Cocktails at Selva were delicious and we had a stellar lunch at Nois (do not miss this place).
We ate two high end meals as well. One at Xaok (Michelin Bib Gourmand) and one at Levadura de Olla (1 Michelin star). Both places were full of fantastic ingredients and intentional service. I think I was experiencing fine dining fatigue at this point in the trip, but I recommend both places if you are looking for that experience.
We flew back to Mexico City on Viva Airlines because it was the most convenient departure time. In hindsight, I wish I would’ve pre-booked seats, checked bags and paid for any upgrades. Budget airlines in other countries can be a little confusing. So just make sure if you’re booking domestic airlines through a third-party app that you purchase all of the necessary add-ons asap. Alas, we arrived back in Mexico City for our last two days.
Thankfully, I have traveled enough to know that I would enjoy some downtime at the end of the trip to recover from all the eating and drinking. We booked Sofitel on the Paseo de la Reforma. King size bed. City skyline view. Pool on the 38th floor (with full food and beverage service). Big bathtub. It was a slight splurge, but completely worth it. I’m not usually one to hang out at a hotel all day, but this one was an exception.
We did finally get out of the pool long enough to go to Arena México for some Tuesday night Lucha Libre wrestling. I insist on going to a show every time I’m in town. We walked back in the rain, had some ramen at god knows where lol and ran back to the hotel in the pouring rain.
Our last day was extremely chill and I found myself catching up on work emails and packing up for the trip home. Eight days is longer than I usually spend around Mexico City, but I found myself enjoying a calm day for once. Mexico City is not a common destination for Americans during the summer, but I can’t recommend it enough. The rain was never a problem for us, and many of the prices seemed to be lower because of the off-season. Mexico continues to over perform and remind me of how special a place it is. It’s a shame that there is so much tension in the world today considering we are all the same.
Viva Mexico forever.
P.s. - our updated Google map for Mexico City is here!