Discover the world's best Mexican restaurants, where traditional flavors meet culinary artistry, creating unforgettable dining experiences across the globe.
Key Takeaways
- The top Mexican restaurants worldwide offer a blend of traditional and modern cuisine.
- Renowned chefs like Enrique Olvera and Jorge Vallejo elevate Mexican flavors in fine dining.
- Locations range from Mexico City to Copenhagen, showcasing global appreciation for Mexican cuisine.
- These restaurants excel in authenticity, creativity, and culinary innovation, serving dishes from classic tacos to modern interpretations.
Mexican cuisine, celebrated for its colorful, spicy, and fresh flavors, has gained global popularity. Among the countless Mexican eateries, ten stand out as the finest, offering an unparalleled dining experience that honors Mexico's rich culinary heritage. These top Mexican restaurants, found both within Mexico and internationally, showcase a perfect blend of traditional and contemporary approaches to Mexican food, making each a destination worth visiting for any food enthusiast.
1. Pujol, Mexico City
This is hands down the most famous Mexican restaurant in Mexico, and it’s thanks to Chef Enrique Olvera, that took the country’s flavorful cuisine to fine dining standards.
Nothing is what you expect in Pujol. The multi-course menu offers extraordinarily complex dishes from land and sea, and Pujol has a taco bar as well! Expect to pay a premium when eating at Pujol, though, and you’ll have to book a table months in advance. The wait is well worth it — this is Mexican food elevated to Michelin levels and eating here is a life-changing experience.
2. Cosme, New York
It is no surprise that Chef Enrique Olvera is also behind this popular Mexican eatery in New York. Bringing high-end Mexican flavors with modern presentations to the Big Apple is quite an accomplishment. Still, Chef Olvera and talented female Chef Daniela Soto-Innes hit a home run at Cosme.
By the way, Chef Soto-Innes was named Best Female Chef in 2019, and she's one of the most talented head chefs in NYC. Visit Cosme, enjoy the grilled octopus, and save some room for dessert, because the restaurant’s corn husk meringue is a piece of art, literally.
3. Ella Canta, London
This authoritative Mexican restaurant in London is a symphony of flavors. The tasting menu is actually called Symphony, and you get all the Mexican favorites, from picaditas to huaraches, from ceviche to tamales. All beautifully presented in fine-dining style.
Chef Martha Ortiz is an institution. She is one of the most popular chefs in the country, with her flagship restaurant Dulce Patria being one of the best in Mexico City. At Ella Canta (She Sings), you’ll be greeted with Mexican hospitality and treated with colorful and vibrant food from every corner of Mexico. This restaurant is as original as they get.
4. Hoja Santa, Barcelona
Barcelona is home to dozens of world-class restaurants and eateries, but the best Mexican restaurant in the lively city is Hoja Santa or Holly Leaf. Hoja Santa is a popular Mexican ingredient, a fragrant leaf that flavors soups and stews. It’s easy to see why Chefs Albert Adrià and Paco Méndez chose the leafy element to name this fabulous restaurant.
Expect to be served a single slice of avocado over a splash of mole sauce or a dessert flavored with tequila in the form of a daisy or Margarita. This is modernist cuisine that represents Mexican flavors uniquely.
5. Quintonil, Mexico City
Chef extraordinaire Jorge Vallejo is behind this famous restaurant in Mexico City. Quintonil is amongst the most respected venues in the country, and it’s for its reliable take on Mexican flavors expressed with modern culinary techniques without losing their essence.
Roast chicken with macadamia mole sauce, avocado tartare with ant eggs, or white fish with deep-fried crickets; the food here is adventurous but balanced. All the ingredients coming into Quintonil’s kitchen are locally sourced and of the highest quality. The talented kitchen staff turns such extraordinary produce into unique masterpieces that will make you see Mexican food differently.
6. Avila’s Mexican Food, El Paso
Not all great Mexican restaurants are fine dining establishments; others are all about traditional comfort food, which is just what you get at Avila’s in El Paso, Texas. Order a plate of sizzling fajitas, a guacamole mountain or a comforting tortilla soup. Avila’s offers Mexican flavors to locals and tourists alike, and it’s a favorite amongst Mexicans, who find in this colorful eatery a home away from home.
Don’t forget to try the chile relleno, a fist-sized hot pepper stuffed with seasoned ground beef. That’s what we call a satisfying meal, and it’s best enjoyed with a cold glass of sweet Agua Fresca in hand.
7. Meso Maya, Dallas
Dallas, Texas, has a rich Mexican tradition, and the folks here love their Mexican food accurately. Of course, what you get here is not just Mexican food but Tex-Mex, and that’s a synonym for flavor.
Meso Maya is a small eatery focusing on new Mexican cuisine. The place looks like a loud cantina, and the food is fit for a fiesta. Grilled meat is the specialty here, and they feature famous Mexican dishes like the pulled pork Cochinita Pibil.
Mayan food is different from your average Mexican food. It relies on the colorful achiote spice and the bitter-sweet flavor of lemons and bitter oranges to give flavor to the region's fantastic dishes.
8. Broken Spanish, Los Angeles
Here’s another fine Mexican restaurant elevating Mexican ingredients to new culinary heights, this time, West Coast-style. Chef Ray García earned a Michelin Star for its creative food, and although you’ll see lots of small plates and other tweezer food on the menu, no one leaves Broken Spanish hungry.
The ambiance at Broken Spanish feels like home, and the food is sustainably sourced from a solid farm-to-table approach. This is not Mexican food, but pure Angeleno cuisine, where Mexican flavors are only another layer of flavor in the chef’s creations. Vegan options are superb here.
9. Carnitas Uruapan, Chicago
Now, let’s head on to Carnitas Uruapan in Chicago, a hole in the wall serving Michoacan-style pit oven, whole pork on a tortilla with a hefty addition of spicy, homemade salsa.
Don’t expect delicate dishes at this restaurant, but the most authentic home-cooked meals in Chicago. This restaurant now has two locations, and even the most renowned chefs in the Windy City visit them often. You can’t beat slow-cooked pork Mexican-style. This is your go-to eatery for comfort food in Chicago. And there’s much more than carnitas on the menu; try the crispy deep-fried tacos dorados as well!
10. Hija de Sanchez, Copenhagen
Chef Rosio Sanchez worked with the world’s best chef, René Redzepi, at Noma before opening her own restaurant as an homage to her Mexican heritage. There’s no other restaurant serving authentic Mexican food in Europe, not like what you find at Hija de Sanchez.
Tacos here are fantastic, and Chef Sanchez brings the corn from Mexico to make legitimate masa for the tortillas. There’s innovation in the menu as well, so expect to be surprised with every bite. Hija de Sanchez is heaven for Mexican expats in Copenhagen, and locals love it here too!
Check out our other posts about Restaurants:
- Best Spanish Restaurant In America
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- Best French Restaurants All Around the World
- Best London Restaurants
