5 Unique Food & Drink Experiences in Mexico City That Go Beyond the Tourist Trail

I'm going to be upfront about something: one of these five experiences is mine. Dos Cuerpos is my project, my life, and yes — this article helps my business. I wouldn't mention it if I didn't genuinely believe it belongs on this list, but I want you to know it's here with full transparency. If you end up booking with us, I'll probably be the one hosting you, and I promise to make it worth it.

That said — the other four are places I love as a person who was born in this city, eats in this city, and has spent years finding the spots that don't show up on the first page of Google. These are the places I'd genuinely recommend to anyone who is really into food and drink — not sightseeing, not nightlife for its own sake, but real experiences around eating and drinking well in Mexico City. If that's you, keep reading.

1. Mercado San Juan — and everything around it

I live a few blocks from Mercado San Juan, so I'm biased. But I think it's one of the most eccentric, fascinating, and genuinely rewarding food destinations in the city and most tourists walk through it too quickly.

The market itself is worth the visit for the sheer range of what you'll find: fresh seafood, exotic meats, edible insects, imported cheeses, Oaxacan products, every type of chile imaginable. It's the market that Mexico City's top chefs shop at, and it shows. If you're the kind of person who finds joy in wandering a market, this is your place.

My personal move on a weekend: head straight to Cabo San Juan for fresh seafood. Sit down, order whatever looks best that day, and have it with a michelada — a beer cocktail with lime, chili, and salt that is, among other things, one of Mexico City's most reliable Sunday morning remedies, if you know what I mean. But if I'm buying to cook at home, I grab fresh shrimp or fish and do something nice with friends that afternoon.

Inside the market, don't miss Museo Nacional del Café — a small, curious little spot with a collection of coffee-related objects and artifacts that's genuinely fun to look at while they prepare your coffee.

When you leave, turn the corner and find Centrina on Plaza San Juan 15 — a specialty coffee shop that stocks beans from every coffee-producing region in Mexico and will grind them for you on the spot. The orejas — a flaky, ear-shaped Mexican pastry made with puff dough — are the best I've found anywhere in the city. That's not a small claim.

Right next door on weekends: Barbacoa Vianey, which needs no introduction if you're from here and needs the most urgent possible introduction if you're not. Go on a Saturday or Sunday morning. After a consomé and a taco you'll understand immediately.

2. Arca Tierra, Xochimilco — the chinampa experience

This one matters to me beyond just the food. Arca Tierra is a working chinampa farm in Xochimilco, and going there is one of the few experiences in Mexico City that genuinely makes you understand what this place used to be.

The chinampa system — the network of man-made agricultural islands that the Mexica built on the lake basin — is one of the most sophisticated pre-Hispanic agricultural systems ever created. At its peak, the entire Valley of Mexico was essentially a lake, and the chinampas were how the city fed itself. Most of that is gone now. What Arca Tierra is doing is keeping one version of it alive: farming organically on the chinampas, supplying some of Mexico City's most important restaurants, and inviting people to come and see it.

You arrive by trajinera — the colorful flat-bottomed boats that have navigated these canals for centuries. You walk through the farm. You eat food that was grown on the chinampa you're standing on.

Dos Cuerpos collaborates with Arca Tierra for mezcal and wine tasting experiences — so if you want to combine the farm visit with a guided tasting, that's something we can put together for you. They also offer a beautiful brunch that I'd recommend on its own.

3. A cantina tour of Mexico City

I've been involved with this city my entire life, and nothing captures the real texture of Mexico City quite like its cantinas. I want to explain what a cantina actually is, because the tourist version of the answer doesn't do it justice.

A cantina is not just a bar. It's a local reunion bar at your neighborhood. Traditionally, the deal was: you order three rounds of drinks, and the food is on the house. Everything the kitchen sends — and they would send things — free as long as you keep drinking. One of the most civilized arrangements in the history of eating and drinking. Most cantinas work like restaurants now, but they keep the vibe going.

Not all cantinas have great food, and I'll be honest about that. But they all have something better: atmosphere. The feeling of walking into a room where time has genuinely stopped, where the same people have been sitting at the same tables for decades, where the cantinero knows everyone's name.

A quick note: cantinas in Mexico used to have a men-only policy — which, fortunately, is long gone. I've been a regular at more than a few of them for years, and I can't say I'm not proud of that.

The beautiful thing about doing a cantina tour in Mexico City is that the best ones are spread across different neighborhoods — so the tour itself becomes a way of moving through the city. Here are the ones I always end up at:

Cantina El Bosque in San Miguel Chapultepec has been open since 1937 and it shows — in the best possible way. This is the one to go to for food. The salt-crusted fish, deboned tableside, is a genuine spectacle and genuinely delicious. The tongue tacos and chamorro are non-negotiable. A proper wine list (unusual for a cantina), and a signature drink called La Cascada with a secret ingredient that nobody will tell you. This is the cantina I'd take someone who isn't too adventurous — but will be, eventually.

La Faena in Centro is enormous, slightly theatrical, with matador costumes in display cases and a particular energy I can only describe as one of those very surreal Mexican things. You can request songs at the jukebox — which is something I love about it. Go for a drink and stay for the feeling of being inside something very specific to this city.

La Opera, also in Centro, is beautiful in a completely different way — ornate, romantic, historically significant, with live music on the right nights. If you want to take someone on a date in Centro and have them feel like they've actually arrived somewhere, La Opera is the answer.

Bar El Sella in Colonia Doctores is my personal favorite for eating — a Spanish-Asturian cantina founded in 1950, still run with the same seriousness as the day it opened. No music, no screens, no distractions — just excellent food and attentive service. Order the chamorro. Try La Enfermera, their house drink — horchata water with vodka, very specific and very Bar El Sella.

4. Dos Cuerpos — a mezcal or Mexican wine tasting in Roma

Okay, here we are. I told you this was coming.

Dos Cuerpos is the experience I built for people who are curious — not just about mezcal, but about what it means to drink something that comes from a specific place, a specific family, a specific agave plant that waited decades in the ground before it was harvested.

We work exclusively with artisanal producers, and every bottle in our selection has a story I genuinely enjoy telling. I do most of the tastings myself. We collaborate with different chefs to design pairing menus that put Mexican food and Mexican drink in real conversation. The experiences are intimate, unhurried, and designed to feel nothing like a tour.

A lot of my clients are serious foodies or people with a deep interest in culinary culture. If you're reading this article, you're probably one of them. If you come to Dos Cuerpos and mention this article, I'll make sure there's something special waiting for you. I mean that.

View our experiences and book a tasting →

5. Rancho Tehuan — I'm cheating, but you need to go

Ok, sorry. This one isn't in Mexico City. It's near Malinalco, about two hours from CDMX. I'm including it anyway because if you're reading this article, you're a foodie — and a real foodie does not skip Rancho Tehuan just because it requires a drive.

Rancho Tehuan is a 40-hectare natural reserve owned by my good friend Pierre Koloboff, a Frenchman who has lived in Mexico for over 20 years and spent the last decade turning this land into something extraordinary. The organic permaculture farm supplies the kitchen, and every weekend a guest chef arrives and builds a menu entirely from what the ranch produces that day — cooked over an open fire in Los Comales, their outdoor kitchen.

Every chef who visits has to work with the ingredients in front of them. The menu changes every time. The setting is the kind of beautiful that makes you want to put your phone away. If you can stay the night, stay the night. For anyone who loves food, nature, and the feeling of being somewhere that genuinely matters — it's absolutely worth it.

One last thing

None of these five places are about consumption for its own sake. They're all about something more specific — understanding what food and drink make you feel, and how incredible it is to experience it within different cultures and meet people through it. That's what Mexico City does better than almost any city in the world, if you know where to look.

These are five places I would take a friend visiting from abroad who is into gastronomic experiences. I hope they're useful. :)

And if you want more recommendations beyond this — come to one of our tastings. Sharing this city is honestly one of my favorite parts of the job.

Cecilia · Founder, Dos Cuerpos · doscuerpos.com