An ideal trip for me involves some art, great food, and seeing unique architecture or nature. Mexico City (aka CDMX or DF as the locals call it) has all of this. I went back in March so this is extremely delayed but now that summer is over and everyone is itching to travel again, I figured I’d post this.
Below is an emco recos version of an illustrated guide to Mexico City and you’ll find some helpful resources at the bottom if you’re ready to pull the trigger!
ARCHITECTURE & ART
Luis Barragan is probably the most renown architect in Mexico City. I liken him to what Donald Judd was to Marfa, to Mexico City. He’s famous for his colorful structures, especially his use of Mexican Pink, a celebratory and festive color in Mexican history.
He made the Millennial Pink a thing before it was even a thing.
1. Cuadra San Cristobal – This is the chicest horse stable that you will ever visit. An absolutely magical place where a Swedish family currently resides with their five horses. When we visited, they were hosting their very first art installation by Sean Scully, an American artist featured on the grounds and in the horse stables, with a very timely & relevant painting (last). It was free to visit when we went, about 35 minutes outside of the city. You have to make a reservation ahead of time since it is a private residence by e-mailing cuadrasancristobal@gmail.com.
2. Casa Gilardi – A 45ish-minute guided tour that was very personal and informative. Daniel Liebskind (one of the architects of the new World Trade Center in NYC & the Berlin Holocaust museum), dropped by to say hi to the owner of the house (who was a friend of Barragan) during our tour (!!). Since this is a private home, you have to make reservations ahead of time by e-mailing casagilardi@gmail.com. It’s 300 pesos / person + a 500 pesos fee for taking photos.
3. Luis Barragan Casa & Studio – An hour-long tour of Luis Barragan’s home and studio in Mexico City. This is where I learned Barragan was a big introvert like me and had a special button at the dinner table to inform his maid to make an excuse to get him out of there when guests were over. Buy tickets online here. There is also an additional charge if you want to take photos.
4. Frida Kahlo Museum – I was almost going to skip this since it is so touristy and TBH wasn't a huge Frida Kahlo fan, but it was informative and deepened my appreciation for Frida as a Latin American female artist. It is VERY crowded and the majority of people are the worst kind of tourists (i.e - tour bus tourists). I would recommend going as early as possible (opens at 10AM) and definitely buy tickets ahead of time online. For some reason I wasn’t able to purchase them online from the US but it might be worth asking your AirBNB host or a friend who lives in Latin America to help purchase for you (thanks Ale!).
5. Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo - This was the home and studio of Diego & Frida. It's cool seeing their separate spaces (his & hers). This museum is free on on Sundays so that's what we did! Wandering the streets of this neighborhood, San Angel was one of the highlights of my trip. There were romantic cobblestone european streets with beautiful colonial european style houses. Felt like a piece of dreamy Europe in the Americas.
Right next to the Museum is San Angel Inn. This had old money, Beverly Hills vibes but was an absolutely beautiful place to have lunch before visiting the Casa de Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo – the underrated residences of the famous Mexican couple artist. San Angel Inn has a beautiful courtyard and dining room. It’s been written to have the best margarita in the city and it did not disappoint! We ordered the San Angel Oysters and the Ceviche, which were great but the atmosphere was what made it. Make a reservation by calling or if you can or else go on the earlier side (12-1PM)!
6. Tetetlan – A store, café, restaurant, and work/yoga space about 35 minutes south of the center of Mexico City. The restaurant is absolutely beautiful and has an elevated glass floor atop of this sucken volcanic rock. It was designed by Luis Barragan (no surprise) and there is a Barragan house next door that is apparently also available to visit by appointment (Casa Prieto Lopez). We didn’t get to visit this one but will have to next time.
FOOD & DRINK
1. Contramar – YES, the hype is real. This restaurant is HECTIC because it’s so popular but we ate here twice during our 5 day stay. Make a reservation by e-mailing them or just come here before noon.
What to order:
- The tuna tostados (they are famous for these) but we accidentally ordered the shrimp tostados on accident the first time we went and I actually liked these better. BUT order both if you can!
- Get the mixed aguachiles - a mexican-chile spiked ceviche
- The Instagram famous red & green fish which comes with a side of tortillas to wrap like tacos. Yes, we overordered but it was amazing.
- I didn’t’ get to try sadly because we were too stuffed but they have this amazing platter of desserts – an assortment of cakes and a mango.
2. Cocuyos Tacos – Best street tacos I had in CDMX. Only for the adventurous eaters – lots of weird meats like cow tongue, tripe, etc. and it all stews in a giant vat. Get the tripe (tripa - my favorite) - they fry it up so it gets these crispy bits and the chorizo.
3. Tlocoyo – Very unique since I’ve never had anything like this in the states – run by two adorable women who hand-make each one of these little pockets. Get the fava bean tlocoyo topped with a green esquites. It’s right outside of Medillin Market (on Medillin and Campeche)– which has Trump pinatas and more taco places inside.
4. El Pescadito – Tacos are HUGE here. Good for fish tacos. Try the marlin (not my fav but lots of people like it. It’s definitely unlike any type of fish taco I’ve ever had – similar to swordfish/smoked salmon) and the original fish / shrimp (your typical batter fried fish / shrimp taco). They have a GREAT sauce and topping bar, which makes the place. Wash everything down with a cerveza.
5. Bosforo – This place was jammmed. It reminds me of a party from a 90s movie. Order a mescal and a cerveza. It’s next to a restaurant with no name, which we wanted to try but we never made it to a real dinner - supposed to have great food.
6. Clandestina – Cute mezcal bar – also a bit tucked away. Try a flight – they are no joke! We also were feeling adventurous and ordered fried grasshoppers here. Work up the liquid courage to try it.
SWEETS
1. Churreiria el Moro – This is a really designy chain that has a lot of different locations around Mexico City that has actually been serving churros since 1935 – so they know what they are doing. And the branding is ON POINT. Certain ones are 24 hours and some locations are more instagrammable than others. This chain needs to come to NYC asap, please! I've marked some of the prettier more popular locations on my google maps.
BREAKFAST
1. Lardo – A very beautiful rustic restaurant situated on the corner of a roundabout in Condesa. They have trays of beautiful pastries and perfectly prepared eggs and pancakes. I had a lot of trouble deciding between all the huge pastries but I tried my very first Concha (a Mexican pastry) here and it was great – not too sweet, fluffy, with a sugary, flaky crust. I also wanted to try the black rice porridge too and regret not getting that deeply.
2. Panaderia Rosetta Havre / Café Nin – Beautiful, romantic café with an amazing assorted baked goods. Get a latte with the rol de guaya (a unique guava bread) they have. Their croissants are incredible too.
SHOPPING
1. Experimental Ceramics – This is a block away from the Frida Kahlo museum and is a ceramic haven. It feels like a pottery asylum after the traumatic chaos of the Frida Kahlo museum. There are tons of beautiful, affordable pieces here and you’ll have to stop yourself from buying the whole place. Local restauranteurs in Mexico City buy their plateware here and there were a bunch of large boxes that were about to be shipped to NYC (restaurants I presume). There’s an adorable daschund that lives here too. Closed on Saturdays and Sundays – worth the destination visit.
2. Ciudadela – Crafts market that has lots of traditional Mexican gifts (think painted skulls, textiles, copper, mescal glasses, baskets, etc.). They had a New England Patriots poncho that I considered buying for about 2 seconds. Takes some digging to find good stuff but great if you have a Mexican themed house, AirBNB, or cantina or want to get some kitschy souveniers.
FAQs / Logistics / Resources
Stay: We stayed at this adorable AirBNB in Condesa DF which was in a great location, cheap and convenient.
Here is my Google Maps that helped me plan my activities / things I was going to eat.
Here is a sample 5 day itinerary from my trip (on the aggressive side - for the basic art bitches and foodies). (Yes, I am crazy and this is how I plan all my trips.)
Would love to hear any other things I missed if you've been. I am jonesing to go back already!