Mexico City: Food!

Mexico City is a food paradise. You can go from upscale and fancy to food stands and street food and everything in between. We aren't the fanciest people, so I did try to stay within our comfort zone. I will start off with our favorite food activity: the food tour! I've mentioned food tours before because we really like doing them in new cities. But this food tour was the best!

Food Tour

When looking for a food tour, I tend to look for one that will take us to parts of the city I wouldn't normally see. So when I came across Club Tengo Hambre's Merced Market food tour, I knew that I found the one. 

Merced Market

The Merced Market is one of Mexico's oldest and most important markets. It has over 6000 vendors and is a favored place for Mexican street food- and now I know why!

To start the tour, we met at a convenient location near downtown and walked as a group to the market. This tour happened to be during the demonstration and we walked right by the President of Mexico in his motorcade! He smiled and waved to us as we walked by. I snapped the pic late and only got his car.

Our first stop was actually outside the market at Taqueria Los Paisas.

 

We had the best carne taco of the whole trip here.

A word to the wise: if you take this tour, you may want to split just about everything because you are fed a LOT. However, it will be hard to resist eating the entire taco at this stop. They give you a few options for meat, and then have a great salsa bar where you can top your taco with everything from mashed potatoes to beans.

We then made our way to the Market. You cross a very busy, large street. We paid someone stationed there to help stop traffic and get you across the road without being hit. We then headed to our first stop within the market- Tacos Mc Teo.

This taco was topped with fries and cactus! The cactus gave it a unique flavor- and I got mine with an extra layer of cheese.

We made a quick stop to try out some grasshoppers, if you dared (which I did not, but Chris and my dad did).

Next up was my favorite food of the whole trip- a squash taco on blue corn tortilla. It was SO delicious!

The squash blossoms with the melted cheese and the corn taste of the tortilla...my mouth is watering!

We then tried out some mole. I didn't realize how many different moles there are out there.

We tried a few. 

From there, it was time for something refreshing. We stopped by a juice stand. Our guide explained a lot of workers come by here as business slows down to grab a little drink to keep going. 

You choose between sugar cane or pineapple (squeezed fresh right here!). I would recommend the pineapple. You can also choose to add some tequila- so of course I did!

We topped off the juice with some fresh fruit. We then headed to Las Muchachas for an interesting gordita type food of a thick tortilla with some onion and beans- this was my second favorite of the tour.

Then it was on to a stuffed poblano taco (remember to split plates at this point!).

We finished it off with a Michelada.

Now, a quick word on micheladas. Here, we think of a michelada as beer mixed with Clamato or tomato juice. However, in Mexico a "michelada" is beer with lime juice- which is actually my preference! This specific michelada came with a tajin rim with sesame seeds- it was so good!

We all really enjoyed this tour and I would recommend it. I also heard recommendations for Eat Like A Local food tour and would look into that one as well.

La Opera

When we first arrived in Mexico City, we were hungry. We hadn't yet stopped at an ATM for pesos, so we looked for somewhere to take a card and where we could sit. Just down the street from out hotel was La Opera, so I decided we needed to check it out.

We got seated right away, and as it turned out, they seated us right under the bullet hole left in the ceiling by none other than Pancho Villa. That's the story anyways.

It was pretty cool starting off the trip in such an old and famous spot. It was opened in the 1870s and has the atmosphere of the era. The food was pretty good too. 

La Gruta

If you visit Teotihuacan, then make reservations at La Gruta while you're out there. Exit out of door #5 when leaving Teotihuacan and walk across the street to the restaurant. It's a beautiful location where you dine in a cave.

At the end of your meal, they will explain the legend of the cave and give you a candle to light and leave to represent new beginnings.

  

It was a fantastic experience and the best margarita of the trip!

Azul Historico

While we were in Mexico, it was my parent's 44th anniversary!

We celebrated with dinner at Azul Historico, another restaurant within walking distance of our hotel. This was perhaps the most upscale of the trip, and had a very romantic and beautiful setting. The food was great. 

The restaurant is outdoors covered by a canopy of trees. 

 

 

They did provide blankets to keep you warm, but dress appropriately for the weather.

 

 If it's raining, it looked like they had a roof they could close up above the canopy.

Taqueria Los Cocuyos

This taco spot was once featured by Anthony Bourdain, so I figured it was good. 

I was a little overwhelmed and unprepared by the menu, and wish I had ordered something different, but it was still great. 

We originally had reservations that night somewhere else, but I was sick of riding in the car, so we opted for this stand within walking distance instead. Which was a great bet, since we could add on dessert from El Moro afterwards!

El Moro

You can't get any fresher churros than from El Moro.

We stopped here twice on our trip- the first time we got right in and out, but the second we had to wait in a line out the door- still worth it! It was great to grab them and go and eat as we walked back the few blocks to our hotel. 

Contramar

For our last night, we headed to Contramar after being in that area for the afternoon.

I would recommend reservations everywhere you can, but you absolutely need them for this restaurant! It was a bustling place. 

 Known for its seafood, it's a fun and yummy spot in an upscale neighborhood. 

Street Food

We had so much to eat we never had room for street food, which is a shame! Everywhere you walk downtown you will find vendors out and about selling their goods. There are corner taco stands and vendors walking around with their goods. I wish I would've forced myself to eat some!

One other thing we noticed in Mexico City is the small dessert windows the restaurants have. I was surprised to see these little windows all over selling just dessert.

Mexico City is definitely a food mecca, and if only my stomach were bigger to have tried even more!