Mexico City has over three thousand restaurants calling themselves Mexican. I've been eating my way through them for years. My number one? Doña Vero in Roma Sur. Not close.
#1: Doña Vero (Roma Sur)
Oaxacan food has become the most talked-about regional cuisine in the capital, and Doña Vero is the reason. On Monterrey 313 in Roma Sur (Cuauhtémoc), this place serves chapulines, tlayudas, wild boar, chile en nogada, and a chapulines cream that sounds strange until you try it. The pulque is cold. The craft beer list is solid. Over 2,500 reviews at 4.5 stars, and the consistency holds up. Expect to spend MX$100–200 per person, which feels like a bargain for Oaxacan food this good.
What separates Doña Vero from every other restaurant here is range. It handles traditional moles, wild game, fried pork rind, and vegan plates without missing a step. Open seven days, until midnight on Fridays. That combination of depth and accessibility is why it's number one.
#2: Casa Licha Pozole (Iztapalapa)
Here's the catch with number two: Casa Licha Pozole is open two days a week. Saturday and Sunday. That's it. People still line up. Over three thousand reviews at 4.5 stars for a place on Sur 69-A 513 in Iztapalapa, far from any tourist zone. This is Guerrero-state cooking at its purest: pozole, chalupas, mixiote, sardines done the old way. The chilate (a cacao-based drink from Guerrero) is worth the metro ride alone. If Casa Licha were open daily, it would challenge Doña Vero for the top spot. But two days a week keeps it at number two.
#3: Porton Maya (Portales)
Yucatecan food in a city that runs on al pastor? Porton Maya has been making the case at Calzada Santa Cruz 78 in Portales (Benito Juárez). The cochinita pibil is slow-roasted correctly. The lime soup is textbook. The habanero sauce burns clean. With about 1,300 reviews at 4.5, this is the most consistent Yucatecan kitchen outside of Mérida that I've found in the city. The stuffed cheese (queso relleno) and motuleños eggs are the plates to order. Panuchos if you want something lighter. MX$100–200 per person.
#4: El Regreso (Nápoles)
The most affordable spot on this list. El Regreso on Yosemite 54-B in Nápoles (Benito Juárez) keeps plates under MX$100, which in this economy is something. The moles are the draw: red mole enchiladas, enchiladas suizas, cochinita, and chile en nogada when the season is right. The chicken broth and consommé have that slow-cooked warmth of a family comida. Nearly 1,900 reviews at 4.5 stars. El Regreso's cochinita holds up against Porton Maya at number three, though Porton Maya's Yucatecan variety gives it the edge overall.
#5: Taquería Parrilla Leonesa Centro (Centro Histórico)
Right on Calle de Bolívar 29-A in Centro Histórico, Parrilla Leonesa is the full sensory experience. Arrachera sizzling on the grill, tacos al pastor spinning on the trompo, seafood stew, ribeye, and horchata that tastes like it should. Live mariachi fills the room on weekends. Over 1,400 reviews at 4.4, the lowest rating here but still a strong number. The food is good rather than extraordinary compared to the top four, but no other restaurant on this list matches the atmosphere. You eat here for the whole package. Open 8 AM to 10 PM most days.
If you only try one place from this list, go to Doña Vero on a Friday night. Order the tlayuda, a cold pulque, the chapulines cream, and whatever wild game is on that day. You'll understand why Oaxacan food runs this city.
