The Best Walk-in Restaurants in Mexico City

At Expendio de Maiz Sin Nombre, the culinary experience is an immersive journey into Mexico's rich food culture. The open kitchen allows you to watch as the chefs expertly prepare a variety of corn-based dishes, from tacos and tamales to innovative soups and stews. There's no set menu, so each visit offers a unique dining experience where dishes are served until you are full, making it a true exploration of authentic, organically driven flavors.

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Gilberto Briceño Gómez

Cook – Costa Rica, Costa Rica

In the bustling heartbeat of Mexico City, you might stumble upon a sidewalk sanctuary: Expendio de Maíz Sin Nombre. Here, the theatre of an open kitchen unfolds before you, orchestrated by culinary alchemists dancing with wood fire, prime ingredients, and boundless imagination. This establishment defies tradition. There's no menu to peruse; instead, you're invited to surrender to the maestros at work. With every dish, you're drawn deeper into their narrative, beckoning more with just a raised hand until satiety sets in. Many inquire about my frequent sojourns to Mexico City, and it's places like this - where raw passion and talent stoke my own creative fires - that I hold up as my reasons. Expendio de Maíz Sin Nombre is not just a dining spot; it's an immersive tale of Mexico's culinary tapestry.

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This late-night taqueria, Los Cocuyos, is a hidden gem in the city center where you can find yourself standing in line at 2:00 AM for some truly unique tacos. With a menu that includes offal tacos such as cooked tongue and brains, it offers a unique culinary experience for the adventurous eater. The taqueria is renowned for its utilization of various by-products; from ears, head, and eye muscle to intestine, stomach, belly, and tongue, daring diners are encouraged to order everything and try.

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Jorge Vallejo

Chef at Quintonil – Mexico city, Mexico

This truly amazing late night taqueria, called Los Cocuyos, is in the city center. It's basically a hole in the wall. You go and stand in line outside in the middle of the street at 2:00 AM in the morning. They have tacos with cooked tongue, brains and other amazing offal tacos.

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With an emphasis on natural wines and small plates, Hugo offers a unique dining experience. The place is known for its awesome vibes and attention to elegant detailing, making it a favourite among many. Operating hours are from 2pm to 11pm from Tuesday to Saturday, and 3pm to 9pm on Sundays, with Mondays being their day off.

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Ali Kurshat Altinsoy

Brand Director – Mexico City, Mexico

Awesome vibes, natural wines and delicious small plates. This is one of my favourite places in the city - awesome vibes, natural wines and delicious small plates, elegant detailing…

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Jenni's Quesadillas is a standout spot for fresh, made-to-order quesadillas crafted with purple corn masa. With a myriad of fillings to choose from, the squash flowers, known as "Flor de calabaza", are particularly noteworthy. The place serves as an excellent introduction to the dynamic world of street food.

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JR Ryall

Head Pastry Chef – Cork, Ireland

The best quesadillas in Roma Norte, CDMX. Jenni makes the very best quesadillas using purple corn masa, preparing each tortilla to order, cooking them fresh on the comal in front of you. There are many fillings to choose from, I particularly like the squash flowers, “Flor de calabaza”. A great stepping stone into the vibrant world of street food in the city.

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Mi Compa Chava Marisquería is a walk-in seafood restaurant, inspired by the flavors of Sinaloa. The menu highlights include black aguachile of prawns, taco with a cheese crust and prawn, and a tostada with crab, scallop, raw and cooked prawns, and avocado. The service is noted for being friendly and attentive, and the dishes are described as fresh, flavorful, and reasonably priced.

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David P. Leja

@thegastrojourney – Palma, Spain

Fish and seafood restaurant inspired in Sinaloa. We had heard mixed reviews about this place, but we still had a good feeling and decided to give it a try on this last visit to the city, and we are very glad we did because it ended up being our favorite meal of the trip in CDMX. First of all, the restaurant is mostly walk in only, we arrived at 15:15 and had a 1 hour waiting time to get seated. Once you get seated you get served a very generous “botana” and we recommend you order some micheladas because they are delicious here. The service is super friendly and attentive, and the only negative point for us is that they serve everything at once leaving you without space on the table and making it a bit stressful, but we can also understand when you see how many people wait to get seated. Now, focusing on what we ate, we had the following: * Black Aguachile of prawns. * “Costra de camarón”: taco with a cheese crust and prawn. * Taco with fried “botete” (blowfish) and black mayo. * Ceviche with scallops, prawns (cooked and raw) and octopus. * Tostada with crab, scallop, raw and cooked prawns and avocado. We really enjoyed every single dish except for a clam dish which isn’t pictured. The seafood was nice and fresh, nice flavors, with a nice acidity when needed, and a good level of spicy, just very enjoyable overall. All this food plus two more dishes came out for a little over 100€, which we felt is super cheap, especially in current times in the city we all prices have considerably gone up. Definitely a place we will go back in the future.

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This taqueria, Siembra Taquería, is just a short walk from the heart of the city. The establishment is owned and operated by a couple who previously worked in the fine dining industry. They specialize in creating exquisite guisados and are known for making their own masa for tacos.

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Jorge Vallejo

Chef at Quintonil – Mexico city, Mexico

Siembra is a beautiful taqueria only four blocks away from our restaurant. It's run by a lovely couple that used to work in the fine dining scene before. They do beautiful guisados and they make their own masa for the tacos.

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This spot, Taquería Revolución, is known for its simplicity and authenticity in Mexican cuisine. The restaurant's menu features Pastor Tacos and Tortas, made with a minimalistic recipe that highlights the natural flavors. If you're a fan of straightforward, traditional Mexican food, this is a place worth trying.

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Bernardo Galindo

Chef – Mexico City, Mexico

Great Pastor Tacos and Tortas made of a pastor recipe with just a few condiments.

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