The colonial core around the Zocalo, with La Opera cantina since 1895, Cafe de Tacuba since 1912, Salon Tenampa on Plaza Garibaldi since 1925, the Mercado de San Juan exotic counter and 24-hour Los Cocuyos.
El Cardenal in Mexico City is the Briz family's 1969 Centro Historico room on Palma, the traditional Mexican breakfast institution where hot chocolate.
Signature: Hot chocolate, Pan de nata, Chiles en nogada
Order: The hot chocolate with pan de nata; chiles en nogada when in season July to September.
Tip: Open 08:00-18:00; the Centro location seats four floors and still queues by 09:30 on Sunday morning.
Cafe de Tacuba in Mexico City is the Mollinedo family's 1912 Centro Historico room on Tacuba, the colonial-palace dining hall that defines traditional.
Signature: Enchiladas de mole, Tamales, Chicken in mole poblano
Order: The enchiladas de mole; the tamales served with hot chocolate.
Tip: Open daily 08:00-23:00. The Sunday strolling student trio singing Aztec songs starts around 13:00; mariachi runs evenings.
Azul Historico in Mexico City is chef Ricardo Munoz Zurita's traditional Mexican kitchen inside the courtyard of the Downtown Mexico hotel on Isabel la.
Signature: Mole negro, Cochinita pibil, Chiles en nogada
Order: The mole negro from Oaxaca; the cochinita pibil tacos.
Tip: Sit in the open courtyard under the Indian laurel; ask for the table closest to the fountain. Brunch lasts till 17:00 weekends.
El Cardenal Centro in Mexico City is the Briz family's 1969 Centro Historico breakfast room on Palma, the Sunday-morning institution where hot chocolate.
Signature: Hot chocolate, Pan de nata, Chiles en nogada
Order: The hot chocolate with pan de nata; chiles en nogada in season.
Tip: Sunday brunch fills by 09:30; arrive at opening at 08:00 to avoid the wait. Three other branches across the city.
Cafe de Tacuba in Mexico City is the Mollinedo family's 1912 Centro Historico room on Tacuba, the 17th-century palace dining hall that runs every traditional.
Signature: Enchiladas de mole, Tamales, Chocolate caliente
Order: Enchiladas de mole verde; tamales served with frothy chocolate caliente.
Tip: Daily 08:00-23:00; the strolling student trio on Sunday afternoons is the move for the room's full character.
Azul Historico in Mexico City is chef Ricardo Munoz Zurita's Centro Historico courtyard kitchen at the Downtown Mexico hotel, the regional Mexican mole.
Signature: Mole negro, Cochinita pibil, Chiles en nogada
Order: Mole negro from Oaxaca; cochinita pibil tacos; an agua fresca de la temporada.
Tip: The open courtyard table closest to the fountain is the seat; brunch lasts till 17:00 weekends. Walk-ins land most weekdays.
Pasteleria Ideal in Mexico City is the 1927 Centro Historico bakery on Uruguay Street, the two-floor cake hall where conchas, oreja and the kilometre-long.
Worth the queue: Rosca de reyes (Three Kings cake)
Dulceria de Celaya in Mexico City is the 1874 Centro Historico candy shop on 5 de Mayo, the colonial confectionery that still sells camote, dulce de leche.
Worth the queue: Camote candy
Balcon del Zocalo in Mexico City is the Centro Historico rooftop wine bar at the Zocalo Central hotel, a Mexican-wine-focused list looking onto the Catedral.
Signature pour: Casa Madero white from Coahuila
Wine focus: Mexican wines and mezcales
Food: Modern Mexican tasting plates
Bosforo in Mexico City is the Centro Historico mezcaleria on Luis Moya, a velvet-curtain candle-lit room with 50-plus Oaxacan artisanal mezcales.
Signature drink: Tobala mezcal flight
Food: Snacks
Salon Tenampa in Mexico City is the 1925 Plaza Garibaldi cantina that gave the plaza its mariachi identity, with three rooms of live music every night.
Signature drink: Tequila and pulque
Food: Antojitos and Jalisco dishes
La Opera Bar in Mexico City is the 1895 Centro Historico cantina on 5 de Mayo, the ornate dark-wood-and-velvet room where Pancho Villa shot a bullet hole.
Signature drink: Tequila reposado
Food: Cantina antojitos
Las Duelistas in Mexico City is the 1902 Centro pulqueria on Aranda Street, a colorful muralled room that pours 45 flavors of fermented agave pulque.
Signature drink: Curado de pina pulque
Food: Pulqueria antojitos
El Huequito in Mexico City is the 1959 Centro Historico al pastor stand on Ayuntamiento, one of the earliest taqueria operations to plate the trompo-cut pork.
Try: Tacos al pastor
Order: Three tacos al pastor with the house red salsa; a pina (pineapple) agua fresca on the side.
Tip: The original Ayuntamiento alley counter is barely a window in the wall; sit-down branches now run across the city but the original counter is the relic.
Los Cocuyos in Mexico City is the 24-hour Centro Historico taqueria on Bolivar since 1980, the Bib Gourmand counter known for melting suadero, longaniza.
Try: Suadero and tripa tacos
Order: Three suadero tacos with both salsas; a campechano (mixed suadero and longaniza).
Tip: Open 24 hours; a second annex three doors down has tables and is the quieter option after midnight.
Churreria El Moro in Mexico City is the 1935 Centro Historico churros counter on Eje Central, the 24-hour churro and chocolate window that still pipes hot.
Try: Churros con chocolate
Order: A half-dozen churros with chocolate espanol (the thickest of the four chocolates on offer).
Tip: The Centro flagship runs 24 hours. The newer Roma branches close at midnight; visit the original for the relic counter.
Tortas El Cuadrilatero in Mexico City is the Centro torta counter on Luis Moya opened in 1991 by the family of luchador Super Astro, walls covered in masks.
Try: Lucha-libre tortas
Order: The Gladiador kilogram torta if you can; otherwise the regular Pierna with chipotle and queso Oaxaca.
Tip: Closed Sundays; the Gladiador is free if you finish in 15 minutes. Cash only and arrive hungry.
Mercado de San Juan in Mexico City is the gourmet specialty market on Ernesto Pugibet in Centro Historico, the city's only such market with exotic meats.
Mercado de la Merced in Mexico City is the 1957 mega-market east of the Zocalo, the largest retail market in the city with 88,000 sq m and 5,525 vendors.
Eat Mexico's La Merced Market Tour walks Mexico City's largest retail market with eight tasting stops including tamales, esquites, tacos al pastor and exotic.
Club Tengo Hambre's After Dark walk crawls Centro Historico from dusk through eight taquerias and street counters, ending with cajeta-stuffed churros at El.
Club Tengo Hambre's Street Food Essentials runs the daytime canon from tamales and esquites to tacos al pastor across the Centro Historico, with seven.
Eat Mexico's Chilango Tacos 101 tour walks the canon Mexico City taco styles across Centro Historico, pairing al pastor, suadero, longaniza and barbacoa.
Sabores Mexico's Historic Center tour walks the colonial core from Plaza Garibaldi through Plaza Santo Domingo with stops at Cafe de Tacuba.
Dia de Muertos Grand Parade in Mexico City runs November 1 down Paseo de la Reforma to the Zocalo, with the city's full week of pan de muerto, tamales.
El Huequito in Mexico City is the 1959 Centro Historico al pastor counter on Ayuntamiento, where three tacos with house salsa runs under 100 pesos.
Try: Three tacos al pastor
Los Cocuyos in Mexico City is the 24-hour Centro taqueria on Bolivar where three tacos de suadero with cilantro and onion run under 80 pesos.
Try: Three suadero tacos
Tortas El Cuadrilatero in Mexico City is the Centro lucha-libre torta counter on Luis Moya, where a regular pierna torta with chipotle and queso Oaxaca runs.
Try: Pierna torta with queso Oaxaca
Churreria El Moro in Mexico City is the 1935 24-hour Centro Historico churros counter where four hot churros with chocolate espanol run about 95 pesos.
Try: Four churros with chocolate
El Cardenal Centro in Mexico City is the Briz family's 1969 traditional Mexican breakfast institution on Palma, the Sunday-morning room that built its name.
Order: Hot chocolate frothed tableside with pan de nata.
Los Cocuyos in Mexico City is the 24-hour Centro Historico taqueria on Bolivar since 1980, the around-the-clock counter that runs suadero, longaniza.
Try: Suadero and tripa tacos
Churreria El Moro in Mexico City is the 1935 Centro Historico churros counter on Eje Central, the 24-hour churro and chocolate window that runs hot churros.
Try: Churros with chocolate espanol
Salon Tenampa in Mexico City is the 1925 Plaza Garibaldi mariachi cantina that runs daily till 03:00, the antojitos and tequila room with live mariachi.
Try: Cantina antojitos with mariachi
El Huequito in Mexico City is the 1959 Centro al pastor counter that runs through dinner until 22:00 in the original Ayuntamiento alley, the late-evening.
Try: Tacos al pastor
Salon Los Angeles in Mexico City opened in 1937 on Calle Lerdo in Colonia Guerrero and is the city's oldest dance hall, with live bands playing danzon, salsa, cumbia, swing and cha-cha-cha most afternoons and evenings of the week.
Salon Tenampa in Mexico City sits on Plaza Garibaldi at number 12, the 1925 mariachi cantina founded by Juan I. Hernandez where Mariachi Cocula first played and Pedro Infante filmed scenes, with strolling bands still moving table to table nightly.
Pasaguero in Mexico City on Calle Motolinia in Centro Historico is the narrow indie bar and music venue that programs rock, salsa, hip-hop and trap on a small stage from around 21:00, with mezcal and craft beer at the bar.
Terraza Catedral in Mexico City sits on the sixth floor of Hostel Mundo Joven Catedral on Republica de Guatemala, with sightlines onto the Zocalo and the Cathedral towers, programming Mexican bar snacks, DJ sets and jazz nights nightly.
La Terraza del Hotel Majestic in Mexico City crowns the 1937 Best Western on Avenida Francisco I. Madero in Centro Historico, with the closest balcony view of the Zocalo, the Cathedral and the Palacio Nacional, plus traditional Mexican plates and cocktails.
Balcon del Zocalo in Mexico City sits on the Zocalo Central Hotel on Avenida 5 de Mayo, a glass-walled terrace facing the Cathedral and the Palacio Nacional with contemporary Mexican plates by chef Pepe Salinas and an extensive mezcal list.
Marrakech Salon in Mexico City on Republica de Cuba in Centro Historico is the kitsch-retro queer cantina founded by Juan Carlos Bautista and Victor Jaramillo, the venue that pulled the LGBT scene out of Zona Rosa into the Centro with drag, go-go and cabaret nightly after 22:00.
La Purisima in Mexico City on Republica de Cuba in Centro Historico is the neon-lit queer cocktail bar and dance floor with a chic Catholic-statue backdrop, anchoring the Cuba street strip that flipped Centro into an alternative to Zona Rosa.
Bosforo in Mexico City on Calle Luis Moya in Centro is the red-curtain mezcaleria with candles for light, where the owner's playlist of acid jazz and Mesoamerican chants soundtracks a deep agave selection sourced from small producers across Oaxaca and Guerrero.
Salon Corona in Mexico City on Calle Bolivar in Centro Historico is the 1928 cervecería-cantina between Madero and 16 de Septiembre, with cheap draft Corona in tarros, taco-and-torta plates and the original tile floor still intact through three generations of operators.
La Opera Bar in Mexico City on Avenida 5 de Mayo in Centro Historico is the gilded 1876 cantina with carved wooden booths and a bullet hole in the ceiling that legend pins on Pancho Villa, a working cantina serving Mexican plates and tequila pours every day.
Bar Mancera in Mexico City on Calle Venustiano Carranza in Centro Historico is the 1912 cantina with carved-wood interiors, the largest catalogued Cognac Hennessy stained-glass window and a signed Muhammad Ali glove on display, plus a working art-deco phone booth.
Cantina Tio Pepe in Mexico City on Avenida Independencia in Centro Historico is the 1869 cantina with an original French-imported wooden back bar, ornate ceilings and a politicians-and-locals crowd that has barely changed in a century and a half.