Five Traditional Foods You Need to Try in Mexico City

Certain destinations will never leave you hungry, and Mexico is one of them. From sweet to savoury, there’s something for everyone, and no better place to enjoy these classic foods than in their country of origin. Today local guide José Luis from Mexico City joins us to explain five traditional foods you need to try on your next trip.

Mexico City is the largest city on the American continent; 24 million inhabitants give proof of that. It is a diverse metropolis, in which people from many parts of the country and the world live, where they share their history and the multiple cultures from where they come. With such diversity, you can find a great variety of delicious foods, especially the street food that is a characteristic of Mexico city.

Each of these dishes offer an experience that will take you closer to the feelings, the family recipes and secrets, the life experiences, diverse techniques of cooking and the culinary traditions (Indigenous, European and Asian) of my country and its people.

Here I share with you my top five classic foods you need to try when visiting Mexico City.

Five Traditional Foods to Try in Mexico City

1. TACOS "AL PASTOR"At any time of the day and anywhere in the city, you can find a great variety of tacos, but, tacos "al pastor" are without a doubt the favorites of all Mexicans, and why not for the tourists too? The combination of pork meat, marinated with "pastor" (the secret recipe of each of the taco places), cooked and served with onion, cilantro and pineapple create a perfect flavor, but if you add a few drops of salsa and fresh lime juice, you finish with a masterpiece plate that you can't miss; recognized around the world as one of the best traditional dishes since 2019 by Taste Atlas critics.

2. QUESADILLASComing from ancient times, since the indigenous civilizations, the quesadillas have been eaten here in Mexico. Perfect for any meal of the day, the corn dough perfectly kneaded by hand, slowly cooked by fire, stuffed with any filling you imagine, quesadillas are perfect for vegetarians, and each diner will decide if they come with cheese or no cheese inside. Believe it or not, in Mexico City, there is not always queso in a quesadilla!

3. TAMALESLike the previous dishes, Mexicans have been eating tamales for a long time. For no particular reason, they are designed specifically for breakfast time, just before starting our activities for the day. For this reason you can find them on almost any corner, in schools, outside subway stations or offices. The corn dough is kneaded slowly and continuously, covered with a little bit of green or red salsa, and stuffed with chicken or pork meat. There exists some sweet flavors and fillings too, cooked by steam for a couple of hours to create a texture like if you bite a cloud full of Mexican flavors. Tamales often come with a hot beverage called "atole" or "champurrado", both made of corn too, boiled with water or milk, sugar, cinnamon, fruits, and chocolate.

4. PULQUEIf you want to taste a unique experience, this drink will take you back to our millenary heritage. Considered as the "liqueur of gods" for many native civilizations of Mexico, pulque is a fermented organic drink extracted from the juice of the maguey plant. It has a lot of nutritional properties like probiotics, vitamins and many proteins. Its elaboration is completely artisanal; from the extraction of the juice, until the storage of the fermented juice, everything is made by hand. Pulque can be combined with fruits and flowers, to give a sweeter and more refreshing flavor to this ancestral but at the same time delicate drink. I definitely recommend you taste pulque when you visit Mexico City.

5. MEXICAN BAKED GOODSThe sweetener of our mornings and nights, maybe of our lives too, the different Mexican buns and rolls that you can find in any corner of the city; the product of many bakery cooking techniques. Nowadays we can find chocolate "conchas", "bolillos", "mil hojas", "churros", "trenzas" and “moños" covered with sugar, "garibaldis", donuts, and "pan de muerto" (a special bread for the Day of the Dead. These are some of the many sweet bites you can enjoy in Mexico, eaten with a great coffee, hot chocolate or simply a glass of milk.

I have given you some suggestions, and my personal favorite foods, now it is your turn to come to experience the flavors of Mexico City and its amazing and rich culture. I am more than ready to share with you the different faces, historic heritage, and stories about the foods mentioned here, and even more of my city!

Take a food tour of Mexico City with José Luis and learn where to find the best of the five foods described above.